September 2015

A publication of the Waterville Valley Black & Blue Trail Smashers / Snowsports Educational FoundationHome of Waterville Valley Academy | www.wvbbts.org

PIONEERING SNOWSPORTS; CULTIVATING TOMORROW’S LEADERS

The 2015 WVA GraduationThe Humble Student-Athlete

The Road to RecoveryFrom Athlete to Coach

WVBBTS / SEFBoard of Trustees

Tyler Gannon Chairman

Bradley BensonVice Chairman

Diane SaundersSecretary

Robert Mann Treasurer

Robert BarryAndrew Borggaard

Stuart BraunCharles HenryMichael Cragg

Terence DriscollJames Gildea

Steven SundbergLea KelseyBrian Lash

Janine McGuireRonan Ryan

Kimberley WolffChristian Zimmermann

Anna McIntyreEmeritus & Organizational Historian

Waterville ValleyAcademy

www.wvbbts.org

From the CEO

Although the Club Kick-Off is still several months away, we have truly become a year round organization. It’s exciting to see all we are do-ing to help kids chase their dreams! BBTS coaches, faculty, and staff are driven to create an experience for our athletes that will make memories for a lifetime, whether they envision themselves on the podium or wearing the infamous Coon-Dog Cape in the Mighty Mites. “Believe to achieve” takes you wherever you want to go! BBTS looks forward to helping our athletes make their dreams a reality through hard work, dedication, responsibility, and friendship.

Lots of young athletes have been putting their energy into learning and perfecting new tricks on the BagJump, toning their minds and bodies in the Training Center, and traveling to find snow in order to maintain the skills they achieved during the winter months. We look forward to seeing every-one reach new heights!

The organization is embarking on a new strategic planning phase to help clarify a renewed focus for BBTS and Waterville Valley Academy. This new plan will identify essential initiatives and actions that will benefit our membership and help motivate staff to fulfill our organization’s goals and mission, creating a path to our vision of the future.

We are currently joining forces with the Community Olympic Development Program (CODP), an arm of the United States Olympic Committee. BBTS will be recognized as the only competitive snowsports CODP program in the country. This relationship will increase awareness of our comprehen-sive program, enhancing our efforts to attract the best coaches in each discipline making a huge difference in the impact we have on our athletes.

Finally, I would like to say thank you again for your participation in our survey. Your suggestions and affirmation are helpful and appreciated. As employees of WVBBTS/SEF, we take pride in providing an exceptional ex-perience. We will use the survey information, our strategic plan, coupled with the staff’s commitment to excellence to catapult us forward this season with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

Peter StoklozaWVBBTS & WVA CEO and Executive Director

Let the WVBBTS Winter

Season Begin!

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From the Headmaster

t was with great excitement that we welcomed back our Pinnacle students in August for the 2015-2016 school year. During our first two years of the Pinnacle Program, we’ve paid close attention to the effectiveness of the different components of the curriculum. It has been truly exciting to see our students excel on the hill and the

classroom. Pinnacle students have achieved athletic success in all three of our snowsports, on par with any other program in the country. They have also gained acceptance to colleges and universities ideal for their futures, both athletically and educationally. It has been gratifying to watch our students participating in community service activities with “Meals for Many” in Plymouth, NH. On weekends, students have been engaged in fun and cross training activities such as mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking the White Mountains, playing tennis and golf, and swimming.

Academically, Waterville Valley Academy is evolving to a higher standard than any other eastern snowsports academy. Since the beginning, WVA’s Pinnacle Program has been the only eastern snowsports academy where students can take Advanced Placement classes. This summer we sent four teachers to the College Boards A.P. Institute for training in delivering A.P. curriculum. Now, WVA has six different Advanced Placement offerings. Not only is this an exceptional opportunity for our year round students, it will also prove beneficial for our Winter-Term student athletes. The ongoing professional development of our faculty impacts all of our students.

