Newsletter #1 from the United States Ski Mountaineering Association

Welcome to the first email newsletter from the United States Ski Mountaineering Association! This newsletter will serve to inform you of events, races, results, and information from the USSMA, and will be a regular mailing from the USSMA to you. We are striving to improve communication from the USSMA to the racing community to keep you up-to-date on the sport as well as what is happening here at the USSMA.

The 2015 World Championships were held in Verbier, Switzerland February 5-12. The United States was represented by 6 women (Lindsay Plant, Jessie Young, Sarah Cookler, McKenna Douglas, Meredith Edwards, and Jari Kirkland) and 13 men (John Gaston, Tom Goth, Jason Dorais, Scott Simmons, Max Taam, Eric Carter, Jon Brown, Teague Holmes, Andy Dorais, Rory Kelly, Billy Laird, Colin Cares, and Matt Burgunder), as well as coach Chad Brackelsberg and Ski Techs/all-around-excellent-gentlemen Logan Cookler and Brian Edmiston. Through some incredibly tough racing, the US had an excellent showing, and continued to narrow the gap to the top european racers. Notable finishes include 5 americans in the top 30 for the sprint event (Andy Dorais, Max Taam, Jessie Young, Sarah Cookler, and Jari Kirkland), 3 women in the top 30 for the vertical (Lindsay Plant, Meredith Edwards, and Jari Kirkland), 5 in the top 30 for the individual (John Gaston, Lindsay Plant, Jessie Young, Sarah Cookler, and Meredith Edwards), 5 teams in the top 15 for the teams event (Jessie Young/Lindsay Plant, Meredith Edwards/McKenna Douglas, Sarah Cookler/Jari Kirkland, Tom Goth/Jason Dorais, Max Taam/John Gaston), and a 10th (men) and 5th (women) place in the relay event. Overall, the US ended up 10th overall for the national classification. It was a great showing for the US team!

USSMA CUP: The USSMA cup winners for the 2014/2015 season are Max Taam and Stevie Kremer! For the men, Max was followed closely by John Gaston (2nd) and Jon Brown (3rd). Stevie was followed up by Jessie Young (2nd) and Lindsay Plant (3rd). These athletes all took home some hard earned cash, with winners each receiving $600, second place $300, and third $100. The USSMA cup was based on points earned at a select number of events (Irwin Guides/Griggs Orthopedics ISMF race presented by Millet, The Wyoming Roundup, The Heathen Challenge, CROWBAR, the Five Peaks, The Power of Four, The Wasatch Powder Keg, and The Crested Butte US Championships). We would like to thank the sponsors of the USSMA cup- Voile, Gore-Tex, La Sportiva, CAMP USA, and Dynafit, for their support of the National Series!!! We couldn't have done it without you!

We are proud to announce the election of Teague Holmes and Janelle Smiley as the male and female athlete representatives for the USSMA board. These two bring a wealth of experience in ski mountaineering, and are both incredible athletes and people. Teague and Janelle will serve to represent the racing community in board decisions, so if there is something you as a racer want, please let them know!

East Coast: One of our best natural snow seasons ever on the East Coast was also coupled with our best skimo season ever. Racer starts in the four-venue NE Rando Race Series were up by over threefold from the prior season. And even netting out the impact of the 106-racer Mount Greylock 100% backcountry race, starts were up by over 50% over the prior three-year average. The Northern Vermont independent races of Burke, Jay Peak (with an outstandingly challenging course laid out by the Dynafit rep Jeff Rivest), and Mad River Valley once again attracted both the strong plus rapidly growing Massachusetts contingent (led by Jerimy Arnold) and the strong plus rapidly growing Quebec contingent (led by George Visser, both on our side of the border and at the Quebec races organized by Jeff Rivest).

Over the years, skintrack.com has grown to be one of the best resources for skimo news, gear reviews, and information. Stano Faban (the creator of skintrack.com) and Eric Carter also recently teamed up to create the manual for ski mountaineering racing and training, an excellent guide to ski mountaineering racing and training. We are proud to announce that skintrack.com has become a sponsor of the USSMA by providing the manual to junior racers and clubs to help the sport grow! Please check out the manual on the skintrack.com website and help support the continued growth of junior development programs in the US by purchasing your copy today!