SKI & SNOWBOARD TEAM
President IVAN IJZERMAN | iijzerman@ucsd.edu
Treasurer LANCIA CARSON | l1carson@ucsd.edu
Vice President ACHINTYA JANARDHAN | ajanardhan@ucsd.edu
Instagram 
| @ucsdskiteam
Youtube | @UCSD Ski and Snowboard Team
The UCSD Ski and Snowboard team is a competitive team that competes in the USCSA Southwest Collegiate Conference. Some of these schools include CSULB, SDSU, UCLA, and USC.
We hold recruitment in the Fall and the competitive season during the Winter Quarter. Practices are held at Big Bear and Mammoth Mountain. Our competitions are all over the Southwest including Mt High, China Peak, and Mammoth. Events include GS, Slalom, Railjam, Slopestyle, and Skier/Boarder Cross.
If you have any questions about the team, racing, or anything else message us on Instagram @ucsdski or by email at snowski.ucsd@gmail.com
NEWS AND RESULTS
Stay tuned for updates about upcoming events!
3/7/26 USCSA Nationals
Although the week got off to a rocky start with a popped tire on the rental car slowing our athletes’ arrival to Lake Placid, the team pulled it together and had a stellar week competing and participating in the 
USCSA Nationals Festivities.
The opening ceremony was a blast, and our team did our best to represent UCSD well, displaying a majestic poster hand painted by Jordan as we walked out cheering onto the ice. We all enjoyed the opening ceremony dinner, and joined our fellow competitors on the skating rink afterwards.
Day 1 was qualifiers for men’s ski and snowboard rail jam for Ivan Ben and AJ. Competition was steep, showcasing just how dramatic the skill level increase has been in USCSA in recent years, with several athletes attempting single and even double backflips off the rail jam features. Despite the challenge and mushy conditions, AJ rose to the challenge and qualified for the next round. AJ finished in 4th place for rail jam and 8th place in slope style.
The rest of the week the team was excited to both compete and support their friends from UCSD and other colleges. Like for this year’s regionals, better conditions allowed us to really appreciate Whiteface in contrast to the previous Lake P nationals. The whole squad was able to take a few laps to the top together between competitions and events and got a much better taste of what east coast skiing is really about.
For men's ski cross, Ivan demolished the competition for several rounds, landing a spot in 6th nationally. Inez and Lancia also competed in women’s board and ski cross, both qualifying for the round of 64 and gaining key experience in an event only available at nationals.
Day trips to both Montreal and NYC provided team bonding opportunities and the chance to explore two amazing cities. In Montreal we sampled the local cuisine (poutine) and visited many interesting landmarks, such as the giant dodo bird statue. In New York, Luca showed us around her neighborhood, and we had the chance to take rental bikes across a bridge and get an amazing view of the city.
2/26/26 USCSA Regionals
Bear Valley Regionals saw the culmination of all our teams effort and progression this winter season. Skiers and boarders tore up the slopes Friday through Sunday and got the chance to explore Bear Valley in much better conditions that we had last year, gaining the opportunity to appreciate the mountain in its fullest capacity.
The drive was long, but gave us the chance to really appreciate California. Some of our members were able to visit Yosemite on the way up, seeing the waterfall and hiking before continuing onward towards the competition.
The Friday slopestyle park was the perfect setup for beginners and more advanced riders alike, with significantly more approachable features compared to China Peak, and jumps that allowed our members to safely attempt new tricks. Inez and Lancia scored outstanding competitor distinctions, allowing them to qualify for nationals as freestyle athletes.
Saturday started with GS races and ended with rail jam and a cookout put on by the league where many hot dogs were eaten. Addi placed 3rd for GS and Ivan qualified for nationals securing the outstanding competitor spot. The mens snowboard squad was also successful, with AJ placing first for rail jam. Ben also qualified for nationals with an outstanding competitor award for men's freeski.
Sunday's slalom was a rough one, with bad weather limiting the race to only one run, and a roof box malfunction preventing several team members from competing. Regardless, overall the weekend was a success, with several athletes qualifying for Lake Placid Nationals, and a fun weekend overall. Special shoutout to Erin for letting us celebrate her 21st with her at the cabin.
2/5/26 Arizona Snowbowl practice weekend
Despite the competition being cancelled due to insufficient snow to build a ski cross course, the team travelled to Flagstaff for a practice weekend. In addition to skiing at Snowbowl, we also visited Sedona to hike and the Grand Canyon to take in the beautiful scenery. While the snow was slushy, the Snowbowl parks proved great places for skiers and snowboarders to practice rails. Several of us spent a few hours hiking up to lap certain features. We were also lucky enough to spot some wildlife during our sightseeing. On the way to the Grand Canyon, a few cars ran into two massive elk, and later saw a herd of big horn sheep wandering the canyon paths and cliffs. Although we were disappointed not to be able to compete, the weekend ended up being a fantastic adventure.