Waterville Valley Academy is unique. Our students are wholly committed to their snowsport and their academic program to the exclusion of many other activities that most teenagers experience. The Program is at its best when serving individuals willing to invest 100% of their time and energy in school and their snow sport. In order to enhance the success of this very unique focus, WVA provides a family like environment that supports and nurtures our students. They learn to support one another and embrace the rareness of the passionate snow sport athlete. The faculty of WVA is committed to evolving the program into the premium academic snow sports academy in the country and WVBBTS has one of the best coaching staffs in the nation. Together, our faculty and coaches foster the results that are clear proof that WVBBTS/SEF is working.

Robert SampsonWaterville Valley Academy Headmaster

I

2015-16 WVA Pinnacle Students

Welcome Back!

Academy News...

WVA GraduatingClass of 2015

A.J. Barry speaking about his experiences here at

Waterville Valley Academy. You can find the speech

in it’s entirety on our website, www.wvbbts.org

Three men taking 3 very different paths can now proudly call them-selves Waterville Valley Academy alums. On June 20th, 2015, Tommy Bradshaw, Alex Breda, and A.J. Barry became the second class of Pinnacle students to graduate. For those who were not able to make it, you missed a spectacular event. The beauty of Waterville Valley was on full display. The weather was perfect and spirits were high. The guest speakers were wonderful and entertaining and most important the messages from the graduates were clear: the connections made with teachers, coaches, and staff have been influential and inspirational in their lives.

Tommy, a Hockey player, came to WVA after completing three years at one of Boston’s more prestigious “prep Schools”, Buckingham Brown and Nichols School. With the cour-age to take on the unknown, he left BB&N his senior year to play hock-ey for the American Hockey Insti-tute. Tommy completed his senior year at WVA with a combination of Waterville Valley Academy and Plymouth State University courses. This season he heads to Hunga-ry to play hockey for a year, then plans to continue his Hockey career in the States, with his sights set on Princeton University.

Alex Breda has worked hard to get to the top of his game as a Freeski-er. He has been competing at the highest level of his sport for quite some time now and will continue to do so this season as a Post Grad out west. He was accepted to sev-eral schools including Westminster College, where he has deferred a year to compete. Just as important as his athletic accomplishments are his friendly and supportive nature and commitment to quality in every-thing he does.

A.J. Barry began his journey at WVA as a sixth grader. Since then, he has grown and developed as an athlete, student, and a person. With a few early season results suggesting that A.J. was in for a breakthrough year, he suffered a difficult leg injury. He persevered and was back on snow working hard to prepare for the season ahead. His dedication and commit-ment to getting back in the game should be an inspiration to every-one.

All three graduates have worked hard to get where they are and there is every reason to believe they will all be highly successful in anything they do.

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A.J. Barry, Tommy Bradshaw, Alex Breda

Congratulations are in order for Matthew Chester, WVBBTS’ new Head Coach for the Masters! This is Matt’s second sea-son with BBTS, and for those of you who don’t know him, there is so much more to his story than just coaching.

Matt has been a professional ski instructor for more than 20 years, teaching at Steamboat Springs, Whistler/Blackcomb, and Eldora in Boulder County CO. He grew up in Connecticut and made the St. Anselm College ski team in 1992 as a fresh-man. After his sophomore year, he took a job as a ski instruc-tor at Eldora. There he worked towards his PSIA certification, qualifying him to teach internationally.

Matt then traveled to Chile to teach, but instead spent 6 months skiing, climbing, and backpacking through western South America. Invigorated by his experience, he went to Whistler to focus on big mountain skiing and devoted his time to skiing exposed highly technical terrain. Matt had modest success in the extreme skiing competition scene with a crew consisting of some of the top freeskiers in the world.

WVBBTS News...

He returned to Boulder in 2003 to direct the children’s ski school at Eldora. That’s where he met his future family, when he was assigned a private lesson with a 5-year-old boy named Elliot. Matt and his family moved to Steamboat where he taught private lessons for the Steamboat Ski School. Elliot began racing for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, and that’s when Matt made the transition to par-

ent of a ski racer. His life revolved around travel, ski tuning, and support roles. Matt and his family decided to move to Waterville Valley so Elliot could attend Waterville Valley Academy. His background as a ski in-structor finally came full circle when he became a ski coach. Matt calls his first season as a FIS coach for WVA the “Pinnacle” of his career to date.

