First day training gates of the season!

Cross Training!

At Green Mountain Rock Climbing Center in Rutland.

Running timing wire on Highline

Freestyle, freeski and snowboard coaches run wire for timing on Highline.

Welcome to the 2012-13 Winter Term!

So much has happened since my last post...

-Unfortunately for us, Cassie choose to remain with the State Police. We're bummed but know we'll be safer for it!

-New Balance has sponsored KMS with some great workout gear.

-RED Protection, before taking the dirt nap, floated the KMS coaches some great helmets. Get them while you can. R.I.P.

-KMS Winter Term began Monday, 11/5. 70 student athletes!

-The Snowboard Team hit the hill for the first time yesterday. Check out the footage of us shredding the early season bumps here.

We're stoked for the season. Check back here for weekly updates and hit the Facebook page for the daily happenings.

-Coach KC

KMS Pumpkin Carving Contest

New Head Freestyle Coach!

New KMS Head Freestyle Coach Cassandra Herbes at Rails to Riches 2010

Hi KMS Families and Friends,

We have exciting news! Cassandra Herbes accepted the position of Head Freestyle Snowboard Coach today! Cassandra is a Castleton State College graduate and and former US Grand Prix Slopestyle Competitor. Cassandra focused on Slopestyle and Rail Jams and was the sole female on the Killington Resort Team in 2009. Cassandra has several top 15 Grand Prix slopestyle finishe

s and has competed in national invitational events like the Killington Rails to Riches and Forum Youngblood series.

A former Vermont State Trooper, community soccer coach and personal trainer at Vermont Sport and Fitness, Cassandra brings the perfect blend of competitive and coaching experience to both the fulltime Killington Mountain School snowboard program as well as our KSC Weekend Competition Programs. She's super organized and has great positive energy.

Cassandra will be taking over slopestyle and rail coaching duties for the fulltime, three day and weekend programs and will work with our highest end freestylers. We're stoked to have her and hope you'll join us in welcoming her to the team.

New Student Orientation

Andersons and Fergusons

New Student Orientation

Andersons and Fergusons

A collection of photos taken from the deck at KMS this season. Enjoy...and pray for snow next winter!

Cut and paste this into your browser

http://vimeo.com/40868941

K-town Showdown footage

Camera by KC, Liam and Ryan

2011-12 Final K-town Showdown

front L to R: Chris Oko (tie dye), Maggie Leon, Ryan Sihler, Joey Leon, Michale Capasse

back L to R: Will Steller, George McKeever-Parkes, Robbie Ettori, Alex Sheppard, Jake Fourneir, Justin Peyton, Bobby Bergen, Andrew Rybecky

After a tough, warm, snowless winter, we thought Killington might just cancel the final K-town Showdown altogether...but they came through for us! They always do!! A week of temps in the 80's couldn't stop the Killington Terrain Parks crew from letting shredders and skiers from around VT show of what they've learned over the winter, and the KMS Snowboard Team was no exception.

Beneath overcast skies and the ever-present threat of showers, KMS riders battled it out in Grom (14 and Under), Women's Open and Men's Open Divisions. The Dew Tour round bar was the first feature, and below that was rider's choice: on the left, a 15' long down bar; center was a 5' cannon and right was the good 'ol down-flat-down rail (DFD).

The 30 minute Grom Jam saw riders trying to mix as many different tricks on as many different features as possible. Highlights from the KMS team:

-8 year old Chris Oko throwing HUGE front 180's off the cannon, including a couple with grabs

-Jake Fournier throwing 180's off the cannon in both directions as well as cleaning the DFD

-Ryan Sihler 270 off the cannon

-Michael Capasse cleaning the fs 50-50 on the down bar

-George McKeever-Parkes smooth boardslinding the cannon

-Bobby Bergen going man-size gap on the DFD

-Robbie Ettori mixing it up on everything and clean fs board on the DFD

-Joey Leon throwing variety with a clean bs 50-50/board switch pretz out

In the end, winners were announced

Joey Leon 1st Place

Robbie Ettori 3rd Place

Next came the 45 minute Open jam with some even sicker riding

-Will Steller was riding great on everything from one footed cannons to gap-to-stale-to-rail on the DFD to super tech tricks on the down bar. It was great to see old Will back on it!

-Alex Sheppard was killing the down bar with 50-50's and fs 50-50 bs 180 out attempts

-As usual, Justin Peyton was holding nothing back with gap-disaster boardslides on the DFD and fs 270 onto the down bar

-Maggie Leon took a bunch of swings at 2 big tricks: fs lip on the downbar and gap to 50-50 on the DFD (the only lady to step to a trick that size).

