Over three days with temperatures reaching the 60s, 100 men and women moguls skiers competed in the 2022 U.S. Freestyle Ski Championships. Athletes said afterward they enjoyed the community presence, soft snow and fun atmosphere.
Slader Rodman, representing Park City Ski and Snowboard, said he always enjoys staying local.
“Everyone comes here,” said Slader Rodman, representing Park City Ski and Snowboard. “It’s just super sick to have your friends and family come up and watch you and hype you up and scream your name at the bottom. It’s super fun.”
The championships were supposed to take place at Lake Tahoe. But the venue was changed to Deer Valley earlier this month when organizers determined there wouldn’t be enough snow. Although his spirits were high, Rodman said he would have also enjoyed a trip to California to compete.
Skiers from Colorado, Park City and Tahoe dominated the podiums.
After earning her second first place award of the weekend, Tess Johnson of Vail paid her respects to the course.
“Duals day is always good vibes - everyone’s having fun and sending it, so it was a great day,” she said. “This Champion course is notorious for being the steepest, most challenging, kind of gnarly course in the world, so to have it be a little bit softer was nice on the body, and it just made for some more fun skiing.”
Rodman also liked the conditions.
“We love our slush bumps,” he said. “It’s, like, so rippin’ - racers like their hard ice, mogul skiers love their slush bumps. It’s so deep, it’s so soft, less impact on the back and knees, and you can just send it down the mountain.”
In the men’s category, Oliver Smith took first in duals, followed by Ryan Tam and Charlie Mickel. In men’s singles, Mickel took first, Tristan Cayolle second, and Tyler Damore came in third.
Behind Johnson, two Park City Ski & Snowboard athletes, Lulu Shaffer and Sami Worthington, took second and third, respectively, in duals.
Another Park City athlete, August Davis, took second in singles, followed by Worthington, who also took third in singles.
The race was the final International Ski Federation freestyle moguls competition of the season.
For full results, visit fis-ski.com.