1/31/26 - China Peak Race 2
This weekend at China Peak, the team settled into the rhythm of competing, with many athletes taking more aggressive lines in the race courses and attempting new tricks on the freestyle side. Friday Slopestyle features were the same as the previous weekend, giving athletes the chance to perfect skills on features they had experience on. AJ took first in Men's Snowboard Slopestyle, as well as Snowboard GS Saturday.
Saturday Giant Slalom also had the podium filled with UC San Diego skiers, with Addi and Jordan taking second and third, respectively on the women's side, and Ivan in second on the men's side. The rail jam setup was more intricate this week, with an added down rail and stair setup that several team members attempted. AJ and Lorenzo took first and third for Men's Snowboard.
Sunday slalom proved difficult for both snowboarders and skiers, with several athletes getting DNF'd or DQ'd. Still, it allowed them to test their technique in challenging conditions, better preparing them for regionals.
1/23/26 - China Peak Race 1
This weekend at China Peak was a strong start to the UC San Diego Ski and Snowboard season. Energy was high for Friday Slopestyle, with blue skies and no serious injuries save for a gnarly black eye for Hannah. Despite the only jump in the competition being ruled unsafe, skiers and boarders braved the China Peak park (A known reaper of souls and ender of seasons) and showcased their skills, with a record number of female skiers representing the Tritons, and AJ taking first for Men's Board Slopestyle.
The snow was hard and fast for Saturday GS, and the course held up well as the athletes readjusted to (or had their first experience) being in gates. Jordan took third for Women's Alpine Ski GS, and AJ took third for Men's Board GS. Rail Jam ran more on schedule than maybe ever in USCSA history, and UC San Diego skiers and boarders sent it hard. Inez and Izzy demolished the blue rail, earning them 2nd and 3rd for Women's Snowboard, respectively. AJ cinched the W for Men's Board, and Ryan secured bronze for Men's Ski with a backie he made look easy, following a four-teammate lead up, to close out the comp.
Sunday Slalom continued the streak of excellence, with Anna and AJ taking third in Women's and Men's Board Slalom, while on the Ski side, Addi locked in and crushed the competition, with four of the other skiers placing top ten between the men and women.
Competition is definitely higher this year with new alpine and park athletes pushing the league to new levels, but the team is back and better than ever for Winter '26. They're already ecstatic to get back to China Peak for next week's comp and mega psyched for what the rest of the season holds.
4/3/25 - Practice Trip at Mammoth Mountain
UCSD’s Ski and Board Team took on Mammoth Mountain April 3 through 6 for the first Spring practice session! Despite a long, late night of driving, the team pushed through bright and early the next morning. The mountain was supposed to be quite cold, making the group more reluctant to get onto the slopes. Thankfully, we were met with some unexpected California sunshine and had a great day. The group lapped on Chair 5 and Chair 3 while the park goers hit Unbound all day long. Since it’s now officially spring skiing, the snow was much softer and more playful than hardpack for the park folk, most of whom were riding dull skis. Everybody hit a few calm warmups to jog the gears before heading to the gondola to hit some of the runs up there. The day of skiing was complete before we knew it, with our legs feeling like noodles from ripping all day long!
On Saturday, we got the whole team together and on the mountain for the first chair. Despite the soreness from Friday, everyone jumped out of bed to attack the slopes. The temperature had hiked up to the 40s, giving us a wonderful day reminiscent more of a San Diego beach than Mammoth Mountain! Skiing from open till close, the adrenaline didn’t stop pumping through our veins.
Sunday kept the momentum going! The last day was a wonderful cooldown after a weekend full of surprisingly great conditions. Everyone went home that evening with a smile on their face, ready to be back for our fourth and final trip to Mammoth this season!
3/9/25 - Nationals @ Mt. Bachelor
The UCSD Ski and Snowboard team competed in the U.S. Collegiate Ski & Snowboard National Championships during March 10–15. The competition was held at Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon, and welcomed hundreds of collegiate athletes from across the country and beyond. All of our athletes who qualified for the national championships knew that this would be the most intense and challenging competition yet, as it was the culmination of a long and rigorous season and featured athletes that we had yet to face.
Nationals began with a full day of training, with our women's alpine team, consisting of Jordan Flood, Lancia Carson, Adelka Hancova, Riley Torgerson, and Emily Wei, honing their skills on the giant slalom course before their competition runs the following day. At the same time, the men's freeski team was training on the skier cross course, learning every trick in the course to perform in both the time trials and group stages. After the training session had concluded, our team participated in the opening ceremony at the main lodge, where each team received a shoutout for their participation, and had the chance to meet teams from far and wide.
