Trips! A Report from the Field

Our inaugural Trips program (click HERE if you missed that post) is underway, with five groups afield for their fourth day of experiential learning. Thank you to Steve Ascher for sending daily photo updates of the Owens River Gorge trip. Live vicariously on the small screen!

Intuition, Freeskier Feature SBA Artistry

 

The photographic and skiing artistry of SBA student-athletes Skyler Mullings ('16) and Drew Hartley ('13) were featured recently in Freeskier magazine.

Mullings photographed Hartley airborne near Rainbow Bridge, and Hartley's sponsor Intuition liked the photo so much it ended up on a full-page advertisement for the boot liners in Freeskier. 

Thanks to Skyler Mullings for the following comments about his passion for his artistic pursuits...

"Videography and photography are both great ways to capture a great moment. It's easy to go out there, purchase a camera, and start snapping photos, but the way that you capture that moment and display it to your viewers is the creative aspect of it. My goal is that everything I release has a creative aspect to it and can't be duplicated by someone else out there. I'd like my work to be different, unique. In this case, though, the athlete is the one with the creativity. A big thanks to Drew Hartley's sponsor, Intuition, and to Drew himself for arranging this photo to be used as an ad!" - Skyler Mullings ('16)

"A Strong Argument for Domination"

SBA Freeeride occupying two of three spots on the
podium at Alpine Meadows, with
Isaac Freeland finishing first and Drew Hartley third

Team Freeride is fresh off one of its most successful comp weekends in history, having harvested an array of podium hardware from their trip to Alpine Meadows. While SBA's Isaac Freeland ('13) and Xander Guldman ('16) both took first-place honors, SBA athletes were represented on every podium at the Tahoe Junior Freeride Series competition.

Those of you receiving Fighting Marmot posts via email feed may not see the embedded videos of both Freeland's and Guldman's winning runs at Alpine below, so be sure to view them at the SBA blog site (HERE). It is some truly sublime skiing.

Congratulations to Team Freeride, and thank you to Coach Tanhoff for the following rundown of the weekend's medal haul.

"SBA Freeriders made a strong argument for domination this weekend at Alpine Meadows, Tahoe Junior Freeride Series Stop #2! SBA athletes were on every podium. Xander Guldman put down a very high energy second run on Sunday to not only claim first place for the event but also to lock down the TJFS season title. Isaac Freeland was able to cruise into first place Sunday after jumping out to a 4.5 point lead on Saturday with a mind-blowing run which included two massive airs and clean, smooth skiing in between. Erika Klenk found the podium with consistent, aggressive skiing that put her in second! Sydney Gradeff continued her transition into Big Mountain competition with a solid third place. Drew Hartley continues his rise to the top with a solid third place in a very difficult older-boys field. The freeriders move over to Squaw Valley this week for a national IFSA event with confidence and momentum!" - Freeride Coach Trevor Tanhoff

Valentine's Day Serenades at SBA

SBA Student Council officers delivered customized Valentine's Day serenades to raise funds for this year's senior trip to Disneyland. The performers made quite a splash on campus, and not only for their singing, as can be seen here...

Freeriders Defend Home Snow

Congratulations to SBA's Xander Guldman, who has started the freeride comp season with a pair of podium-worthy performances. Thank you, too, to Head Coach Trevor Tanhoff for the following report of freeride marmots competing last weekend on home snow... 

Team Freeride

"The Sugar Bowl Academy Freeride Team defended home turf well this last weekend with a pair of first-place podiums and four skiers in the top five! With over 130 skiers in the field, the competition was fierce. Xander Guldman and Sydney Gradeff took home top honors and some confidence going into next weekend's second stop at Squaw Valley. Drew Hartley and Isaac Freeland wowed the crowd with their big lines, but each had small control issues that cost them the podium. Louis Norris continued his strong showings this year with a fourth place in a stacked age division. Ian Scott redeemed himself after a bobble at Snowbird with a fifteenth-place finish here at home. Carly Gradeff and Erika Klenk had strong showings and undoubtedly will come out hungry at the next two stops at Squaw Valley and Regional Championships at Alpine Meadows." - Coach Trevor Tanhoff

Scene OFF Campus Pic of the Day

It's day two of Team Freeride's first comp of the season at Snowbird, and while there are no results to report just yet, Marmot Man did receive this photo from team manager and parent Barb Hartley (mother of Drew, '13). After Isaac Freeland's run Sunday, three Chilean girls asked to have their photo taken with him.  

UPDATE! Results are in! Coach Trevor Tanhoff has notified me that SBA's Xander Guldman finished second in the Boys 12-14 age group while Drew Hartley took third in the Boys 15-18 age bracket. Both Erika Klenk (15-18) and Carly Gradeff (12-14) placed sixth for their respective age groups. Congratulations Fighting Marmots on a strong start to the season! 

Is Santa an Alpiner? Nord? Freerider?

The raging debate (well, at least for the sake of this post) on the SBA campus regarding Santa's skiing druthers was finally put to rest at SBA's Christmas formal dinner at Village Hall.

As the image here clearly shows, Santa is most definitely (well, maybe just for this year) a freerider.

A collective and giant community "thank you!" also goes out today to the SBA Marmot Moms of the month (below) who made our most festive table settings ever, and who also donated new linens (tablecloths and napkins) to the school for our formal dinner events. 

Marmot Moms of the Month Mary Beth Larusson, Gale Klenk, Deb Plant, Barb Hartley,
Jennifer Blide, Paige Carroll, Sonja Harris, Seana Doherty
(Photos by Andy Giordano)

Forgotten Footage

Here is some forgotten footage from our first big snow day, featuring SBSTF Executive Director Bill Hudson on the snow plow...