Maggie Leon 3rd Place Open Women

The KMS Coaches couldn't be more proud of our riders- after a long season of challenging conditions, they all proved that training and hard work gets results. These results might not always be podium visits, but the satisfaction that comes from landing a trick in the pressure of a competition and proving that you've got what it takes to step up and give it your best! Thanks for a GREAT day KMS SNowboard Team!

Spring fun

Snowball fight at the base of Superstar

USASA Southern Vermont Series Champs

As the USASA National Championships approach, each region names their champions to represent them on the National stage at Copper, CO March 31- April 6th, 2012. As the premier region in the country, being crowned the Southern Vermont Series champ is an incredible honor. With academy programs like Killington Mountain School, Okemo Mountain School, Stratton Mountain School, Mt Snow Academy and the ...American Snowboard Training Center, the competition in this series is second to none. On March 4th, 2012, series director Scott Palmer announced the series winners and KMS is proud of its riders' finishes. Regional rankings are determined by the best two finishes per discipline for series competitors.

-Nikki Sardelli KMS Class of '16 (Breaker Girls) Slalom, Giant Slalom and Boardercross Champion
-Logan Farmer KMS Class of '14 (Youth Men) Boardercross Champion, Slalom and Giant Slalom runner-up
-Mazie Hayden (Skier Girls 10-12) Skicross Champion
-Ethan Farmer (Menehune Boys) Giant Slalom runner-up, Slalom 3rd, Boardercross 5th
-Jesse Kunkowski (Breaker Boys) Boardercross 4th
-Maggie Leon (Youth Women) Slopestyle 3rd
-Abby Lancour (Youth Women) Halfpipe 3rd

-Kamran Gossieaux (Junior Men) Giant Slalom 3rd, Slalom 4th, Boardercross 7th

KC Gandee, KMS Snowboard Program Director- Southern Vermont Series Coach of the Year

FIS Hole Shot Tour

KMS BOOST Snowboarder Sophie Anderson on the Hole Shot Course

March 6-8, 2012 Killington Resort hosted the second of three stops of the 2011-2012 Hole Shot Tour ski and snowboardcross race series. Designed to bridge the gap between amateur and pro level cross racing, the Hole Shot Tour is the next step for most riders after competing in the Revolution Tour and the final stop before the big time World Cup level events. With a less than awesome snow year, Killington came through with a big and fast course for the 100 snowboarders and roughly 15 skiers that turned out to race.

KMS Class of '14 student-athlete Logan Farmer competed along with KMS BOOST Snowboarder Sophie Anderson in a very talented field. Of the 59 men competing, the vast majority had multiple race experience at the USSA and FIS level, including several riders that have podiumed this season at World Cup races. The women's field, though smaller at 43 athletes was just as talented. Also competing- KMS BOOST Teacher Heather House, KMS Alum skicross racer Taylor Doxsee and KMS Weekend Skicross Racer Mazie Hayden, the youngest racer on course at 11 years old and forerunner.

L-R Sophie Anderson, Coach Evan Ricker, Logan Farmer and Matt St. Denis

After a very cold practice day on the course, the riders were ready for a FAST competition. The banked turns were...textured and the rollers were quick. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), the weather took a serious turn for Day 1 of racing as sunny skies cuased the temperatures to soar into the 50's. After a fast opening by forerunner Mazie Hayden, skier men and women took one run down the course for time trails and finals heats were set. Unfortunately, Taylor's run put him in ninth place and only the top eight make it to finals. By contrast, snowboarders take two time trials runs with the fastest time counting. After their runs, Sophie was in 15th, Logan in 50th and Matt in 51st. Since women's heats were limited to 16, Sophie advanced to finals while the day was over for Farmer and St. Denis as the men's heats were limited to the top 32. After a rough start in her first heat, Sophie passed a rider in the first turn of the course and ended up finishing in third place. Although Sophie didn't advance, she ended up in 12th place in her first ever FIS boardercross.

The start gate at the top of the course.

For Day 2, the warm weather continued. With fresh wax and new coaching on line, the team again attacked the course. Taylor qualified in seventh place and made men's finals, while Sophie picked up the pace and qualified in 14th place for women's snowboard finals. After a slower than expected first run, Logan decided to go all-out for run 2. On pace for a sub 50 second time which would have placed Farmer into the finals, a crash sent him home for the day but in 49th place, one better than the previous day. Sophie again made a pass in her finals heat and was racing with purpose, only to crash just after passing the second place racer. Sophie finished the heat in third and ended the day in 11th overall. Considering the field, we are VERY proud of our racers and excited to see them improve their results next time! Next stop: USASA National Championships in Copper, CO 3/31-4/6/2012

KMS Class of '14 Logan Farmer airs it out over a re-direct hip.