Kicking off our first day of competition was our women's alpine team taking on the GS competition. The setting and conditions were ideal, and it was some of our athletes' first taste of a full-length race course. Jordan Flood threw down a combined time of 2:18.91 to put her in the 40th position. Our other racers also put down some solid runs, with Lancia Carson finishing 83rd. Our multi-disciplined athlete, Adelka, competed in both GS and rail jam on day two of the competition. After putting down a run on the GS course, she quickly hurried over so she could compete in the rail jam competition. On the men's side, our freeski team competed in the skier cross competition. After time trials, only Ivan Ijzerman was able to place in the top 64 and qualify through to the group stages. He went on to get second in two heats of the knockout rounds, bringing him into the top 16 before getting eliminated.
Wednesday was met with more great conditions and heightened spirits from the members of our team. Our women's alpine had their chance to compete in skier cross, while our men's freeski team focused on their rail jam session. Three of our four competitors made it past the time trials after placing in the top 64 of the women's athletes. While two dropped out after the first round, Lancia Carson was able to place in the top two of her first heat making it into the top 32 competitors. Men's rail jam was a sight to see. What an environment it was, getting to witness some of the most daring athletes attempt tricks you would never expect to see. Benjamin Scheerger showed an incredible performance with some front swaps on a down-flat-down rail as well as some 270s off a pipe, putting him just outside the top 20 in 21st place. For Seiji Minowada and Ivan Ijzerman, they were both able to complete a smooth grind on the DFD which neither had previously attempted.
Our last day of competition meant the last day to represent UCSD in front of the national stage. The women's alpine team competed in slalom, which was difficult due to the weather as there was heavy snowfall. This meant low visibility when going through the course, adding a level of difficulty for all the competitors. Jordan Flood came on top again for our team, placing 56th. Next, Lancia Carson was able to place in the top 90 competitors with a combined run time of 2:03.29. All of our athletes did finish both runs which goes to show how confident and skilled our athletes are in completing two runs when conditions were far from perfect. The men's freeski team was challenged to be creative and daring in the slopestyle event. With competitors putting on impressive showings, our team had to bring all the stops to solidify our names with the other strong freeski teams. Benjamin Scheerger had a clean second run, scoring a 61.33 after sending a rail into two fat air 360s. Again our team was impressed with the competition and enjoyed the atmosphere around the slopestyle course.
The week concluded with an epic power day where we got to explore the mountain of Mt. Bachelor and catch some sick runs through the dense Oregon trees. After the team did some reflecting on their performances, we were all super stoked with our results and thoroughly enjoyed our week away from San Diego in what felt like a winter wonderland. What a season it has been, where we witnessed some stark improvements across our team. With people with no prior racing experience competing on the national stage, to many of our members becoming comfortable in the park, the growth we have seen has been unprecedented. Nationals was an absolute blast, and we cannot wait to see what the team can accomplish in the coming years.
2/20/25 - Far-West Regionals at China Peak
The UCSD Ski and Board Team took on Regionals at China Peak this past weekend, racing in sunny, spring-like conditions from start to finish. With schools from all over California coming out to compete, we knew this would be our toughest challenge yet.
We kicked things off Friday with slopestyle for snowboarders on a highly technical two-rail, two-jump course. Any slight speed misjudgment meant not clearing the second jump, no room for error. Lorenzo Machicao came in hot with a clean first run, locking down an impressive 3rd-place finish. Not far behind, Alex Brown rode strong, finishing in 7th. Unfortunately, Lorenzo’s second run ended in a nasty fall after attempting a 270-on, continuing 270-off, landing him an unexpected trip to the lovely Fresno hospital. He was sent off in an ambulance, but don’t worry, he’ll be back on the mountain in just a few weeks! Sadly, this means he won’t be representing us at Nationals this year.
Later that afternoon, the snowboarders took on Slalom, with Ollie Fleming securing a solid 7th place finish, just seconds behind the top racers. Meanwhile, the skiers hit the slopestyle course, dealing with slushy conditions and the most competitive field we’ve faced all season. Ben Scheerger threw down a strong run, landing 6th in Men’s Freeski, while Lancia Carson claimed 5th for the women. As the sun set, the action shifted to the skier rail jam, always a fan-favorite event full of flips, spins, and swaps on the mental features. The guys threw down with Sven Neuschul taking 4th and Seiji Minowada right behind in 5th. On the women’s side, Adelka Hancova crushed it, taking home 1st place! What a way to cap off the day.
