Western Region FIS Update - March 2021
March has seen FIS racing resume in all Western Region divisions. Far West opened up and has held successful series, along with Alaska. We have seen Western Region athletes travel to Europe to complete in National Development programming. Now we have to wish for Winter to continue into Spring so that the Western Region Spring Series at Alpine Meadows & Squaw Valley will be held April 6-11 and the Downhill Series at Mammoth Mountain April 14-19.
Elite FIS Series - March 15 - 19
Athletes and coaches from many western clubs competed in the Lake Tahoe area for the region’s first Tech Elite Series event of the season. Sugar Bowl watered the SL hill. Squaw Valley groomed some new snow over a great racing surface. Official results can be found at these links: Sugar Bowl Slaloms & Squaw Valley Giant Slaloms.
U.S. Alpine Championship and NJC
The U.S. Alpine Championship will be held in Aspen, April 5 - 16. The event schedule can be found on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard website. The NJC has officially been cancelled due to small field sizes and difficulty scheduling a resort.
Western Region U16/U14 Update
Western Region U16 Championship
The U16 Regional Championship has been confirmed for Mammoth Mtn., April 6 - 9. The field size is reduced to approximately half of the normal championship field size, due to Covid restrictions. Selection to the championship event is based on each division’s process. Check your divisional policies for selection procedures, and Covid protocols and restrictions. The divisional quotas are listed on page A7 of the Western Region Handbook.
Western Region U16 Spring Project
The U16 National Championship was canceled this season due to the pandemic. In its place, each region will facilitate a U16 project inviting regional athletes with top performances from their respective regional championships. The projects will provide national development staff with additional information on athletes moving into their FIS years. Each region’s project will involve common content, including SkilllsQuest, SkillsQuest-Fitness, freeskiing evaluation, and training across two or more disciplines.
The Western Region project is scheduled for April 20 - 22 at Squaw Valley. Athletes will be invited to the Western Region project using the pre-Covid 2020 U16 National Championship selection procedure. 15 athletes from YOB 2005 and 2006 will be invited using this method. Up to five additional athletes from YOB 2005 will be invited based on discretionary requests from the five divisions. The total project size is 20 women and 20 men.
Western Region U14 Spring Project
For the 2nd year in a row, Covid-19 has forced the cancellation of the Western Region U14 Championship. Therefore, the region is conducting a U14 Spring Project at Squaw Valley, April 15 - 18. A regional task force made up of representatives from each division has been planning this project since the early season to give U14 athletes an opportunity to engage at a regional level.
The project will focus on GS and SG progressions with an emphasis on terrain management, and will end with full-length SG runs. The project size is 45 women and 45 men. Each western division will select athletes using their division’s U14 qualification events. Divisional quotas have been redistributed using a percentage of the championship quotas. Look for a detailed project announcement in the coming weeks.
Western Region Staff