Created: 26 January 2022
The first stop of the Futures Tour took place at Mammoth Mountain from January 19-22. Photo: Jacob Banta
The first stop of the 2022 Futures Tour kicked off at Mammoth Mountain last week and proved that the future of snowboarding and freeskiing is indeed bright. An international field of competitors descended upon Mammoth’s Unbound terrain park and pipe with Rikuto Watanabe, Rebecca Flynn, Koyata Kikuchihara, Gaon Choi, Kate Gray, Ruka Ito, and Ben Fethke taking top honors.
“The Futures Tour is solidifying itself as the next high-level competition tour,” USASA Unbound Series Director Ben Wisner said, “The riding and skiing in halfpipe and slopestyle would rival any World Cup level tour. It was very impressive, the top end were really, really good, and seeing the young kids mix it up and push themself to do better was amazing, it really is the future of our sport and we can see that there is a strong pipeline for development in the US”. Wisner, who is the Director of Freeski and Snowboard Teams at Mammoth and has developed athletes like 2022 Olympians Chloe Kim and Maddie Mastro knows a thing or two about up-and-coming talent.
Created: 27 December 2021
USASA Rocky Mountain Series Alum turned US Freeski Halfpipe Team member, Jaxin Hoerter, looking to qualify for the 2022 US Olympic Freeski Halfpipe team.
USASA Rocky Mountain Series alum and US Freeski Halfpipe Team athlete Jaxin Hoerter was born into a skiing family in the beautiful mountains of Summit County, Colorado. At 15 months old, his parents Amy and Dusty Hoerter, stuffed newspapers into the toes of his boots so they would fit and he was on his way. “He sat on the backs of his skis as we pushed him down the hill, and he cried and cried.” Amy shared, “The next time we took him out he cried when we wanted to quit!!”
Created: 20 December 2021
Eileen Gu has already cemented her place in the freeskiing and entertainment history books. At just 18 years old, Gu won three medals as an X Games 2021 Rookie and is the youngest person named to the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Sports and Entertainment list. Gu, who is American-born but representing China, got her start as a freeskiing grom at Northstar, CA, and as a part of the USASA North Tahoe Series. She quickly climbed the USASA ranks, winning her first Open Class National Championships at 13. It was around this time that Gu made the decision to compete for China to bring awareness and representation to other AAPI and Chinese athletes. Gu, who has graced the pages of Vogue, ELLE, InSyle, Cosmopolitan and is a global ambassador for Victoria’s Secret and Tiffany & Co, said that the decision to represent China wasn’t entirely well-received and that the racist and spiteful comments spiked again along with the rise in Asian hate crimes.
Created: 01 December 2021
USASA is excited to announce Wild Mike’s Ultimate Pizza as the USASA Regional Event Series title sponsor. Based in Clackamas, Oregon, Wild Mike’s is a family-run business that makes all-natural, no artificial anything pizza and cheesy bread (Gluten-Free too!). Wild Mike’s Ultimate Pizza is served in 10,000 K-12 schools and grocery stores nationwide, which means that in every region USASA hosts events, you’ll be able to find Wild Mike’s Ultimate Pizza in your local grocery store’s freezer aisle. Additionally, Series Directors will be armed with Wild Mike’s Pizza coupons giving members discounts on pizza (and free pizza coupons too!!).
“We are beyond thrilled to partner with Wild Mike’s Ultimate Pizza and introduce an all-natural pizza to our members and their families. Our shared values of commitment to community and healthy living make Wild Mike’s a perfect partner for USASA." Michael Mallon, USASA Executive Director said.
Created: 20 October 2021
SafeSport Education & Screening
Compliance standards, legislative oversight of SafeSport education and third-party background screening now require that all USASA adult members also hold a US Ski & Snowboard membership in the same membership category they are represented in at USASA. Once SafeSport adult compliance requirements are met US Ski & Snowboard will notify USASA and your USASA membership will become active. These new standards provide National Governing Body oversight for adult members and allow for a more transparent, secure, and safe system for our athletes.
Created: 17 August 2021
Telluride native Lucas Foster is on the verge of something big. Photo: US Snowboard Team/Mike Dawsey
Lucas Foster is the newest member of the US Snowboard Team’s Pro halfpipe squad, but not so long ago he was climbing the ranks of the snowboard circuit -- cutting his teeth at the Southwest Colorado Series, scoring some Rev Tour starts (and podiums) and working his way from Rookie Team member to Pro team member with a career-best 6th place World Cup finish at the 2021 Grand Prix. And at 21 years old, he’s the youngest and the newest member of USASA’s Executive Board.
We got a chance to catch up with Lucas and reminisce about his days as an up-and-coming USASA grom, the benefits of being resourceful and why it’s important to give back to USASA and snowboarding while he’s still actively competing and a change maker in the sport.
Created: 04 August 2021
Eighteen months ago, Inland Northwest Series freeskier, Elyse Byrd won the 2020 Woodward Progression Award and was beyond hyped to head to Woodward Copper for a week of freeskiing, airbag jumping and foam pit flipping. Due to Covid-19, 2020 summer camp turned in to 2021 summer camp and despite the full year of anticipation, Woodward Copper lived up to the hype, leaving Elyse with a new bag of tricks and a renewed stoke for the 2021/22 USASA season. Oh and Elyse also managed to earn herself a new pair of K2 skis in the Woodward Jump Jam and was the GoPro Award Winner for session 8 while getting to ski alongside some of her heroes in the sport like Joss Christensen, Alex Ferreira, Colby Stevenson, and Alex Hall.