Saturday was an early start for skiers in Giant Slalom. The Female Alpine squad showed up ready to race, with Jordan Flood throwing down a fast run to take 4th place. With strong performances from Lancia Carson and Chaney Szeto, UCSD secured 2nd place in GS—a huge team effort! The Men’s GS squad wasn’t as lucky, as Ivan Ijzerman took a fall on his first run. After a formal protest of the course, he wasn’t able to put down two times, cutting his alpine runs short. Over on the snowboard side, Ollie once again put on a solid performance, finishing 9th against some stiff competition. As the sun set, the energy ramped up for the snowboard rail jam, where the team threw down on the steel. We wrapped up the night with a banquet dinner and awards, celebrating all the highs of the weekend.
Sunday morning, the final day of competition, had skier slalom on deck. On the Men’s side, Ivan bounced back to secure 10th place in Slalom, wrapping up the weekend on a high note. The Female Alpine squad
had one goal: qualify for Nationals. And they delivered. Jordan dominated the course, finishing 2nd overall. With Lancia and Chaney putting down strong runs, UCSD edged out UCLA by just 0.67 seconds to take the Far West Regional Championship title for Women’s Alpine! That's a huge accomplishment for the team!
Overall, we couldn’t be prouder of this team. The progress over the past year has been unreal, and even with injuries, we’ve managed to throw down top performances in every event. UC San Diego will be sending nine athletes to the Nationals at Mt. Bachelor during Week 10!
2/6/25 - UCSD Shreds Pow, Park, and GS at Mammoth
Oh, what a treat Mammoth was this past weekend! For our third and final regular season race, the UCSD Ski & Snowboard Team made the drive up to snowy Mammoth Mountain and it did not disappoint!
We arrived in the middle of a full-blown winter storm, which unfortunately led to the cancellation of Friday’s Slalom events. But with two feet of fresh snow overnight, no one was complaining! With flakes still falling, the team wasted no time diving into epic powder runs all day Friday. From top-to-bottom laps off Lincoln, to tree lines off Face of 3 and 5, to cliff lines off Waterfall, the squad was absolutely sending it. The snow kept piling up, making for an entire day of storm-riding bliss.
Saturday morning, we woke up to bluebird skies and a beautifully groomed mountain—perfect conditions for a Giant Slalom. The course was fast, fun, and topped with a soft layer of powder. The team showed up and showed out—not a single DNF! Special shoutout to Jordan Flood, who dominated the competition and took first place once again! The UCSD women’s squad crushed it, placing five racers in the top 20—definitely a win in our book. Next up, the men threw down with a stacked roster, and Ivan battled his way to second place for the team! The snowboarders were up next, charging through a fast and technical course. The team cheered them on as they raced their hearts out!
With racing wrapped up, the rest of the crew took advantage of the perfect conditions, lacing up all-mountain laps and getting prepped for slopestyle. With the course already set up, the team dialed in their tricks, practicing our spins, swaps, and grabs in practice. Unfortunately, not all swaps were kind to us—our top freeski athlete took a rough fall and broke his wrist taking him out for the rest of the competition season. Major bummer for the whole squad, but we pushed through the bad news and kept the energy high.
By Sunday morning, the team was locked in for slopestyle. With a two-rail, two-jump setup, the squad was ready to bring the heat. Biggest shoutouts go to Lorenzo Machicao, who threw down two solid runs and claimed first place in men’s snowboarding! Chaney Szeto stomped her runs and took second place in women’s Freeski, and Martina Danieli sent it deep with the biggest air of the day, earning fourth place!
With an unreal weekend to wrap up the regular season, the team is taking a well-earned break before heading back to China Peak for Regionals.
1/26/25 - While Conditions Weren’t Great, Spirits Are High
This past weekend, the UC San Diego Ski and Snowboard Team made the trek to Bear Valley for our second race of the season! With a winter storm rolling in, midterms looming, and the long drive keeping some of the squad home, but those who made it brought the energy.
We kicked things off with slopestyle on Friday, sending it on a fun course set up by the Bear Valley park crew. The landings were soft, the lips were slow, but that didn’t stop us from making the most of it. Ben Scheerger put down a stellar run, just missing the podium by 2.5 points and locking in a solid 4th place finish. As the day wrapped up, the hype was real for what could have been the powder day of the season, with over 30 inches of snow in the forecast. But as the sun set, our dreams melted away. The snow turned to rain, and just like that, the perfect storm became a soggy nightmare.
Saturday morning, we woke up to a grand total of 0 inches of fresh snow and a whole lot of rain. Still, the team rallied for Giant Slalom and Rail Jam, pushing through the wet conditions. In Women’s Ski, Chaney Szeto powered through to take 5th, with Lancia Carson close behind in 8th. With rain dumping all day, we stayed on the hill just long enough to get our runs in before retreating to dry land.