Matt’s unique background lends itself perfectly to the position of Masters’ coach. He says his goals are to “create a challenging, fun, safe environment to enable the Masters to reach their greatest potential.” He plans to work with each athlete to create a plan that addresses technical skiing skills, tactics, equipment, and fitness. During the week, Matt will continue his role as a men’s FIS coach at WVA. “I am very excited to be part of this great organization, and look forward to a productive season.”

Leading TheMasters

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Thank You 2015-2016 Season Sponsors!

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Lori joins BBTS as our new Financial Controller. Lori is a New Hampshire native. She spent 30 years in the Finance & Administration world, 27 of which were as an officer with Community Guaranty Savings Bank. Lori has degrees in Accounting and Financial Management from Plymouth State University, Granite State College, and multiple diplomas from Northern New England Center for Financial Training. She lives in Campton with her daughter Liza, a former USSA Alpine Racer and current US Telemark Development Ski Team member. Some of Lori’s interests include volunteer work, painting and crafts, along with enjoying the outdoors.

Tracy joins BBTS as our new Director of Advancement. She grew up in Somer-set, Massachusetts and began skiing at Waterville Valley in 1969 with Ronny Boulay’s group. Tracy worked with coaches like Fred Turton before entering Waterville Valley Academy. From Waterville she then went on to ski for St. Lawrence University for four years. After college, Tracy spent 20 years in Scientific Research sales before moving into the Development world eight years ago. In addition to being a BBTS alumna, she is also the parent of two boys who raced in the program.

We look forward to both Lori and Tracy helping the organization achieve its strategic objectives with continued emphasis on improving the BBTS and WVA experiences!

WVBBTS welcomes two new staff members, Lori Hartlen Tetley and Tracy McNally White!

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Anna Whitney isn’t your typical 17-year-old high school senior. She attends Waterville Valley Academy, and like many of the students there, she is a hard working, focused student-athlete with big dreams of skiing with the best. Originally born in Newton, MA., her family moved to Long Island and then back to Massachusetts (Win-chester) when she was about 6-years-old. They frequented Waterville Valley, where she learned to ski. Anna didn’t start ski racing until she was 12. She was mainly into gymnastics and soccer, but after catch-ing a glimpse of gate training on True Grit, she was hooked. She said at the time she “couldn’t believe anyone could ski such a hard trail so well and so fast!” Not long after, she met Tom Barbeau and by the next season, she was in the program training with U14s. “To be honest, I was really bad at skiing at first.” Once she started feeling comfortable in her boots, Anna began thinking about Waterville Valley Academy. “I heard about it from some of the weekend kids and it seemed really interesting. I tried it for six weeks my freshman year, and ended up really liking the school and the training, so I came back for another four weeks at the end of the season. I really liked the people, the coaches, and my teammates.”

Now, three years later, Anna is a senior in WVA’s Pinnacle Program. “It’s been great! I’ve made great friends and have made huge strides in my skiing de-spite a shoulder injury at the end of this past season.” And that shoulder injury isn’t holding her back. She says she feels stronger and ready to take on this up-coming season. When asked about life after WVA, she said she’s look-ing at several different options, “I am really excited by all of the doors that have been opened during my past few years at the academy.”

AnnaWhitney

Student-Athlete Highlight

Anna & Hannah TrudeauHintertux 2015

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You had a nasty leg injury, tell us about it. In September of 2014, I was in Switzerland for a training trip, and I blew out my ACL and tore my lateral and medial meniscus. Thankfully, it was on the last day of the trip and didn’t ruin my whole time overseas. What were you thinking when you found out the extent of the injury? When I received the re-sults back from the MRI saying that I tore my ACL, I was thinking about how all my plans and all my new tricks for the upcoming season were going to have to be put on hold until my knee was strong and I was able to ski again.