Jr Jam U.S. Open

USASA boardercross @ Ski Ward MA

USASA So. VT GS and SL

The Slalom (SL) Course at Bromley. They don't call it "Sun Mountain" for nothing!

With 2" of fresh snow, sun and warm temps, we were in for an interesting day at Bromley on Sunday Feb. 19. Logan Farmer, Ethan Farmer and Kamran Gossieaux showed up to prove they've been training and show the other riders that hard work pays off, and that's what they did! Logan Farmer (KMS Class of '14) put down the fastest two runs of the day for the Youth Men (14-15) and the second fastest combined times of the day regardless of age group earning him a Gold Medal in GS.

Ethan Farmer waits for his race at the start

Ethan Farmer rode his hard boots setup to a first place finish in GS after working all season on his line through the course. He mailed it today! Kamran Gossieaux faced tough competition in his Junior Men (16-17) division but still managed a fourth place finish!

GS Results

After a short break and a course reset, the team was back at it on a very tight SL course. For the record, USASA snowboard GS gates are set 20-30 meters apart whereas SL are set at 8-12 meters apart. Although fast is the name of the game, it's the best line through the course that wins, and those that execute the best turns. For the Menehune Boys (10-11), that was Ethan Farmer on this day! Also putting down a great 2 runs was Logan Farmer who landed in second place for the Youth Men and third place overall on the day regardless of age group. Kamran Gossieaux also had a solid 2 runs earning third place in the Junior Men division. Kamran After a fall in run one, Gossieaux studied the other riders on the course, made the adjustment and raced to the podium. Nice job Kam!!

After a grueling first half of the competition season, Logan Farmer (KMS Class of '14) has earned a rest.

Kamran Gossieaux, Logan Farmer (KMS Class of '14) and Ethan Farmer earned a lot of medals!

This weekend concluded the Southern Vermont Series of the USASA races series of the year. Next stop: USASA Nationals for GS and Sl. KMS Class of '16 Nikki Sardelli has already qualified as the Southern Vermont Series Champion and we fully expect Kamran, Logan and Ethan to qualify as well. We'll keep training for the main event!

USASA Maine Mtn Series SBX Sat. 2/18

The start crew at Sunday River getting ready for the day

After a great day of practice on a new course, the KMS Snowboard SBX team was ready for a day of action at Sunday River, ME. The Rumble at the River showcased a course that wound in between two trails and was directly beneath a high speed chairlift. This made for excitement for riders and spectators alike! We came to Sunday River for some good competition and we weren't disappointed. Riders from Ski Ward MA all the way up to Sugarloaf, ME showed up to throw down.

Ethan Farmer (center) wins the pull in his semi-finals heat

Meeting at Sunday River were Logan and Ethan Farmer, Sophie Anderson (KMS BOOST Session 3), Mikey Lacroix and Drew Jeffrey from the Ride Mass Series. Although fun, the Sunday River course was not as challenging as we expected, making gate choice and the pull at the start critically important. The Menehune Boys (10-11) division was packed with 9 riders, making for three heats of three, with the top 2 advancing. In the initial seeding heat, Ethan actually pulled a little too well, beating the gate drop and getting his board's tip stuck under the dropping gate. It actaully lifted him off the ground! This gave Ethan last gate choice, but that didn't stop him from winning the pull in his quarters and semis heats. In the Finals, Ethan raced hard against much bigger boys and grabbed a second place, his best finish of the season so far!

Logan Farmer KMS Class of '14 is cool as a cucumber ion the start for Youth Finals

Logan Farmer fighting for the hole shot in Youth Finals

Drew and Logan were 2 of 8 in the highly competitive Youth Mens (14-15) division. 2 heats of four made up the semis, which saw Logan advance and Drew eliminated after a 1-2 respectively in the practice heat. Logan won the practice heat and semis to face 2011 USASA Nationals bronze medalist Rollie Spagnoli. With a tough pull, Logan ended up in 4th on the course, battled to 2nd, only to nearly crash over the finish jump and ended up fourth on the day.

Sophie Anderson shows off her new Gold Medal

Sophie Anderson, who you may recognize as a KMS BOOST program rider met us for the SBX action and showed some of the skills she's picked up riding in MA and at KMS. She fended off 6 other Youth Women to race for the gold, winning all heats by a substantial margin. We hope Sophie will join us at KMS next season and continue to train to a career in snowboarding!

