STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Speed is what’s happening at Soldier Mountain this week.

The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and Soldier Mountain ski area near Fairfield are co-hosting 70 athletes from Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming for the first-ever Intermountain Division U14 Speed Project Monday, Jan. 31, through Wednesday, Feb. 2.

They will follow that with 30 SVSEF athletes competing in the U16 Speed Project Feb. 7-9. And they will host 26 Masters athletes from Idaho, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington for the International Federation of Skiing (FIS) and Masters Speed Project Feb. 7-9.

Events will conclude with an alpine downhill race for U.S. Ski and Snowboard Masters on Wednesday, Feb. 9.

"Working with the team at Soldier Mountain to build specific terrain and features, and to develop the downhill track for different age groups and terrain-based learning is an amazing opportunity,” said Will Brandenburg, SVSEF Alpine Program Director and former member of the U.S. Ski Team. “The ability for us to collectively build a safe and reliable place to train and race speed in the United States could be a game changer in this sport.”

There are only a few venues that build speed tracks for alpine downhill training in the United States, said Heather Foster, director of Development for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. Access to train at these venues is limited to pre- and late-ski season in places like Copper Mountain, Colo., and Mammoth Mountain, California. At Aspen Colo., and Schweitzer, Id., training is limited to the week of the races.

Brandenburg and SVSEF U16 alpine Coach Trevor Wagner have worked for the past week designing the venue with Soldier Mountain’s snowcat groomer Rob Loveland. Wagner has plenty of experience, having built World Cup and NorAm venues for U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

Wagner said what they’re doing at Soldier Mountain is unique.

“How we work with the athletes is all about progression and being able to repeatedly ski over the elements we build to understand timing, body movement patterns, and then helping the athletes gain confidence to go faster and jump bigger,” said Wagner. “You can only get that through dedicated runs for speed training. At Soldier Mountain we’ll be on winter snow, all day long, and have the entire mountain for the kids to get comfortable with terrain and speed, as opposed to renting lanes for blocks of time, which is the norm at other venues.”

Venues like Soldier Mountain that are willing to create highly precise terrain builds for the safety of the athletes is key for the speed discipline of the sport to flourish because of the vast terrain and vertical required to be closed to the general public for liability purposes.

“We want to welcome camps and events with partners like the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation,” said Paul Alden, general manager at Soldier Mountain. “SVSEF brings extensive expertise and experience and we have the appropriate training ground available—it’s a win-win. Because we’re currently not open Monday through Wednesday, we have the availability to help create meaningful opportunities like these for the athletes and coaches.”