Scene on Campus Pic of the Day

Fall Festival Piñata Bashing

Powered by Pancakes

Student Council's annual pancake fund raiser at Sugar Bowl Resort's Village Hall Sunday netted over $400 toward campus activities this year.

"Thanks to all the student-athletes who volunteered to help out and to the Ski Team families for their support," said Student Council Advisor Aly Kendall. "It was a lot of fun for everybody!"

Hartley Siblings Top Balloting at Student Council Elections

A heartwarming photo greeted student-athletes as they filed into 102 today for Student Council elections.

Taken well before their Fighting Marmot days, the photo showed big brother Drew - Captain of SBA Team Freeride - draping an arm affectionately over the shoulder of little sister, Camille, an SBA Nordic ski racer. 

"Vote Hartley," the campaign poster declared. No exclamation point needed: Camille's upraised thumb said it all. 

The brother-sister duo was elected President (Drew) and Vice President (Camille) today at All School Meeting after delivering a campaign speech they had co-authored as a poem to the student body (stay tuned for the text of the speech to be published). 

Congratulations also to Chuck Klein and Daisy Schadlich, who were elected Secretary and Treasurer, respectively, and to all of the candidates for having the courage to run for office and for the strength of their speeches. 

"The speeches today from all of the candidates were the best I have heard during my time as Student Council Advisor," said Aly Kendall. "It's exciting to see our students show so much interest in leadership roles within our community, and I look forward to working with the newly elected leaders on campus as they plan community-building and charitable activities for our student body."

Student Council membership is open to all student-athletes and depends on their participation and creativity for its success. 

"We are looking forward to lots of Marmot participation this year," said Aly. "All are welcome."

Spirit Week's Safari Day on Film

Scene on Campus Photo of the Day, 4/18

With spring here and the temperatures rising, reading block is an outdoor affair. 

Hartley Wins Gibbs Sportsmanship Award

Congratulations go today to SBA Student-Athlete Drew Hartley, recipient of the 2012 SBST Sportsmanship Award.

Established in 1997, the award honors SBA Founder Tricia Hellman Gibbs and is given to one boy and one girl on the Sugar Bowl Ski Team who has shown the greatest commitment to sportsmanship, to helping other athletes, and to serving as a role model.

Drew's name will be engraved on a trophy that lives in Village Hall. He will also receive a small scholarship toward school tuition.

“Drew has been an outstanding member of the Sugar Bowl Academy community this year," said Head of School Tracy Keller.

"As captain of the freeride team, he consistently sets a positive example for skiers of all ages acting as a role model day in and day out.”

Scene on Campus Photo of the Day, 3/27

Hats on Day!

Hartley, Freeland Take Top Two on Home Snow

The following report of Marmot mastery of snow comes from Barbara Hartley. Thanks, Barb, and congratulations to Drew, Isaac, and the rest of the SBST gnar shredders!

***

The first stop of the Tahoe Junior Freeride Series took place at Sugar Bowl this weekend. The Academy boys were on fire with Drew and Issac battling it out for first place. At the end of the day on Saturday, Issac was in the lead with a score of 42.5. Drew was running in a close second with a score of 42.25, while the third place competitor was a good two points back. 

Drew Hartley's winning runs at Sugarbowl from Starfish Films on Vimeo.

On day two, Issac pulled off an amazing run and it looked like he was going to be taking home the gold. Under blackening skies and increasing winds, Drew managed to stay calm and pulled off the highest scoring run of the weekend, claiming top honors with Issac a very close second. It was a great weekend of competing and super fun to watch our Academy boys go head to head all weekend long. The Freeride team had three other older boys finish in the top ten with Emmett Seely in 7th, Conner Fournier in 9th and Kyle Fowler in 10th.

Drew and Isaac's friendly rivalry is pushing their skiing to new heights! Neither of them would be where they are at without the other. The confidence gained this past weekend should carry right into national competition starting at the end of the month. - Coach Trevor

Sugar Bowl’s Xander Guldman dominated the younger boys age group by taking first place in a very competitive field with a winning score of 40.125, a good 4 points above his next competitor.


Congratulations also goes out to Ali Lawton for taking third place in the girls 15-17 age group and to Carly Gradeff for her 5th place win in the girls 11-14 year age group.


To learn more about the Tahoe Junior Freeride Series go to tahoejuniorfreerideseries.com. The next stop of the series will be at Squaw Valley on February 25th and 26th. Come out and watch a great event! The stakes will be high as the Squaw Valley athletes are going to be working hard to keep Sugar Bowl off the podium.

Hartley and High Fives = Neck Gators

Today the High Fives Nonprofit Foundation's sporty neck gators were all the rage. Here are a couple of looks that students tried on for size...

Role Play Today at SBA

Joanne Knox submitted the following photo of a Humanities class production. Said Joanne: "Students are reading Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson, a story that deals with the bucolic town of Dawson's Landing, Missouri around the time of the Civil War. Students today presented skits incorporating plot elements, characterization, and textual support in costume."

SBA - TV en español

SBA - TV en español reporters conduct surveys on the following - yes, somewhat random - questions: 

*Have you ever skied in Europe?

*Have you ever kissed a frog? 

International Freeskiers Association Showcases SBA's Hartley

Congratulations to Drew Hartley on being selected by the International Freeskiers Association (IFSA) as "The Unofficial Pick of the Week" for this week. I am told that this link will go down after this week to make way for the next Pick of the Week, so here are the screen captures along with a GoPro video that was posted on the site showcasing Drew's mastery of the mountain.