Mikey Lacroix from Ski Ward raced with us and nailed down 2nd place in the Breaker Boys (12-13) division after grabbing 1st and 2nd in his quarters and semis respectively. We're hoping to see this kid more this season and next for KMS BOOST!

Way to go Team!!! Next up for the SBX crew- USASA ADK race at Whiteface Wednesday 2/22 and USASA RideMass SBX at Ski Ward on Sunday 2/26

Skicross Team at USASA Bromley

Bromley training

We train and then meet a Fisher cat.

Boost Program Interview with Shane Smith

Gatorade Free Flow

KMS swept the Grom and Women's Gatorade Free Flow halfpipe.

Women's Halfpipe results:

Maggie Leon 1st
Abby Lancour 2nd
Sophi Anderson 3rd

Grom Halfpipe Results:

George McKeever 1st
Ryan Sihler 2nd
Joey Leon3rd

Gatorade Free Flow

Our weekenders swept the junior jam
Junior Jam railjam results:

Joey Leon 1st
George McKeever 2nd
Jake Fournier 3rd

Gatorade Free Flow

Killington hosted Gatorade Free Flow this past Sunday for a junior jam railjam and a halfpipe. The halfpipe was in great condition and the weather was great. The junior jam had a great setup as well. Here's a shot of both the halfpipe and railjam at sunrise.

Gatorade Free Flow

We had a great day of competition at Okemo. The slope style course was tight but the girls made the best of it. Maggie Leon was the youngest female competitor and still found her way into third place. Sophi Anderson had a great first run. She cleaned the entire rail section, executed a nice double method on the first jump, and landed a frontside five forty to cap off her run.

Gatorade Free Flow

This past Saturday we had a Slopestyle at Okemo. Here are some photo's of the course.

USASA Southern Vermont Series: Bromley SX/SBX

After a challenging weather week, the KMS Snowboard Team performed well under variable conditions this past weekend at Bromley, VT. Snow followed by rain followed by a huge drop in temperature on Friday led to...solid conditions on Saturday morning. So solid that the start of the skicross and boardercross races were delayed almost 2 hours. When the race finally began though, KMS sophmore Logan Farmer logged the third fastest time of the day in trials, joined by Jesse Kunkowski of Mendon, VT who was second fastest in his age group. Once heats began though, the sun came out and the course slowed down a bit, giving spectators excellent racing to behold. Will Steller, 15 of Killington VT was neck and neck with 2 other racers going into turn 2 and was edged out of the course. Ethan Farmer, 10 of Randolph VT had a rough pull out of the start gate and also ended up missing the finals. After winning 2 heats to advance to finals, Jesse Kunkowski ended up slipping in turn one and taking a crash. After falling in time trails, KMS Class of '16 Nikki Sardelli won her semi-finals heat and got the hole shot again in finals, winning the race for the Breaker Girls! Logan Farmer, KMS CLass of '14 also advanced through heats to finals and raced to victory in his age group Youth Boys. Rounding out the day was KMS Skicross Racer Mazie Hayden, 11 of Pittsfield VT. Mazie was the only girl in her age group and raced against a fellow Killnigton skier for finals...HE was 18 years old and barely beat her. Go Mazie!

KMS '16 Nikki Sardelli out in front during BX finals

Sunday's schedule began on time, under partly sunny skies and colder conditions. Race 2 saw the appearance of Chris Oko, 8 of Milford, CT, and Tin Skoric, 8 of Rutland, VT. Also new to the fray was Alex Sheppard, 15 of Woodstock, VT. Heats were again highly competitive! This day saw start technique proving to be the difference. Both Will and Alex were edged out in heats after good time trials runs. Jesse Kunkowski went down in his first heat as well as Chris Oko. Ethan Farmer had great starts and fought through 2 heats to finals were he earned a fourth place. Tin Skoric took advantage of a collision by the race leaders in his heat to advance to finals in his age group as well and grab fourth place.

The day was won again by veterans Mazie Hayden who was pitted against two 15 year old girls and won her finals heat! Mazie also pulled down second place overall regardless of age group. After another fall in time trials, Nikki Sardelli battled back to win Breaker Girls finals and take the gold again! Nikki is now undefeated in SVS races with 6 starts and six gold medals. Logan Farmer raced to 1st in his age group again, as well as third overall regardless of age group.

Logan Farmer (KMS '14) races to first place Youth Boys and third overall

Ethan Farmer in time trials

Nikki Sardelli (KMS '16) naps while waiting for her heat. Ethan Farmer look on as does Chris Oko.

Shane Smith BOOST rider

Logan and Will ready for time trials.