By Sunday, the weather had won with the remaining events being canceled due to poor snow conditions. It wasn’t the weekend we had planned, but we still made the best of it, embracing the weather and getting in as much riding as we could.
Next stop: Mammoth! Let’s hope for better snow and bigger sends.
1/16/25 - UCSD Ski & Snowboard Team Crushes First Race Weekend
UC San Diego showed up strong for our first race weekend, bringing home 16 of the 48 medals up for grabs, including 7 golds! It felt like spring this past MLK weekend, with temps in the 40s and not a cloud in sight—perfect conditions for a race.
We kicked off the weekend with Slopestyle, where the China Peak park crew curated a 2-jib, 2-jump course for us. Rails were slid, jumps were spun, and UCSD showed out. Our very own Lorenzo Machicao took first place in Men’s Snowboard, and Ben Scheerger secured third in Men’s Ski. On the women's side, Adelka Hancova landed second place, and Stella Neuschul took third in Female Ski Slopestyle.
The team got an early start, warming up on fresh groomers before tackling the Giant Slalom event. The snow was fast, and our athletes were absolutely flying down the course! In a huge performance, Ivan Ijzerman took first for Men’s Alpine Ski, and Jordan Flood claimed first for the Women’s Alpine Ski. Later in the day, our female snowboarders hit the slalom course, where Izzy de la Cruz and Elli Gaver secured second and third place, respectively.
To close out the day, the team headed back to the main lodge for Rail Jam. Our park crew showed up big, with Lorenzo taking first for Men’s Snowboard and Owen Burns claiming first for Men’s Ski. On the women’s side, Adelka grabbed third for Ski, while Elli took third for Snowboard.
Sunday saw our alpine athletes back on the hill for Skier Slalom and Snowboard GS. In an incredible display of dominance, Jordan Flood and Ivan Ijzerman both secured first-place victories once again in their respective slalom races. We also saw another skier join the podium, with Lancia Carson taking third in the event. On the snowboard side, Izzy de la Cruz capped off the weekend with a third-place finish in GS.
With our first competition wrapped up, the team is off to an incredible start with a monster performance. We are beyond proud of all our athletes—both returning podium finishers and first-year racers making their competition debuts! As we continue to grow together, both competitively and as teammates, we can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store. A huge shoutout to everyone who competed, and we’ll see you at Bear Valley!
4/5-7/24 and 4/26-28/24 - Spring Practice Weekends 
4/5-7/24 - Spring Practice Weekend #1
This past weekend we headed up to beautiful Mammoth Lakes California for some spring practice for the next competition season. We planned this months ago, but fortunately, the snow gods were on our side as about three feet of fresh powder had been recently dumped on the slopes of Mammoth Mountain. This led to an incredible weekend, with blue skies and fresh snow on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we headed up early in the morning, excited for the powder day, and spent most of the day chasing fresh pockets of snow around the mountain. The crowds were unfortunately pretty bad, as everyone was chasing the same powder that we were, but we found our way to some untouched runs and had a blast. On Sunday, most of the fresh snow had been skied out, so we decided to train in the park, with athlete Seiji Minowada landing his first 360 on a large jump and Ben Scheerger landing his first back 270 out of a rail. The rest of the crew had a great time ripping through the groomers. Overall, we had an amazing practice weekend and I think we’re all looking forward to our next trip in week four.
4/26-28/24 - Spring Practice Weekend #2
The team took its last trip of the year up to Mammoth Mountain to get their last turns in as a team for the season. From the turns off the top, shredding the groomers, and hot laps through the park, the team had a blast in the slush getting our last laps in for the season. See you next winter!
3/5-9/24 - Nationals Race Report - Lake Placid, NY
The UCSD Ski and Snowboard team takes on Lake Placid, New York to compete in Nationals 2024! Getting an early start to our weeklong trip cross country we all met at the San Diego Airport at 6am. Emily Wei, Jordan Flood, Ben Scheerger, Lancia Carson, Sierra Scarlett, Mia Bullaro, Ivan Ijzerman, Varun Suklikar, Seiji Minowada, Austin Calza, and Adela Hancova await to board our flight to Newark, New Jersey. We arrive at the airport with boot bags, poles, suitcases, and our freshly tuned skis by our very own President Varun. We arrive in Newark and after 5 hours on the airplane we go to grab our SUV to drive to Lake Placid. With a few hiccups from Hertz not being able to let us rent our vehicle we turn to another car renting company and head in our two minivans to grab some authentic pizza. After another 4-5 hours we have it to the cute town of Lake Placid.
