Freeride Program

This program is designed for competitive freeride athletes ages 10-18. Athletes in the program are invited and must place their intent to compete in at least 1 Regional Freeride competition. Tryouts are required and registration is by invitation only.

For questions, contact Connor at freerideheadcoach@alyeskaskiclub.com

Optional Dryland Opportunities

Full-time Dryland by Age Class
U14 Fall Dryland | Elite and Hillside Three Day – $540
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday Sept. 1 through Nov. 12, 2021 at Elite and Hilltop.

U16 Fall Dryland | Elite and Hillside Four Day – $740
Every Tuesday through Friday Sept. 1 through Dec. 3, 2021 at Elite and Hilltop.

U19 Fall Dryland | Elite and Hillside Five Day – $860
Every Monday through Friday Sept. 1 through Dec. 3, 2021 at Elite and Hilltop.

U14 – U19 Mid-Season Dryland | Elite One Day – $280               Every Wed. Jan. 5 through April 6, 2022 at Elite.

Part-time Dryland 
U14 – U19 Fall Dryland | Elite Two Day – $600
Every Tuesday and Thursday Sept. 2 through Dec. 16, 2021 at Elite.

U14 – U19 Mid-Season Dryland | Elite One Day – $280
Every Wed. Jan. 5 through April 6, 2022 at Elite.

Additional Resources

Our Coaches

Connor Michael 

Connor Michael was a competitive racer and freeride skier for most of his life. He ski raced through high school with the Alyeska Ski Club Juniors. During his years in FIS, he attended Western Region Championships every year.

Drew Petrie

Drew grew up as an Alyeska Ski Club Mighty Might starting at age 6. At age 11 he progressed into the Junior racing program for 3 years before realizing his passion in freestyle/freeride skiing. He was one of the original members of the ASC Freeride Team competing for 4 years in Half Pipe and Slopestyle before moving on to Big Mountain skiing. You’ll find Drew on the Kenai River during the summer working as a Fishing Guide and at SkiAK during the winter months working as a Sales Associate.

Leah Scott

Leah grew up in Girdwood and raced for Alyeska Ski Club, starting with Mighty Mites all the way through the Juniors program. After high school she raced for Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and then for University of Colorado Boulder’s club race team. Leah is the reigning champ of Women’s A Town League race series, going for her 3 peat this year!  This is Leah’s second year coaching for the freeride team and is stoked to be back again this season.

Gabriel DeGange

Max Durtschi

Growing up in Girdwood, Max began skiing in the Alyeska Ski Club at a young age. After side-slipping race courses on powder days a few too many times, he joined the then newly formed ASC Freeride Team. Three stoke filled years later, he left the state to attend class and ski at Western State Colorado University. Traveling with the Western Mountain Sports Team, Max competed on the North American IFSA FWQ circuit and was able to qualify for the FWT. He made it to three stops of the FWT the following year and had the amazing opportunity to ski against some of the best freeride skiers in the world.

Max is excited to use his experience as a freeride competitor and help the next round of Alyeska freeskiers reach their competitive goals and most importantly, have fun along the way.

Molly Lukes

Molly Lukes grew up in Girdwood, Alaska and competitively ski raced at the FIS level through high school for the Alyeska Ski Club.

In 2014, she moved to Bozeman, Montana to play in the Bridger Mountain Range and work towards her Bachelor of Science from Montana State University. She continued racing with and became the president of the Montana State Ski Club while taking quick trips to Bridger Bowl before class to get her free skiing fill. She became Avy II certified and obtained her EMT I certification to become a safer off-piste skier.

In the spring of 2018, Molly graduated with her degree in Biochemistry. She has since returned to Alaska to work as a medical scribe and apply to medical school. She looks forward to sharing her expertise in goal setting and strong skiing fundamentals to help the ACS Freeskiing Team send sick lines!

Jonathan Gurry

Jonathan was born and raised in Seattle, WA.  As a kid he was involved in many ski programs/teams.  At 18 he moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah and freeski.  He started competing in Freeride contests all over starting in 1999 and finishing up in 2009 at an Alyeska Contest.  In this time, Jonathan became a Professional Photographer appearing in front of the camera and published in publications such as Powder Magazine, Backcountry Magazine, Telemark Skier Magazine, among many others.  He has appeared in and help produce 6 different ski films over the years and continues to create content in the ski media world, as well as photograph many other things such as commercial and portrait work.

