Whitefish's Reed wins Junior Freeride Championship
Whitefish's Townsend Reed stands atop the podium at the IFSA Junior Freeride Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado. (Photo provided)
Flathead Freeride Club members at Breckenridge, from left, Katie Hersom, Bodie Mason, Townsend Reed, Coach Hannah May, Kane Nissen, Anders Soyland, and Jesse Deats. (Photo provided)
Flathead Freeride Club skier Townsend Reed won the International Free Skiing Association's Junior Freeride Championship last weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado.
The championship event included the best ranked freeride skiers from the Western Hemisphere including the U.S., Canada, and South America.
Reed, a senior at Whitefish High School, led the U19 boys class going into the finals on Saturday, April 13. That meant he started last of the 28 U19 boys who qualified for the finals.
He skied very solidly with a well-timed 360-degree spin and huge air on his last hit to hold onto the top spot.
The win added to his season long points total, putting him in fifth place in points for the 2024 season. Reed’s ranking now qualifies him for the Freeride World Tour Junior Championships next winter in Austria.
Five other members of the Flathead Freeride Club also qualified to compete in Breckenridge: Jesse Deats for the U15 boys, Katie Hersom for the U19 girls, and Anders Soyland, Kane Nissen, and Bodie Mason for U19 boys.
Deats went huge in the qualifying rounds at Breckenridge, but when he came back down to earth he didn’t quite stick the landing and was unable to qualify for the finals.
Hersom, Mason and Nissen all went big but were unable to complete their runs to qualify for finals.
Soyland qualified for finals in 28th place and started first for the age group on the last day. With his last effort, he moved up 11 spots to finish 17th in the Western Hemisphere championships and his points total for the year ranks him 23rd.
Hersom finished the season ranked 11th in her division in the Western Hemisphere.
While Reed, Soyland and Nissen are graduating this year and moving to the senior freeride ranks next season, look for Deats, Mason and Hersom to return to the junior categories again next year.
The Flathead Freeride Club trains at Whitefish Mountain Resort and is part of the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation (FVSEF). Many Flathead Freeride Club members got their start in FVSEF’s race programs and/or the Whitefish Freestyle Team.
Flathead Freeride Club members at Breckenridge, from left, Katie Hersom, Bodie Mason, Townsend Reed, Coach Hannah May, Kane Nissen, Anders Soyland, and Jesse Deats. (Photo provided)