MEET THE SENIOR TEAM
IAN CASE
Ian Case grew up in rural New Hampshire, biking to school and back everyday and running around on 120+ acres of undeveloped land behind his parents' house. He began cross-country skiing at age 4, and began racing at age 7 in a local "Bill Koch Youth Ski League" at Temple Mountain in New Hampshire. As a J4 he placed 3rd in New England in his age group, however it wasn't until his family moved to California that Ian discovered that skiing could be FUN, thanks to a positive experience on the Truckee Middle School team led by Larry Leatherman. Skiing for NU in high school, he placed in the top 5 in numerous Varsity races as a freshman, and became inspired to seriously commit to year-round training the following summer. He won the state Championship and the overall CNISSF title as a sophomore, and went on to several top-10 finishes at the Junior Olympics his junior and senior year.
"My first year out of high school, I trained like crazy on my own, as there wasn't much support or programs for Seniors at that time, and I felt that I wouldn't be able to pursue skiing as seriously as I wanted to in college. I didn't really improve a whole lot, and felt totally burnt--and broke--after 1 season." Ian took a 2-year break from skiing while attending Berklee College of Music, and since returning to full-time training and racing he has scored numerous top-15 finishes on the national SuperTour circuit (the highest level of racing in the U.S.) as well as podium finishes in major marathons around the country.
"Making ends meet while training and racing (and traveling) full-time is way harder than any 5-hour run or 50k marathon in a blizzard. I had to sacrifice my training a lot for many years in order to stay afloat financially and now I am finally getting the opportunity to see what I can really do, thanks to some amazing support from my parents, some income from the music side of things, and now the Far West Senior Team. I came back to Far West after several years of being based in Vermont, for one because the coaches here are more genuinely supportive than any I've ever met anywhere in the country, and also because it's become important for me to have my pursuit of progress in skiing be something that benefits others and not just myself. I love that Far West has such a concentrated, tight-knit ski community. I've been able to train alongside the juniors and sometimes masters, several times a week, which is fun for me and makes the training load feel like less work, and I think it hopefully is a helpful thing for them too. I know I could have benefited a lot when I was a junior from having more experienced, faster skiers around, and the ones that were around really helped me a lot just by getting to ski behind them and race with them, and they also really inspired me. I hope that kind of thing can continue in Far West and it is really cool that there are a lot more options now for skiers graduating from high school and college who want to really see how far they can go with skiing. Working as hard as I can to improve at skiing has taught me a ton and I know those lessons will directly transfer to the next phase of my life when I'm done skiing. I'm really grateful that I'm getting the opportunity to go for it!!"
Goals/Focus Races for 2009-2010:
"I'm training way more and harder this year so I hope to improve on my 21st in last year's classic sprint at Nationals, and take my best shot at making the Olympics or pre-Olympic World Cups in Canada. I'm also targeting the 30k Classic at Nationals, the new prelim-round-only classic sprint at West Yellowstone, and several marathons including the Craftsbury Marathon, the Birkie, and the Great Race. More than anything else I want to make sure that I give it absolutely everything this year, on all fronts."
Race Results:
2009 US Nationals Classic Sprint: 21st
2009 Fischer Cup Overall Winner
2009 Tahoe Rim Tour: 1st
2008 California Gold Rush: 2nd
2008 Craftsbury Marathon: 3rd
2008 US Nationals Team Sprint: 12th
Other Interests:
Music: http://www.IanEthan.com
Water-skiing
Truckee Bagels
Favorite workout:
"A toss-up between a 4-hour skate on corn snow in the spring at Tahoe Donner, and double poling 2-3x up the Alpine Meadows road with a bunch of head-to-head 10-second classic sprints beforehand."
