The competitive ski season is coming to a close, and the level of season-ending contests is high, reserved to the top qualifiers in the country. Last weekend, five local freestyle skiers were back in the bumps, competing at the Junior Olympics in Steamboat.

Five members of Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club’s Championship Mogul Team qualified to the event, each participating in Friday’s single moguls, three making it to Sunday’s dual mogul event.

The Junior Olympics featured the country’s top bump skiers 18 and under based on a national point system. The week-long competition included halfpipe, slopestyle, aerial, single mogul and dual mogul events.

Lane Stoltzner, 16, and Zak Watkins, 18, posted the top results for TSSC’s team and grabbed spots on the podium. In Friday’s single mogul event, both finished in the top ten. At Sunday’s dual mogul event, Stoltzner secured third place with some of the speediest skiing she’s shown all season.

“She’s really come on strong with duals this season, especially after winning Telluride (a Rocky Mountain Divisional championship the weekend before on the Lower Plunge),” said Caleb Martin, freestyle program director and coach. “She pushed her comfort level in the competition, took a few more risks and stuck it — her helicopter on the top air was the best I’ve seen all season.”

Watkins’ dual mogul performance was equally impressive and a few points higher. He finished second in the men’s event.

“He skied smart and skied within himself in the early rounds, then turned up the volume as he got into the later rounds,” Martin said. “In the finals, he had another outstanding run, and it was the dual of the day, but Zak was beat across the finish by .04 seconds and ended up second.”

The duals delivered some exciting ski runs for TSSC, but the action started earlier with the single mogul event on Friday. The fields consisted of 72 women and 86 men. TSSC had five competitors, qualifying based on results at regular season events. Watkins and Stoltzner were the big news, but Lindsey Cannon, 18, also competed as well as first time Junior Olympic competitors Keaton McCargo and Jessica Solomon.

For the newcomers, it was a good experience, even if they didn’t advance beyond the semifinal round.

“It was the biggest event of year for some of the younger skiers,” Martin said. “There was a bigger crowd and a grander scene, and it made some athletes nervous up there, but [McCargo and Solomon] both skied a good top to bottom runs.”

McCargo, 12, placed 53rd overall, third in the F4 age division. Solomon, 14, was 45th, seventh in the F3 age bracket.

“[Solomon] really rose to the occasion and skied her best competition run of the season,” Martin said. “She skied the closest to her potential this season.”

Lindsey Cannon, 18, had a disappointing performance at Junior Olympics, finishing 24th in the single moguls.

“It was a disappointing day for Lindsey after coming off of two [single mogul] wins in Telluride the weekend before,” Martin said. “She was one of the favorites, but unfortunately over-rotated on her bottom air and hip checked, costing her a big point deduction.”

With two rounds of skiing — semis then finals — only the top 20 skiers qualified for a second run.

Stoltzner qualified in tenth-place, and ended up eighth overall following her finals run. Annie Serra of Team Wasatch won the event. For the men, Watkins wound up in seventh-place, a slight let down after qualifying to the finals in first place.

“He laid down an exceptional first run, and he knew that he had to ski that same run again,” Martin described. “He was having a ripping run (seeded first in the finals), but, four turns before the bottom jump, he made some big mistakes on his turns that cost him.”

Watkins was still able to nail his back flip iron cross on the bottom air, but lower turn points put him back from first-place. That honor went to Reed Snyderman, 18, of the eastern division.

The bump action wasn’t over, and Sunday’s duals offered a chance to start fresh.
That was the case for Stoltzner and Watkins who stayed in the competition until the final round. Stoltzner finished third, defeating single mogul winner Serra in the round of eight with stronger turn and jump scores.

“She was so fired up at the top of the course, and it showed in her skiing,” Martin said.

Stoltzner’s winning spree ended in the round of four, falling to Jordan Poyfair by one point. Poyfair of Team Summit finished second overall, and teammate Whitney Henceroth won the event. Stoltzner secured third-place, and the rocky mountain podium sweep. Stoltzner secured the final podium spot by winning a consolation round that decided third and fourth.

Watkins worked the men’s event, sneaking through the early rounds and laying down the hurt in the later, tougher rounds. Watkins was defeated by Snyderman in the finals by a narrow margin, a mere .04 seconds separating first and second place.

Lindsey Cannon also qualified to the event, but got knocked out in the first round, disqualified for crossing the center line.

“[Cannon’s] been on quite a tear, and hopefully she won’t let this weekend pull her down because she has Nationals in a couple weeks,” Martin said. “With this sport, you have to roll with the punches and I think she’ll be able to bounce back.”

Slated for the last week of March, Nationals takes place in Deer Valley on the Olympic freestyle course. TSSC will have six athletes in attendance for single and dual mogul events. Stoltzner, Watkins and Cannon will be on scene as well as Joe Discoe, Reilly Campbell and Wade Parkinson, who were ineligible to compete at J.O.s due to age.
For the next few weeks, the group will train hard at home.

“It’s great preparation having a home course that’s 240 meters at 29.5 degrees compared to Deer Valley’s 250 meter course at 28 degrees,” Martin said. “It’s great having the Lower Plunge to fine tune things as we get ready for Nationals.”