White Pass Freeride Team
Coach - Bean Gaskell
Ages: 11-18
Ability Level: Intermediate through expert. Athletes should be able to link parallel turns, ski black-diamond terrain with reasonable confidence and control and be mature enough to take direction from coaches.
Take your skiing beyond the groomers with the White Pass Freeride Team! Designed for young skiers who want to explore everything the mountain has to offer, Freeride combines technical ski development, big-mountain skiing, terrain park progression, competition training, and a whole lot of fun.
Our goal is bigger than preparing athletes for competition. We want to develop confident, versatile skiers who can look at challenging terrain, assess it, choose a line, and ski it with control and style. Whether an athlete is learning their first 180, preparing for their first IFSA competition, or already sending technical lines and advanced tricks, our coaches meet them where they are and help them take the next step.
What to Expect:
Whole-Mountain Skill Development: Freeride athletes learn to ski the entire mountain. We work on fundamentals, technique, body positioning, control, fluidity, line choice, and adapting to changing terrain and snow conditions. Steeps, trees, bumps, powder, natural features, groomers, and variable snow are all part of the classroom.
Competition-Focused Training: Our training is heavily influenced by the skills athletes need to succeed in International Freeskiers & Snowboarders Association (IFSA) competitions. Athletes learn how to inspect a venue, choose and memorize a line, identify features, manage speed, ski fluidly and confidently, and understand how fundamentals such as control, technique, and body position translate into competition performance. Participation in regional IFSA competitions is encouraged, but not required.
Terrain Park Progression: Freeride doesn't stop at the edge of the park. Our coaches help athletes safely progress their freestyle skiing at their own level—from sliding a box or landing a first 180 to advanced spins, rails, grabs, and inverted tricks. Progression is individualized: the goal isn't for every athlete to do the same tricks, but for every athlete to keep expanding what they can do confidently and safely.
Free Skiing & Powder Days: We train hard—but skiing is supposed to be fun. Free skiing is a major part of the program, giving athletes the chance to explore the mountain, put their skills into practice, and simply enjoy skiing with their teammates and coaches. And when White Pass wakes up buried in fresh snow? We're skiing powder, not running drills.
Key Components:
Fundamentals & Technique: Strong freeride skiing starts with strong skiing. Coaches emphasize balance, stance, body positioning, turn shape, edge control, speed management, and fluidity so athletes have the technical foundation to confidently tackle increasingly difficult terrain.
Big-Mountain Skills & Line Choice: Athletes learn to read terrain rather than simply follow a trail. We teach them to identify lines and features, understand consequences, evaluate snow and terrain, plan ahead, and make smart decisions before committing.
Calculated Risk & Mountain Awareness: Freeride inevitably involves risk, so learning to understand and manage that risk is an important part of the program. Coaches emphasize judgment, situational awareness, knowing personal limits, and recognizing the difference between progression and recklessness. We want athletes to challenge themselves intelligently and build confidence through preparation and good decision-making.
Freestyle Progression: Jumps, rails, boxes, spins, grabs, airs, and natural features give athletes another avenue for creativity and progression. Coaches help athletes build skills incrementally while emphasizing proper technique and safe progression.
IFSA Competition Preparation: For athletes who choose to compete, we prepare for the unique demands of judged freeride competition, including venue inspection, line selection, technical skiing, fluidity, control, style, and competition-day strategy.
Team Culture & Mentorship: Freeride is as much about the crew as it is about skiing. Athletes spend the winter alongside other kids who are excited about progression, challenge, and being on the mountain. Our coaches strive to be mentors as well as instructors—building confidence, independence, good judgment, sportsmanship, and respect for teammates and the mountain.
Program Details:
Dates: Season schedule coming soon
Schedule: Meet at 8:45 am slopeside of the lodge near the ski racks. Athletes ski with coaches until 11:30 am, have an unsupervised lunch break from 11:30 am–12:30 pm, and return to skiing until 3:00 pm.
Competition: Regional IFSA competitions are encouraged but not required.
Location: White Pass Ski Area – meet slopeside of the lodge near the ski racks each morning.
Why Join the White Pass Freeride Team?
Become a More Complete Skier: Freeride isn't about mastering one type of turn or one type of terrain. Athletes develop the versatility to confidently ski everything from groomers and bumps to trees, steeps, powder, park, and technical big-mountain terrain.
Progress at Your Own Level: Our athletes range from solid intermediate skiers taking their first steps into freeride to highly accomplished competitors and freestyle skiers. Progress looks different for everyone, and our coaches help each athlete find the appropriate next challenge.
Learn From Experienced Coaches: Our coaching staff brings a wide range of skiing backgrounds, including competitive alpine racing, mogul skiing, ski instruction, freeride, freestyle—and more than a few lifetimes spent chasing snow. That variety gives athletes access to coaches with different strengths, perspectives, and ways of teaching.
Build Confidence & Judgment: We want athletes to become confident enough to challenge themselves and smart enough to understand when and how to do it. Learning to assess risk, make decisions, recover from mistakes, and steadily expand personal limits are skills that reach well beyond skiing.
Find Your Ski Crew: Some of the best progression happens simply by skiing with people who inspire you. Freeride gives young skiers a community of teammates and coaches who love skiing, encourage one another, celebrate progression, and know that sometimes the best training day is simply an incredible day on the mountain.
Have Fun: We take progression seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. There will be drills. There will be competition training. There will also be powder days, park laps, high-fives, spectacular crashes, breakthroughs, and plenty of laughing on the chairlift.
The White Pass Freeride Team is about developing more than competition results. We want to help young athletes become stronger skiers, smarter decision-makers, confident teammates, and capable young people.
Come ski hard, push your limits, find your crew, and discover just how good a skier you can become.
Fees: $2,750
Program registration is limited; please register now.
We are committed to providing each athlete with the most effective learning and skill development pathway. To ensure they have the best environment for success, please note that we may adjust group placements during the season as needed.