Current Coaches:
Glenn Jobe, Jeff Schloss, and Ben Grasseschi
Past Coaches:
Pepa Miloucheva (Craftsbury Ski Club, Craftsbury, VT)
Nikolai Anniken (Gitchi Gummi Ski Club, Duluth, MN)
Erica Alexander-Wescott & Steve Stefanides (Auburn Ski Club team, Soda Springs CA)
Colyn Case & Christa Case
Ross Gralia (NU ski team, Grass Valley CA)
Larry Leatherman (Truckee Middle School Ski Team, Truckee CA)
Mark & Dana & Jim Rodrigues (Temple Mountain Bill Koch Youth Ski League, Temple Mountain, NH)
Salomon
Swix
Truckee Bagel
KARA LAPOINT
I began skiing when I was in sixth grade, and have been hooked ever since. I have had amazing experiences with the sport both locally - in terms of great coaching, amazing skiing and race opportunities, and the experience of growing up as a part of an incredible team atmosphere, as well as nationally - in terms of the many places I have gotten to see through my ski travels, the amazing people I have met and friends I have made, and the overall enhancement to myself as a person that I have gained through my skiing experiences. I feel very fortunate to live in the Tahoe area where I can enjoy the sport everyday and have so much support in doing that. I am also lucky to have one of my best friends (Chelsea) on my team to train with and continue sharing our experiences from college skiing.
I love training and the ability that it gives me to enjoy the outdoors, and I do it whenever I can get away with it! It is typically my favorite part of everyday and something I look forward to immensely. My favorite type of training is long long runs with my dog in the mountains. I like to explore new trails and do so whenever possible, but my favorite local run is Sugar Bowl to Squaw. I am in my final semester at UNR, where I am studying journalism and reporting for the school paper. I am passionate about writing and the power of the media to make an impact and create social change. After graduation, I am hoping to spend some time abroad working on humanitarian projects before going to grad school. My ultimate goal is to work on foreign policy and social issues through the media.
Besides skiing, running and writing, I love to be with my dog, camp, play tennis, ride on my cruiser bike, go to the lake, bake, listen to music, practice Spanish, and I love the fall.
I like racing because I like to see how far I can push myself and the feeling that comes with knowing you have gone into the "next level," pushed harder than you thought possible - a feeling that is actually difficult for me to achieve, but totally worth it when I have. I also like seeing how much I progress and how my training is enabling me to become stronger as the season goes on, and the years go on, and having the opportunity to try out new types of racing, though in itself it is such a different experience every time.
Athletic Highlights:
Skiing - Competed at the University of Denver for three years. Qualified for NCAA Championships and finished 17th in the 15k classic race in 2007. Competed one year at Nevada (Senior year). Had three top-ten RMISA performances and several top-15s during collegiate career. Finished 41st in the 10k classic race at US Nationals in Houghton, Mich. to earn my best-ever US Nationals result. Other top recent results include 3rd in the Gold Rush and Great Ski Race in 2008, and 13th in the Boulder Mountain Tour in 2009. Competed with the Far West Ski Team from age 13-18, winning several Junior Olympics medals during that time.
Running - Competed in cross country running and track one year at Nevada (2008-09) after finishing with skiing eligibility. Actively training and competing in distance running now (everything from 5 km to marathons) during the skiing off-season. Top results include 5th in the San Francisco Half Marathon in 2007, 3rd in the Mayor's Half Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska in 2008, and most recently 5th in my first full marathon, the American Discovery Trail Marathon in Colorado Springs, Colo., where I also qualified for the Boston Marathon. Will be doing several more running races throughout the fall, including four planned half-marathons and two additional marathons.
Triathlon - Recently began competing in triathlons, and plan to become much more involved in the sport. Recently won the Luna Bar Women's Triathlon Festival in Sacramento, and plan to do my first half-iron man triathlon in October.
PHILL VIOLETT
"I am totally fired up to be training and racing for Auburn Ski Club and
Far West again. The team has a very positive attitude and that will
lead to our success."
Ski Racing Highlights:
3 x NCAA Championship Participant
6 Top 15 in SuperTours
2008- 2009 season 7 Podium Results on the college circuit
2009 1st 10k classic Central Collegiate Ski Association race in
Telemark, WI
2009 20th 50k classic U.S. National Championships
2008 1st 20k classic Central Collegiate Ski Association Region
Championships
2008 16th 50k classic Canadian National Championships
2007-2009 Northern Michigan University Ski Team Captain
Surfing
Wake boarding
Running
Mountain Biking
Road Biking
Backpacking
Designing
Discovering new places or things that show me the beauty the world has to offer
6’ swell
Bluebird powder days