Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation

06/16/2026

Day 4 of Mt Hood on-snow camp! The winds have been challenging but we got 3 good days of SL training in - so many runs and so challenging! Everyone will appreciate a morning to sleep in tomorrow for a day off before 3 more days on GS skis.

06/14/2026

School’s out! And summer ski camp at Mt. Hood, Oregon has started!! Day 1 was a fantastic, sunny day as the 14 athletes in attendance got the feel of their skis on snow again. Day 2 (today) was still sunny but the wind howled and the lifts couldn’t open. Instead the crew had some good dryland conditioning and played soccer! Fingers crossed for calm wind, firm snow, and good visibility tomorrow🤞.

06/07/2026

Ski season is long gone, but this group of FVSEF skiers rallied for a hike up Chair 2 and down our training hill of Nice Day to pick up any candy wrappers they may have inadvertently dropped during the season- plus whatever else people dropped off the chair during the winter. Way to go crew!! 💪💪💪Thankful for our training space Whitefish Mountain Resort!

Most interesting find: a season pass from 2008-09 found by Titus!

Most valuable find: a nice Hydroflask taken home by Titus’ mom Jaime- score!

Most impressive hiker: Ben coming back from a season-ending injury last year 👏👏👏

Coach Maddie reports the kids were all well-behaved 😀

⛰

06/01/2026

Registration for all FVSEF programs for the 2026-27 winter season is now open for returning families! New families can start registering June 8.

05/17/2026

Spring fitness testing- despite the overnight snow!! Our 2nd year U14 and older racers woke up to new snow in town (and 7” on the Big Mountain snow cam), but they still showed up in a Sunday morning to set their baseline fitness level for the summer. 💪💪💪We’ll test again in September after a summer of building strength and conditioning.
Unfortunately, our afternoon plan for picking up garbage under Chair 2 has been postponed to a day when we can see the ground! ❄️⛷️

04/30/2026

Another big night for the Whitefish Community Foundation! Last night they awarded $524,500 to 79 local non-profits!! FVSEF is honored to have received a grant for $7,000 to help us in our initial planning for a future new team room- thank you Whitefish Community Foundation!

04/07/2026

🌞🕶️It was a beautiful day for our end of season barbeque and awards this Saturday...as people headed over to watch the pond skim (Coach Katie!)
💪We recognized the accomplishments of our U14, U16, and U18 athletes who competed at Tri-Divisional Championships, Western Regional Championships, and U18 Nationals.
⛷️We celebrated the parent volunteers who helped operate the Heritage T-Bar for weekend training - thank you to first time t-bar operator Nicholas Rosenburger who showed up for six mornings and 18 hours of t-bar time!
🤩The Development Team's Best Sportsmanship award went to Bentley Harriman (of Bentley's Fast Wax!), who was nominated by several of his teammates and coaches.
🥳The Roy Loman Coaching Excellence award went to U14 Coach Chris Prezeau! The award is given annually to a coach who demonstrates the knowledge and level of care for their athletes we most value- and Chris brings so much knowledge and quiet confidence to his work with our kids. He grew up racing with FVSEF’s predecessor, the Big Mountain Race Team and he's coached here and back east for over 25 years. When Chris returned home to the Flathead Valley, he started coaching with FVSEF at the Ranger level but quickly moved to the Devo Team and then to the U14 team. Chris doesn’t make a lot of noise, but when he speaks, the athletes listen. They know he has something valuable to say that will help them on their path.
‼️Finally, the Bruce Erickson award was presented by American Bank in honor of the long-time Bank President. Bruce passed away in 2015, leaving a long history of passionate support for ski racing throughout Montana. Given annually to a male and female FVSEF team member who demonstrate the highest standards of ALL aspects of our sport including Citizenship, Sportsmanship, Scholarship, and Athletic Success, the award also includes a scholarship of $2850 to each winner! A big thank you to American Bank for their amazing support. This year’s winners are U16 Claire Graham and U14 Owen Grace - Congratulations!
Thank you to everyone for a great season- enjoy the summer and we'll see you next fall!

03/24/2026

Here’s a chance to earn next season’s ski pass!

Volunteer to Ski applications are due next week! For students currently in or entering 6th - 8th grade, this program provides youth the opportunity to volunteer in our community in exchange for a 2026-2027 Whitefish Mountain Resort Season Pass! For more information and to apply, visit https://secure.rec1.com/MT/whitefish-mt/catalog

03/24/2026

Regional and Tri-Divisional Championships Wrap Up FVSEF's Busy Comp Season

At the U14 Western Regional Champs in Sugar Bowl, Kessa Drendel’s strongest result came in her favorite discipline, SL, where she finished 14th! Nolan Shaw struggled to finish in the technical events but had a solid finish in the Super-G (SG) with a 20th!

At the U16 Western Regional Champs at Palisades Tahoe, Claire Graham and Finlee Klocke gained valuable experience in their first year competing at this level. Claire had a pair of solid results in the technical races with a 34th place in both, and 35th in one of two SGs. Finlee finished 60th in both a SG and the GS, but unfortunately did not finish in her strongest discipline of SL.

FVSEF also had many athletes qualify to represent the Northern Division at the U14/U16 Tri-Divisional Championships in Grand Targhee. There were several noteworthy performances, with Owen Grace really stepping up for this championship series. He finished 20th (10th for U14s) in the SG, 27th (14th for U14s) in GS, and 24th (16th for U14s) in the SL. Theo Elliott also had a 23rd (12th for U14s) in the first SG, and Jude Petro was 23rd (15th for U14s) in the SL. On the girls’ side, Kira Paatalo had an impressive 16th (10th for U16s) in the second of two SGs, Mia Lengacher was 23rd (11th for U14s) in the first SG, Adelyn Danley was 24th (13th for U14s) in the GS, and Lucy Love was 26th (14th for U14s) in the SL.

The championship events were the culmination of an intense and challenging winter of training and racing - congratulations to all our athletes for your hard work and improvement this season! 💪💪💪
And a huge thank you to our U14 and U16 coaches, Roy Loman and Tommy Hoover, for everything you do for our kids! 🙏

03/23/2026

Bonus day of SL training- probably the best conditions of the season!