Sunday we got some well deserved sleep after a long day of travel and got started on our homework so we can enjoy our week on the slopes. We use Monday to finish up the rest of our homework for the week and our President registers us and brings us our racing bibs. That night we had the opening ceremony where we got to wave our UCSD flag at the Hockey Olympic stadium from 1980. We were hosted with dinner, excitement and ice skating! We got a good look at our competition and headed to get a good night's rest for our first racing day!
6:45 am wake up call Tuesday morning, first racing day! What do we have on the schedule: Women Alpine Giant Slalom, Women’s Ski Rail Jam, Men’s Ski Skier Cross, Women’s Boarder Rail Jam! The stoke is high this morning with our sponsor Celsius, we got some caffeine down and we’re ready to roll! Whiteface Mountain is hosting all the athletes and conditions are quite questionable. With more gravel and dirt in sight than snow, it didn't stop UCSD’s Ski Team.
Women GS go first to inspect the icy and rutted out slope. Jordan, Lancia, and Emily looking professional as ever, got their speed suits on, our novice Adelka didn’t get the memo and had her baggy jacket on and twin tips, but that didn't stop her from trying her best! A warm day on the mountain keeps the smiles abundant! Jordan goes first for UCSD and we are told that the snow is not too good, all the women finish and no DNF’s for run one! Adelka leaves after run one to go to Rail Jam, unfortunately she had no time to inspect, as they were running the same events at the same time. Wasn’t Adelka’s hottest day but she finished and ran back up the hill to finish off GS’s run 2! Unfortunately Lancia, DNF’d but she was still stoked because she left everything on the slope and had a fun run! Adelka and Emily tried their hardest and our shining star Jordan finished 33rd Nationally! As a team we finished 14th overall making us in the top half of schools!
Women Boarder’s were representing UCSD so well! Although commentators and spectators were confused on where we train they showed up, both finishing top ten! First round they made it to the finals, hitting rail’s, boxes, whaletail boxes and more! Sierra finished 6th nationally and Mia finished 10th! That’s what we like to see, and as a team they got us in 4th place across all schools!
Skier Cross is one of the things we were looking forward to the most as we haven't competed in it all season! We had Seiji and Ivan take the fun course on Whiteface that Tuesday for men skiers. Ivan made it to the next round which took the top 30 finishers. Ivan, our best freshman, finished 12th nationally! Him and Seiji both enjoyed the course and finished 10th as a team!
Wednesday another early wake up as we hurry to make inspection. Ben and Seiji take on Rail Jam early in the morning. Hitting rails like it’s no big deal. Pressure is on as their opponents are trying backflips and other mind boggling maneuvers. Ben finished 16 overall, just one off of qualifying for finals, and Seiji ended up 40th overall. Both Ben and Seiji tried some new tricks on the rails, with Seiji getting his first 270 out of a rail and Ben landing his first 450 out of a rail. Unfortunately, it was raining throughout the entire event, so the boys ended up rather soaked at the end of the day, but they were still stoked to be out there shredding.
Women skiers headed over to skier cross, excited for the fun event. We were given one inspection and one fast inspection, meaning we could do it as if it was the actual race. Jordan made the top 30 allowing for her to move on to the funniest and most competitive part where 4 girls go at the exact same time, where you can push and shove yourself to the front if you have enough skill for that. She finished 26th overall and made us proud!
After women ski, boarder’s to the cross slope! With both of our ladies making it to the finals, putting a colored cover on their helmets to be able to tell which boarder finishes first on the camera, we had Sierra finished in 9th overall and Mia in 26th! Our women boarders really keep us high on the leaderboard fishing off 8th overall as a team!
Men’s Alpine also competed on Wednesday in Men’s GS. Going on with the running theme of the week, the course was rutted out and icy, in stark contrast to the slushy snow on the rest of the mountain. Regardless, our boys soldiered on, with Ivan snagging 54th overall, Seiji ending up in 84th, and Varun unfortunately sliding out on his first run and ending up with a DNF.
Thursday bright and early we had a colder day and our women boarders rushed to the mountain as slalom was awaiting their inspection. Conditions were rough, with zero visibility at the top of our mountain and snow as hard as a rock. Not a good day for Sierra to feel a minor injured with her knee. With conditions so rough, she does her first run and knicks her board in a gate, but gets right up and still manages to place 9th overall. Mia looked solid and fast as she placed 21st overall! Right next door we had skiers inspecting their run as well. With lines getting longer and longer Adelka, with the advice from leadership, decides to begin lapping slopestyle instead of inspecting Slalom as they were running them at the same time again. Our three other skiers make it to the top of the mountain with enough time for an inspection! With conditions so rough, over 50% of skiers DNF’d (did not finish) but our girls pulled through! It was a rutted out course and our girls still managed to make it all the way down without missing the gates! Meanwhile women's ski slopestyle began, which definitely had its own controversies as the jumps were getting pretty soft and almost nobody could even get over the knuckle. Girls who had 360’s on lock couldn't land them and about 90% of competitors didn't make it over the knuckle, making it rough to show our skill level. Adelka, fell on her first run as she knicked her tip during her 360 on the first jump after the boxes. She had one more run to show her skillset and kept it safe, which unfortunately didn't score her enough points to make it to the finals, barely missing it and ending up in nineteenth place. Ben and Seiji also competed in slopestyle on Thursday, but unfortunately neither of them had great performances due to the not so great conditions. Ben unfortunately fell both runs and ended up in twenty sixth place with Seiji ending up sitting in thirty first place overall.
