Trip Recap: Seiser Alm, Italy

In January, a few members of our freeski team traveled to Italy for an international park skiing competition, and the trip was both challenging and rewarding. Between training, competition, and experiencing a new culture, everyone came away with valuable lessons.

For Finley, the trip was a great opportunity to progress in training. She worked on cork sevens and switch cork fives on back-to-back jumps, along with technical rail tricks like unnatural switch lip-ons and natural switch two-ons. Even though the competition results weren’t what she hoped for, the training sessions made the trip worthwhile.

Griffin experienced the excitement—and nerves—of competing internationally. Skiing near the Dolomites on a challenging terrain park pushed him outside his comfort zone, but landing his tricks during his run made him proud to be competing at that level.

Shane used the event to measure himself against the European field. During training he even stepped up his run with a double cork 16, though he fell on both competition runs. The experience showed him that consistency will be key to staying competitive moving forward.

For Sully, the event was his first Europa Cup. Unfortunately, he dislocated his shoulder during practice and couldn’t compete, but seeing the level of tricks being thrown helped him understand what it takes to compete at the NorAm and Europa Cup level.

Off the mountain, the team enjoyed one of the best parts of Italy—its food. Evenings were spent at local restaurants sharing pasta and pizza, relaxing after long days on the slopes, and bonding as a team.

While not every result went as planned, the trip was a valuable experience that helped the athletes grow, push their skiing, and gain motivation for the competitions ahead.