You were out for most of last season, what was that like for you? Being out for a whole season is tough, especially when you have

to watch the rest of your buddies being able to go out and have fun skiing and traveling.

How has the recovery process been? Recovery has gone well and my knee is feeling strong, and I am excited to get back to compet-ing this season.

What are your tips for other athletes starting the road to recovery? As long as you stay strong and put in the hard work that you need to in order to come back again, you will be just fine. Keep your head up and focus on your end goal and what you need to do to reach it.

What are your goals for this season? My goals for this season are to get back into the competition scene and get some more results

17-year old Morgan Brandner is working his way down the path to becoming a high level athlete. Like many his age in WVBBTS, he dreams of competing on the world cup level and furthering his sport, freeskiing, for generations to come. Originally from Bozeman, Montana, Morgan learned to ski at the ripe-old age of three when his parents stomped him into a set of skis and taught him to french-fry! Morgan also com-peted in gymnastics when he was younger, but at the age of 12, he threw his first back flip on skis and that was it! He was hooked on freeskiing! Morgan first came to WVBBTS a couple summers ago to train on the airbag. That was when he realized Waterville was the place for him if he wanted to take his skiing to the next level. Now beginning his third year with the club, he hit a major speed bump last season when he blew out his ACL and tore his lateral and medial meniscus. We asked Morgan about his thoughts and the recovery process. Here’s what he had to say:

BBTS Athlete Highlight

Any career highlights up to this point? My career highlight up to this point would probably be my result from the 2014 Slopestyle Na-tionals in Park City, where I finished 4th for my age and 10th overall.

What do you want to do after freeskiing? I’m not exactly sure what I will end up doing after my freeskiing career, but I’m interested in sports science and using that to coach and help rehabilitate athletes.

Since the writing of this article, Morgan has re-evaluated his academic and athletic

goals, and enrolled in Waterville Valley Academy’s Pinnacle Program.

under my belt in order to qualify for bigger competitions the following season.

What is it about freeskiing that keeps you hooked? The thing that keeps me hooked the most about freeskiing is the freedom of the sport. Being able to showcase your own style and the tricks that you want. Also, the feeling that you get when you land a new trick for the first time is indescribable; there is nothing better, especially when you’re out there skiing with your best buds.

What’s it been like for you being in BBTS? BBTS has been a great club to be associated with for these past two years and it is always filled with great people willing to help you reach your goals.

Morgan, Tim Ryan, & Alex Breda Switzerland 2014.

Josh Cherner & Greg Maxwell training in the TBTC

What was it like going through the program? It was like being on a fast track to achieving your goals, both on snow, and in life. After being in an environment where reaching your goals was so possible, I began setting the bar higher.

How do you think the program helped you get to where you are now? As a WVA student and athlete, you have big responsibilities. When you are given big responsibilities at a young age, you’re willing to assume even bigger responsi-bilities as an adult. I think this strength is what makes a person successful.

What is your favorite BBTS memory? My first US Open!

What is it about snowboarding that keeps you hooked? There is no zenith. No matter how much you progress or how comfortable you become on snow, there is always a way to move out of your comfort zone and become better. The initial thrill of trying something new will never get old. That is what keeps a snowboarder progressing and never wanting to stop.

Who was your snowboard hero as a kid and why? Terje Haakonsen. He was so talented, and made snowboard-ing look easy. Watching someone do something they’re very good at is always enthralling.

Many of you know Greg Maxwell the coach or Greg Maxwell the Pro Rider, but did you know Greg Maxwell is also a WVA alum? Originally from Laconia, Maxwell was recruited by Bill Enos, the Snow-board Program Director at the time. Maxwell was a student here at the Academy from 2000-2003. The way Bill coached was a huge draw for Greg. Part of having fun is progressing…And boy did he progress! Maxwell has come a long way from when he first started riding in 1992. It all started when he saw his first snowboarding video on ESPN. He new he had to try it, so he began hiking out to local hills to learn. Inevitably he took his newly found love to the next level, and began riding at Gunstock. Soon after, he started riding at Waterville:

finals of the Dew Tour, qualify for the US Open, and win FIS Junior World Champi-onships.