Friday was once again an early wakeup call, with our Male Alpine Skiers and Female Snowboarders needing to be on the mountain at 8am. Our Alpine skiers headed up for slalom on a once again icy and rutted course, but they continued to push through the awful conditions, completing all their runs for the day. Ivan ended up with seventy fourth overall, Seiji ended up in ninety fifth overall, and Varun unfortunately DNF’d once again. On the Female Boarders side, they headed over to the park to compete in slopestyle. Luckily, it was a bit cooler today, so the course was not quite as slow as it was for skiers, but it still wasn't great. Sierra unfortunately did not compete, but Mia shredded it up, ending up 13th overall.
Saturday was our final day of competition, we were all pretty tired at this point, but we had to make it out for the last day. Saturday had Dual Slalom for both male and female skiers, arguably one of the most fun events as teams go head to head on adjacent courses, racing each other to see who moves on to the next bracket. Unfortunately, our first opponent was one of the best teams in the league, the University of Maine at Farmington, so we got knocked out in the first round. Regardless, our athletes all put up formidable performances and we were satisfied with the result. The other event running was Snowboard Giant Slalom, where Mia and Sierra fought through the predictably bad conditions, with Sierra taking a formidable 8th place overall and Mia pulling in an impressive fourteenth place finish. With Nationals over, we headed back to the cabin to get ready for closing ceremonies, where we had a nice catered dinner, and then headed back to the cabin to pack up for our long day of travel on Sunday.
Sunday we headed out early in the morning to get to Newark for our flight. After such a long trip, leaving was a very melancholy feeling, both excited to go home and a little sad that it was time to get studying for finals. We took off from Newark at 5:45 and ended up back home in San Diego at about 9:30. It was an incredible trip, and we’re all stoked for our wonderful athletes and their performances at Nationals.
2/9-2/11/24 - Race Report 3: Regionals
This past weekend we headed back up to the beautiful China Peak Resort, nestled in the Sierra Nevada Mountains above Fresno, for our Regional Competition. It was quite the drive, about eight hours for those who left on Thursday night for our Friday competitions. We started off the weekend with Slopestyle for both Boarders and Skiers as well as slalom for Boarders on Friday. The competitions went well, even though it was a much larger group of competitors, around 400 people total. It was also one of the best days of the season, as the resort had just opened after 80 fresh inches of snowfall, a true powder day. On Saturday we had Giant Slalom for both Boarders and Skiers, as well as RailJam in the evening after the resort closed. All our athletes threw down for both events, especially rail jam, and we ended off the night with an awards ceremony celebrating all the competitors. On Sunday, we finished the weekend up nicely with Skier’s Slalom, and then headed back to sunny San Diego. 
We had a great weekend in terms of competitions, with four medals coming in from the Far West division of USCSA. Our ski captain, Benjamin Scheerger, had a great weekend, taking third in both Railjam and Slopestyle for the Men’s Skiing division. Adela Hancova also had a great weekend, earning her first medal, a silver in Slopestyle for women's skiing. Jordan Flood came in with our fourth medal of the weekend, earning bronze in Giant Slalom for our women’s skiers. We also had a first-time victory for our team, with both Men’s and Women’s alpine skiers qualifying for nationals, marking a change to a much more competitive nature within our team. We are all super excited to see what our qualifying athletes can do on the National level in Lake Placid in a couple of weeks.
2/2/24 - Race Report 2: Mount High
This past weekend we headed to the beautiful Los Angeles National Forest to shred it up in Mountain High, California. The resort is a small family-style resort nestled near the town of Wrightwood, where we stayed for the weekend. Our team competed in three events through the USCSA Southwest League, Giant Slalom. Slalom, and Railjam, with a fourth event, Slopestyle, unfortunately being canceled due to a lack of snow at the mountain for building jumps. Funnily enough, it snowed most of the weekend so the lack of snow was much less apparent than expected, even leading to issues with overly icy terrain, the opposite of our slush problem in China Peak. This snowfall also contributed to a very crowded weekend, as powder-hungry shredders flocked up to the closest ski resort to Los Angeles. Overall we had an awesome weekend, with results being unveiled from China Peak (race 1) and new results being put down with many podium finishes for UCSD.
