Hold on spring sports, there’s still some skiing to be had. Yes, this season saw the opening of Palmyra peak and new lines in Bear Creek. However, there’s more ahead, and maybe, if it ever stops snowing, some spring corn.

As a result, most of us took fewer trips to Utah this winter. Competitive freestyle skiers, however, made regular weekend trips to distant ski areas. The most recent took five of Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club’s foremost freestyle skiers to the United States National Championship in Deer Valley, Utah last weekend.

On the Olympic bump course, the competition was as steep as the 28-degree pitch. Telluride skiers were in the thick of it, posting top results at both the single and dual mogul events.

Zak Watkins finished seventh and Lindsey Cannon clinched sixth-place in the single mogul event. At Sunday’s dual moguls, four of the five TSSC skiers advanced from the semifinal round, and Lane Stoltzner secured fourth-place in the women’s event.

The results were extra impressive given the premier status of the event.

“It’s the top 50 men and women in the country regardless of age,” said Caleb Martin, freestyle program director and coach. “Skiers must earn qualification based on their performance at events this season.”

TSSC skiers included Joe Discoe, Watkins, Wade Parkinson, Cannon and Stoltzner. Collectively, they skied strong, showing some of the best turns, jumps and speed of the season.

“It was awesome. The team skied outstanding overall,” Martin said. “I’m tremendously proud of the team as a whole. The kids worked hard this season and deserved the strong results they received.”

Telluride’s always turned out top-tier mogul skiers — Martin was a former U.S. ski team member, and TSSC graduate Jimmy Discoe joined the team this season. Still, the team has always been small. This season, however, has turned out solid results from more motivated skiers, like Stoltzner and Cannon.

“Harold Ehnbom and I have been coaching for six years, and it’s gratifying to watch skiers like Lane and Lindsey progress,” Martin said. “The Discoes clearly have a ton of talent, but it’s great to see other members on the team reaching the same level.”

Joe Discoe, 19, set the bar for his teammates at U.S. Nationals, starting with the single mogul event on Saturday. With a near-perfect first run, Discoe qualified fourth to the finals. Based on the semifinal, first run results, the top 16 skiers advanced.

On his second, finals run, Discoe doubled up on his jumps — two 720s, a no-no in freestyle comps — and finished 11th overall.

“He had a great run going all the way into the bottom air where he was bucked a bit,” Martin said. “He ended up doing another 720 when he was going for his patented d-spin.”

Teammate Watkins, 18, was competing at the same level.

“He had a sensational day,” Martin said. “He qualified eighth, and had a ripping finals run with some of the fastest and best skiing I’ve ever seen from him.”

Watkins also nailed both of his jumps, a helicopter and back flip, to finish seventh overall.

Parkinson, 19, was pulling for a similar top ten result, but missed qualifying to the finals and finished 19th.

“It was too bad since Wade had a really good run going, despite a couple off-balanced turns in the middle of the course,” Martin said. “It doesn’t take much to get knocked out at Nationals, and it still was a personal best for Wade.”

Personal bests were big among TSSC’s five skiers.

Lindsey Cannon, 18, finished sixth in the women’s single mogul event. Cannon clinched one of the fastest times in the women’s field, and was competing against some World Cup skiers.

Lane Stoltzner, 16, was one of the youngest skiers in the women’s field. Stoltzner finished 18th in the single moguls, missing the finals by less than a point.

She came back on Sunday, though, with a hunger for more. At the dual mogul event, Stoltzner was at the top of her game.

At duals, skiers must first earn a chance to duel. Each competitor skis a single mogul run in the semis, and the top 16 advance to duals. Then, the dual races are determined by seeds, the first-seeded skier racing the 16th.

Stoltzner qualified 11th and Cannon was sixth.

“They ended up dueling each other in the first round, which is always a bummer because you want to take out other skiers who aren’t your teammates,” Martin said.
“Lane was a little extra aggressive and won, but it was close, 18-17.”

Stoltzner continued her winning spree, until Michelle Roark, longtime freestyle veteran with 16 years — or Stoltzner’s lifetime — of World Cup experience ousted her in the round of four.

With one more run, to determine third and fourth, Stoltzner was defeated and finished the event in fourth-place.

For the men, Parkinson, again, was just shy of making it to the finals in 19th place.

“He just missed the finals by half a point, but he still had two of his best results at Nationals,” Martin said. “As a full time engineering student at CU, with only 30 ski days this season, it was awesome to see him stick some solid runs.”

Discoe qualified fifth, and went up against Cody Temple of Missoula in his first dual.
Going down by a tight score of 17-18, Discoe was a necks-length behind his opponent across the line. He finished in a tie for ninth.

Watkins was in a similar situation, qualifying to the first round of duals in tenth. Against Landon Gardner, U.S. ski team member with a couple World Cup podiums this season, Watkins nearly pulled out the upset.

“His skiing has gone up every week and he upped it on dual day,” Martin said. “He gave Gardner a run for money, and they were tearing down the course, but he got too far over his tips and had to blow out.”

The result put Watkins in a tie for ninth, and was an end to his competition.

It was also the end to TSSC’s competitive season, although there’s a freestyle event in Winter Park this weekend which counts toward next season. Stoltzner will strap on her skis for that event.

Two weekends ago, younger competitive freestyle skiers competed at the Rocky Mountain Freestyle State Championship in Purgatory. TSSC’s Kelley Zaumseil was the girls combined champion, and along with the top title, took home a new pair of Hart skis. Devo is the abbreviation for development, and included competitors, thirteen and younger, from Purgatory, Telluride, Vail, Aspen, Steamboat Springs, Winter Park and Summit County.