You went pro for a while. What was that like? It was a way for me to push myself farther than I thought I could go. Having the opportunity to be fully engaged in something is an amazing experience. When you dictate your own schedule, goals, and choices as an ath-lete you must remind yourself that hard work, responsibility, and dedication, is what makes the next day even possible.

Do you have any tips for the little rippers who dream about going pro? Love what you do, and do it because you love it. If you do something long enough in life, it becomes who you are, as well as what you do.

How long have you been coaching? More than 6 years as a full time coach, with many guest coaching appearances through out my prior professional career.

What got you into coaching? The nat-ural process of wanting to pass on what you have learned to a younger genera-tion. Especially at WVA, which gave me so much.

What keeps you coaching? Seeing my athletes reach their goals and learn to set new ones. Also, progressing as a coach… another day of living is anther day of learning.

What are your goals for this season? To be the best coach I can be, and to have an impact on everyone that I coach, mentor, talk to, and meet.

What are your goals in the sport as a whole? Goals change with time. My current goals are to continue progressing as a coach, and to stay in shape, flexible, and agile enough to always ride with my athletes, and coach them with words, as well as the tricks to back them up.

What do you consider your standout career highlight (coaching or per-sonal) until this point? I don’t think its necessarily about me as a coach being in the spot light as much as it’s about my athletes. Highlights for me have been helping snowboarders make it to the

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Alumnus Highlight

If you are a BBTS Alum or know an alum who you think should be featured,

we’d love to hear from you!Email your submissions to contact_us@wvbbts.org

Jason Guilbert has been with WVBBTS seemingly since the dawn of time! Growing up, he split his time between Waterville Valley and Weymouth, Massachusetts. Like many of us, he began his skiing career in ski-school, where he would routinely leave the group so he could bomb it down the hill. During one of his adventures, he discovered gates, which then led him to NASTAR racing, of all things! He admits he was a pretty terrible skier, but that all changed in 1984 when he found a BBTS club flier in the base lodge. Back then BBTS had a little yurt in front of the White Peaks chair lift. Gilly saw some of the kids training, decided to try it, and loved it! Cindy Makin and Bill Brown were his first coaches when he joined as a J-3. Four years later, he enrolled in Waterville Valley Academy. At the time, there was a lot of freestyle action, with athletes like Nikki Stone and Britt Swartley.

“I had some fantastic coaches, I learned a lot about skiing and I learned a lot more about coaching along the way.”

Jason went on to ski for UNH from 1993-’97. Then Pete Stokloza hired him right out of college to work with the Waterville-Holderness women’s program. Now working with the men’s U19 program, he says he hasn’t reached his coaching goals yet, but he’s looking for-ward to seeing what this year’s group can accomplish.

“I love working with the kids and sharing what I know and the mistakes I’ve made along the way. I want my athletes to have a more direct path so they don’t necessarily have to make the same mistakes.”

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Word of Mouth is incredibly impactful in the world of competitive snow-sports. It was no less important back in 1979 when Janet English decid-ed she wasn’t quite ready to give up on ski racing and college could wait. Coming from Orange County, with the occasional family trip to Mam-mouth, she knew she needed something more. The stars aligned, both for Janet and for WVBBTS that summer in ’79 when she met Bill Brown, Brownie to most of us. He convinced her she should make the trip to NH and spend the winter skiing with several other PG racers in the BBTS program.

It wasn’t a journey for the faint of heart - Janet’s lovely nature, belies her tough as nails resolve. She arrived in the Valley on a dreary, gray day in October encouraged by Emily Crane, the Club’s Secretary not to worry about finding a place to live – “you’ll figure something out. Just come.”

As she walked up to the Club House, she found herself in step with a woman who, hearing her story, readily invited her to stay with her family while she looked for a place. It was the beginning of a life long friend-ship, not only with Pat Makin, but her BBTS children, Cindy and Rick and her “adopted” children Leslie ‘Baker’ Brown and David Christopher, both PG athletes at BBTS that winter.

