Waterville Valley plays host to national moguls championships this weekend

Hannah Soar of Somers, Conn. will likely be among those competing at Waterville this weekend. (Getty Images)

U.S. Ski and Snowboard will bring the freestyle national championship back to Waterville Valley in New Hampshire this weekend (March 25-26) for the first time since 2019 with moguls and dual moguls competitions. It is the first year of a two-year deal that was announced in October by the federation.

Both disciplines are judged on technical ability of the skiing, aerial maneuvers and speed, but duals includes head-to-head racing and is done in a bracket format. It is a coming home of sorts for the discipline. Waterville Valley is widely considered to be the birthplace of freestyle skiing, and there even is a sign with that proclamation just before entering the village along Route 49.

Waterville Valley takes that moniker seriously. It started the first freestyle instructional program in 1969 and hosted the first championship in the discipline the following year. Hot dog skiing quickly became popular thanks to the likes of Wayne Wong, one of the early hot-doggers, creator of the “Wong Banger,” and now a member of both the U.S. and Canadian skiing halls of fame. He came from Vancouver to compete at Waterville and became a freestyle coach for the BBTS (Black and Blue Trail Smashers) and Waterville Valley Academy, which was formed in 1972. Many of the freestyle legends to visit Waterville during those early years are immortalized with trail names on Green Peak like Wayne Wong Way and (Nick) Preston’s Path.

Hannah Kearney, a member of the BBTS, competed in three Olympics and won moguls gold in Vancouver in 2010 and bronze four years later in Sochi. The Norwich, Vt, native also won four overall freestyle World Cup titles and six moguls titles.

The national championship marks the end of the competitive season for the athletes. In the past, it has included those who competed on the World Cup circuit, which will have its final mogul events of the season March 17-18 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

“Nationals is one of the coolest events to spectate,” Waterville Valley marketing director Jamie Cobbett said. “The course will be built on Lower Bobby’s, which is considered by the mogul community to be one of the best (mogul trails) in the U.S.”

Lower Bobby’s is a double diamond run that finishes at the Sunnyside Timberlodge, giving spectators a great place to grab food and drink while watching the action. While this won’t have a big buildout like a World Cup event, it means spectators can get much closer to the competitors in the finish area while getting a great view of all the action.

Invitations to competitors were sent out on March 8. The top prize for each event is $3,000, with $1,500 going to the runner-up and $750 for third. For those unable to get to Waterville Valley, it will be streamed on the U.S. Ski Team’s Twitch channel.

Among the top athletes with World Cup experience:

— Jaelin Kauf swept both events in 2019, and three years later she won the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in moguls. Kauf also won silver medals in both events at the World Championships last month in Bakuriani, Georgia, and was second in both World Cup events in February at Deer Valley. 

— Only 16 years old, Elizabeth Lemley won the World Cup season-opening dual moguls event in December at Idre Fjall in Sweden. 

— Olivia Giaccio earned a World Cup win last season.

— Hannah Soar, who originally is from Somers, Conn., and attended Killington Mountain School, was on the podium in both events at the 2019 nationals. She recorded her only podium of the year at Deer Valley, finishing third in duals. She also lost in the bronze medal matchup at the World Championship.

The men have three skiers currently in the top 10 in the overall moguls World Cup standings.

— Nick Page, who was second in the moguls in 2019, earned his first career World Cup win in December.

— Cole McDonald is the reigning FIS junior world champion in moguls and had a third-place World Cup finish early in the season. 

–Dylan Walczyk, who was second in the duals in 2019, has six top-10 finishes this season on the World Cup circuit, his best finish being fourth in duals last month in Italy.