Big Sky Ski Team

Trees, Bumps & Jumps

At the recent BSSEF awards dinner, the coaches highlighted the individual accomplishments of many of the younger (YSL/Buddy Werner) athletes. I wanted to share this particular award for two reasons:

• First of all, It illustrates that, while ski racing is a foundational element of the BSSEF program, the over-arching focus is on skiing.
• Second, this clip reflects Geoff McDonald's infectious enthusiasm for the kids in the program.

(Disclosure: Sean Bayless is my son.  I may be biased.)

BSSEF Awards Dinner

The BSSEF had its annual awards dinner this past Sunday to recognize the accomplishments of all the team's athletes over the past season.  It was a beautiful day to share recent memories and say goodbye to friends until next winter.

Development Team members Andrew Kircher and Madison Bildahl were singled out for their stellar performances on the race course.  In addition, Geoff McDonald and the other coaches acknowledged the accomplishments of Caitlin Klatt and Derek Hetherington, who had terrific overall ski seasons as participants in the YSL/Buddy Werner program.

Special awards were given to Sam Brelsford for his love of freeskiing, Cecil Vaughn for his consistently great attitude, Silver Brelsford for her team spirit, Alexa Coyle for the progress of her technical skills, Valerie Hetherington for her aggressiveness on the race course, and to Sylvie Henry for the strides she made in her skiing and racing this year.