Janet will tell anyone that her BBTS experience set off a chain of events from attending Middlebury to her recent Fulbright Scholarship in Finland. She still bleeds Black & Blue and despite her return to Southern Califor-nia, still maintains close contact with many of her fellow BBTS alumni.

BBTS

PIONEERING SNOWSPORTS;CULTIVATING TOMORROW’S LEADERS

FriendsFor LifeCindy Makin Brown, David Christopher, Rick Makin, Leslie Baker Brown,

Janet English

Cindy Makin Brown, David Christopher, Leslie Baker Brown, Pat Makin, Janet English, Rick Makin

GOT PICS?Have pictures to share?

Send them to Kelly at kbrinza@wvbbts.org. We would love to use them on the website,

social media, and printed material!

* When sending pictures, please include names, date, and place.

2015-2016 Camps Schedule

WVA Freeski Saas Fee, Switzerland Camp October 5-19

Open to WVA FS “A” Athletes

WVBBTS Freestyle/Snowboard BagJump Camp October 10-12

Open to Snowboard/Freeski/Freestyle Athletes ages 10+

Colorado Camp November 13-22

Open to WVA Alpine U14 Athletes only.

Copper Mountain, Colorado November 13-24

Open to WVA U16 Alpine Athletes.

For more information, camp applications or to sign-up please visit wvbbts.org/campsOr contact Rosemary Landi, Camps Manager at rlandi@wvbbts.org or 603-236-4246 x112

Stay tuned for 2016 spring and summer camps!

Thanksgiving Alpine Camp November 21-28

Open to all Alpine Athletes U14 & older.

Jump Start Camp December 3-6

Open to all U12-U16 Alpine Athletes.

Winter Masters Camp January 7 & 8

Experience the Academy Camp January 26-29

Open to athletes entering Grades 6-12

March Masters Camp March 2 & 3 (tentative)

CONNECT WITH WVBBTS!Peter Stokloza, WVBBTS & WVA CEO/Executive Directorpstokloza@wvbbts.org | 603-236-4246 x116

Tom Barbeau, Director of Athleticstbarbeau@wvbbts.org | 603-236-4246

Adam Chadbourne, Director of Athletic Performanceachadbourne@wvbbts.org | 603-236-4246 x113

Robert Sampson, WVA Director of Education / Headmasterrsampson@wvbbts.org | 603-236-4246 x114

Tracy White, Director of Advancementtwhite@wvbbts.org | 603-236-4246 x117

Lori Tetley, Controllerltetley@wvbbts.org | 603-236-4246 x118

Kimberly Berman, Director of Admisions & Dean of Studieskberman@gowva.org | 603-236-4246 x115

Tim Maguire, Weekend Program & Travel Managertmaguire@wvbbts.org | 603-236-4246 x152

Brenda Warren, Office Manager bwarren@wvbbts.org | 603-236-4246 x111

Rosemary Landi, Camps & Database Managerrlandi@wvbbts.org | 603-236-4246 x112

Kelly Brinza, Marketing & Communications Assistantkbrinza@wvbbts.org | 603-263-4246 x119

88 Boulder Path Road, Waterville Valley, NH 03215603-236-4246 | fax: 603-236-9906 | www.wvbbts.org

SEPTEMBER25th - 27th Alpine Fit Day (Boxborough, MA)

OCTOBER4th Snowboard Fit Day (Manchester)10th - 11th BBTS Ski Swap11th BBTS Fit Day (Waterville)11th Winter Term Orientation

NOVEMBER28th Club Opening Day25th - 29th Thanksgiving Break

OTHER DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR

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Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/wvbbts

Support WVBBTS/SEF a 501(c)3 non-profit

www.wvbbts.org/donate-to-wvbbts

Important Dates

February 15th Starry NightDecember 5th Welcome Back ReceptionDecember 27th Club Pot Luck

Thank you to ourIn-Kind Sponsor