This is Jonathan’s second season of coaching with ASC, and he truly enjoys coaching the younger athletes just getting into the sport.  He believes there is no such thing as a bad day of skiing.  There is simply always something fun to do on skis, even if it’s surfing on your skis in the rain.

Jake Dahl

Jake Dahl is from Anchorage and grew up ski racing for ASC from Mighty Mites through Juniors, competing in FIS races across the West. Towards the end of high school he drifted away from racing, finding more enjoyment in back country and big mountain skiing. He went on to earn his degree in Electrical Engineering from UAA and promptly moved to Salt Lake City Utah to pursue employment opportunities and fluffier snow.
After 3 years in Salt Lake, the urge to return to Alaska could no longer be resisted. He strategically quit his job and started working remotely as a freelance software engineer, which would allow him the opportunity to move home.
Jake is stoked to be back and is excited to share his experience and enthusiasm for the sport of skiing with the next generation of rippers.

Alec Stepovich

Alec was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska and started skiing at Alyeska at the age of four and hasn’t stopped since. He started out in Mighty Mites and eventually made his way to the Juniors race program. Alec attended several races throughout his time in Juniors but his favorite was the 2014 Arctic Winter Games where he took a bronze and gold medal for alpine skiing located in his fathers hometown Fairbanks. If he’s not on the mountain tearing it up you can catch Alec at Moose’s Tooth slinging pizzas and serving up smiles. Alec has made life long friends through Alyeska Ski Club. You can hear him say regularly “Never a bad day of skiing!’ or “I owe some of the happiest moments of my life to skiing.” He’s elated to be coaching and bring the joy he’s found in this amazing sport to the next generation of “rippers.”

Colin Gordon

Colin is excited to be returning to coach for the Alyeska Freeride Team this season. Born and raised in Anchorage he spent as much time as possible on the slopes of Alyeska. For the last dozen winters, Colin has coached Freestyle/Freeride skiing at both Alyeska and Squaw Valley. Colin has a passion for sharing his knowledge and love of skiing with the next generation, and can’t wait to meet this year’s team.

Katie Writer

Katie learned to ski in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado that shaped her diverse background as a free skier. Tree skiing, moguls and pursuit of powder entertained her early years, while racing gates with the University of Colorado club program ignited her competitive spirit. She competed at the national level in moguls after completing a degree in Geography at the University of Colorado. While living in Lake Tahoe for eight years, she learned about backcountry skiing and became a ski guide for All Mountain Ski Pros and Shasta Mountain Guides. Her first trip to Alaska in 1997 was to compete in WESC during the time that Shane McConkey and Wendy Fisher were laying down the foundation for the International Free Skiing Association. Her writing and photography combined with being a pilot has fueled her passion of spreading the message of climate change with the use of aerial photography. As a mother of two, Katie loves sharing her passion for the mountains and flying with others and is super excited to join the Alyeska Freeride Program.

Sage Dudick

Having grown up in Girdwood, Sage began skiing at a young age and spent most, if not all of his free time skiing at Alyeska. Making his way through the Alyeska Ski Club, Sage raced in Mighty Mites then joined the Devos program until becoming one of the original members of the ASC Freeride program for the first two years and competing in slopestyle competitions. After high school, Sage went on to play college baseball at a junior college in Oregon, until realizing he missed the snow too much and returned to Anchorage to finish his degree at UAA. These days, you’ll find Sage working at a public relations firm in Anchorage, skiing as much as he can and exploring Alaska with his camera at his side. Sage is thrilled to see how far the Freeride team has come since being on the team, and is stoked to be able to pass along his love of skiing to the younger generations.

Ashton Tatum

Ashton was born and raised in Alaska. He started his skiing career a bit late, at age 16, but still has managed to develop great technique. Working as a liftie in previous years, he knows the mountain like the back of his hand. Ash is extremely grateful to be a part of the Alyeska Freeride Team, plus he has dreams of being on the FWT himself.

Cameron Reitmeier

Cameron was born in Anchorage and raised in Seward. He grew up backcountry skiing the many peaks surrounding Seward and around the Kenai Peninsula. Cameron eventually attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, but spent most of his time backcountry skiing, heli-skiing and climbing the Alaska, Wrangell-St. Elias, and Chugach Ranges, including summiting Denali in 1998. Cameron moved to Europe in 1998 to ski and climb… with a little studying and working added in. He primarily skied the remote regions of Scandinavia, Balkan Mountains, and the French/Italian Alps, eventually returning to his hometown in Southcentral Alaska in 2002. After enjoying his first season coaching the performance and energy driven U12s, he is excited to help coach the next snow shredding team.