Ski and Snowboard Captains Ben and Logan both put down hammers and took 2nd overall in ski and snowboard slopestyle as the results from race 1 were unveiled. Our president, Varun Suklikar, stomped a third-place finish for Men’s Ski Slalom in China Peak last weekend as well, his first podium. Sierra Scarlett also took home a third-place spot in women’s snowboard Giant Slalom, and Jordan Flood, crushed it with a second-place finish in women’s ski Giant Slalom. Mia Bullaro and Logan Lavine took both first place positions in railjam for snowboarding, which was the first time this season we’ve had both gold spots for an event. This weekend was one of our most podium-heavy competitions, and we can’t wait to see what we’ll do next weekend at our Regional Competition, held at China Peak.
1/26/24 - Snowski Race Report 1: China Peak
Starting off our 2024 race season, we headed up to China Peak for our first official competition. It’s a small family resort up in the Sierra Mountains near Fresno, so it was quite the drive, but we still got over forty members to come out and compete for the team. Our league, the USCSA Southwest division, set up four events for each discipline, split over Saturday and Sunday. Our team excelled in Slalom, Giant Slalom, Slopestyle, and Railjam throughout the weekend, even bringing home a couple of podium positions. The weather was unfortunately not ideal, with a high of 50 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday, and a scorching 55 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday. These may not sound too warm, but the mountain sun and its reflection on the snow can heat you up fast, so a big part of the team ended up competing in t-shirts or long sleeves, bringing an enjoyable spring vibe to our weekend and making the best of the situation.
On day one we started nice and early, with a 6:00 AM wakeup call to be on the mountain and ready by 7:30. It was a gorgeous day, and the competition kicked off with women’s and men's Skiing Giant Slalom in the morning. Our racers did very well, with many taking top 10 positions and Jordan Flood taking second for the women’s division. After that, we moved on to women’s and men’s snowboard Giant Slalom in the afternoon. We had several top ten’s here as well, with Sierra Scarlet taking third in the women’s division. In the evening, we moved on to the rail jam competition for each division. All of our athletes were putting themselves out there and trying new tricks, making it one of the most fun events of the weekend. We closed out the night with an awards ceremony celebrating all of the competitors before heading back to the cabin.
On Sunday, we started off the day with slopestyle for men’s and women’s skiers, and slalom for men’s and women’s snowboards at the same time, alternating with skiers doing slalom and snowboarders running slopestyle later in the day. Slalom went well with athletes improving on their times and pushing themselves to get on that podium. For men’s ski we had Varun Suklilar take the bronze and for the women, Jordan Flood with the silver. For our female snowboarders, Sierra Scarlett took the Gold in border slalom. Slopestyle was a blast with many of our athletes attempting and landing new tricks on the course. For men’s freeski we had a podium finish from Ben Scheerger in 2nd and an unexpected 5th from Seiji Minowada. For men’s snowboard, we had Logan Lavine take 2nd and for the women we had Sierra Scarlett take 4th. That about wraps up our first race, it was an absolute blast, and we can’t wait to get after it in Mountain High next weekend!
1/19/24 - Snowski Mammoth Practice Weekend
Kicking off the 2024 season, the team made our pilgrimage to Mammoth Mountain for our first practice weekend of the season, hosted by the USCSA Southwest League. We were just getting our bodies acclimated to the snow after our months of grueling training at Athletic Practice. On the mountain the conditions were more than pleasant on Friday with warm sunny park laps being on everyone’s to-do list,
many members were learning new tricks and building their body strength, while we braced for a winter wonderland on Saturday. The temperatures were cold, the mountain was windy, but with USCSA throwing together a slopestyle training everyone's hearts were warm training with our friends from the team and other colleges in our league. In the afternoon we took a break for ripping the park and did some pow laps, these shredders below make up the unbeatable powder force of our team. Never failing to find untouched pockets of light fluffy snow.
After a wonderful winter wonderland on Saturday, our members attended another slopestyle practice on Sunday with the league. We worked on some radical 3s, frontflips, and rail jamming. Everyone was fresh for the season and our new members even started working on 5s! While it is a rare sight to see the infamous wooly on the slopes, some of our team members were fortunate enough to even get a picture with him! After a wooly sighting, everyone is psyched and ready to rip. The snow was cherry, and the team was cooking up some new tricks for our first competition next weekend at China Peak! Rolling into our first competition of the season next weekend the team is fully locked and loaded with plenty of new tricks up their sleeve to unleash at China Peak! Wish us luck and GO TRITONS!
