Freestyle Ski Team reflects on 25 years of getting big air

When the Whitefish Freestyle Ski Team first hit the slopes more than a quarter century ago, most of the current team members were years away from being born.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the adventurous local organization, which has helped hundreds of young athletes — including skiing stars like Maggie Voisin and Adam Delorme — advance their ski jumping, snowboard tricks and overall abilities on the snow.

The team got its start thanks to Steve Knox, who remains a part of the organization as the president of Whitefish Freestyle Inc., the nonprofit that provides scholarships for athletes and other financial support to the team.

But in the true spirit of freestyling, the team’s 25th anniversary is a little subjective.

Knox technically started training young freestyle skiers on Big Mountain more than 25 years ago, but the group has designated 2021 as the official marker of 25 years as a full-fledged ski squad.

These days, there’s no mistaking the massive influence of the Freestyle Team on the slopes of Big Mountain.

In spite of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic this ski season, the Freestyle Team nonetheless has 152 skiers and snowboarders on its roster of athletes ages 8 to 18.

That’s up from 122 participants the year before, and a huge increase from the 36 athletes who trained under Head Coach Connie Parks when she first joined the team nine years ago. In fact, Parks said, participation numbers have consistently broken records every year she’s been with the organization, and over the last four years, interest in the Freestyle Team has skyrocketed.

“I think that it’s really enticing to kids in our valley,” Parks said as she reflected on the growth of the program.

The team attracts athletes from as far away as Polson, Libby and, in past years, Canada. This year, even with 16 coaches and one substitute coach, Parks said they had to cap registration around 150 athletes in order to continue providing specialized instruction for young skiers and boarders.

“I think that a lot of the allure is the fact that the coaching is so top-notch,” Parks said.

And it certainly helps that the sport is just plain fun.

FREESTYLE SKIING encompasses a broad assortment of activities on the slopes, from pulling tricks in engineered terrain parks to weaving through trees in the backcountry.

Athletes on the Whitefish team have the option to focus on getting big air on jumps, carving quickly through banked slaloms or perfecting their form to make it down any on-piste or off-piste terrain in and around Big Mountain.

“It encompasses quite a lot as far as what an athlete wants to learn, perform and get better at,” Parks explained.

She said the team is a great option for young skiers who have progressed past ski school and even learned to outski their parents; the team gives little rippers the opportunity to continue to improve and ride around with others in their age and skill range.

On the team, athletes work on perfecting their basics, becoming aware of how their bodies move — on skis and in the air — and understanding the interactions between their equipment and the mountain.

During preseason, they do dryland conditioning and practice gymnastic movements on trampolines. Once the lifts start running, there are Friday, Saturday and Sunday sessions on Big Mountain that focus on different elements of freestyling.

The goal, Parks stressed, is to teach young riders to practice safety and gain a lifelong passion for snow sports.

If they find themselves atop a podium along the way, all the better.

“We definitely encourage all of our athletes to compete, but it’s not a requirement,” Parks said.

WHITEFISH MOUNTAIN Resort usually offers about eight freestyle competitions every season, from rail jams, to banked slaloms, to ski/boarder cross races. Some of the team members travel around the region competing in plenty of other freestyle contests, too.

But if it sounds like freestyle skiing could be an expensive activity, it’s true.

“All this stuff adds up pretty quickly,” Parks acknowledged.

That’s why Whitefish Freestyle Inc. holds a fundraiser every year to provide scholarships to athletes who need financial support to participate on the team. Their scholarship program promises to cover half the cost of annual team membership for all families that apply.

The funds raised also go to support coaches’ education, subsidize travel costs and registration fees for events at other mountains, and pay for other financial needs associated with the team.

This year, the fundraiser and 25th anniversary will be rolled into Whitefish Mountain’s Corn Cup Slopestyle event scheduled for March 27.

T-shirts with the special 25th anniversary logo will be available for sale, and there will be a raffle drawing for prizes donated from local businesses after the awards ceremony for the slopestyle competition.

The COVID-19 pandemic put a slight damper on the celebration, but Parks hinted Freestyle Team leaders like Steve Knox might still pull a few tricks before the anniversary is over.

For more information about the Whitefish Freestyle Ski Team, visit https://skiwhitefish.com/freestyle-team/

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.