Vermont is Where Top Athletes Thrive

Vermont has a rich history of skiing greats, from the ’52 Olympic gold medals by Andrea Mead Lawrence from Rutland, to notable ski clubs and today’s US Ski Team being represented by 17 Vermonters. In fact, Vermonters account for a solid 12.5% of the overall US ski and snowboard teams.

Athletes do not start at the podium, however. Years of training under the right coaches and curriculum over ideal training terrain are integral to this achievement – and Vermont is a hub for both. In fact, Vermont is the birthplace of American ski academies and espouses seven ski academies, more than the rest of New England combined.

Vermont’s Ski Academies Include:Burke Mountain Academy, Green Mountain Valley School, Killington Mountain School, Mount Mansfield Winter Academy, Mount Snow Academy, Stratton Mountain School and Okemo Mountain School.
 
Individual Resort Information:

Burke Mountain
BurkeMountain is the home of Burke Mountain Academy, one of the most highly acclaimed ski academy in the country, with over 47 Olympians to its credit. Since 1970, over 100 BMA graduates have been members of the US Ski Team or skied on other National Teams.

Mad River Glen
  Mad River Glen’s Lars Ayers Crowned Freeskiing World Champ: Vermonter and lifelong Mad River Glen skier Lars Chickering-Ayers took first place at the 2010 Freeskiing World Championships at Snowbird, UT. This win came just a couple of weeks after another Vermonter and Mad River Glen-raised skier, Dylan Crossman– a close friend of Chickering-Ayers – took first place at the podium at the North American Freeskiing Championships at Kirkwood, CA. Both events are part of the Freeskiing World Tour, and they feature some of the most talented and aggressive alpine freeskiers on the planet.

Middlebury Snow Bowl
The Bowl and Rikert Touring Center are home to the Middlebury College Alpine and Nordic ski teams.  Although a DIII school, Middlebury competes in DI skiing in the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Assoc. and is competitive on the national level against large universities with scholarship athletes.  Middlebury is traditionally one of the top nonscholarship schools at the NCAA meet.

The NE Bill Koch festival will bring 4-500 young nordic racers to the Carroll and Jane Rikert Touring Center at the Middlebury College Breadloaf Campus in Ripton on Feb. 26-27, 2011.

Okemo Mountain Resort
Many successful athletes have trained on the slopes of Okemo Mountain Resort as students at Okemo Mountain School. OMS students are highly motivated individuals and the school addresses the needs of these talented skiers and snowboarders, grades 7 through 12, by providing them with an opportunity to train daily and work toward their competitive athletic goals while maintaining high academic standards.

Academics are a priority during the intense, full-time training and competition schedule. Instructional time is designed with a low student-to-faculty ratio, allowing students to excel at subjects they might otherwise find challenging. The coaching that OMS students receive is unparalleled. An experienced staff of alpine, freeride and snowboard coaches sees to it that each student athlete reaches his or her own personal competitive potential. For athletic training, Okemo Mountain Resort provides on-hill time to the school.

The opportunities for personal growth at OMS are endless. Students at OMS are immersed in an atmosphere encouraging respect for self, peers, and community as well as perseverance and responsibility. http://www.okemomountainschool.org/

Visit Okemo’s online press kit.

Smugglers’ Notch Resort
Smugglers’ Notch Ski and Snowboard Club (SNSC), headquartered at the base of  Smugglers’ Notch Resort’s Sterling mountain, has been the training ground for the ski careers of many Olympians, National Team members, pro ski racers and college athletes. SNSC started in 1959, not as SNSC, but as the Madonna Racing Team back when Smugglers’ Notch was known as Madonna Mountain. Well-known ski coach Mickey Cochran along with his sons and daughters formed the racing team. Skiers came from all around to be coached by Mickey and to be a part of a unique family-oriented program, which offered the highest quality training and coaching at an inexpensive rate. In 1975 SNSC became a not-for-profit organization with the goal to provide competitive skiing opportunities to youth, and the club celebrated its 50^th anniversary last summer. Currently the club offers training and competitive opportunities in alpine skiing, freestyle skiing and snowboarding.

Stowe’s Mount Mansfield Ski & Snowboard Club
A Rich Heritage of Alpine Excellence: The Mt. Mansfield Ski Club (MMSC) was founded in the 1920's and incorporated in 1934 as a non-profit, non-promotional organization whose purpose was to provide, maintain and improve skiing facilities on the eastern side of Mt. Mansfield.

Spurred on by the dedication and talents of Sepp Ruschp and CV Starr, MMSC grew into an amateur ski organization which served as the official sponsor of sanctioned competitive events. While ski and snowboard competition is a major focus of our club, coaching and the Junior Ski and Snowboard Programs have produced literally countless world-class winter athletes over nearly a century.

Some notable skiers include Billy Kidd, Chip Knight, Tiger Shaw, Peter Ruschp, Tanner Rainville, Jimmy Cochran and Ron Biederman. Some notable snowboarders includeBud Keene, Jenner Richards, Zach Leach, Kyle Clancy, Travis Kennedy, Jake Blauvelt, Colin Langlois and Ty Walker.

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