An Academy for Snow Sports

If you have a need for speed, Sun Valley Ski Academy will be your happy place.

SVSA offers alpine competitors an unparalleled opportunity to excel at school while accelerating on the slopes, with skier-friendly and travel-friendly course schedules, teachers who understand, and coaches who will push you to be your best on and off the slopes. To help accomplish this, the SVSA works hand-in-hand with the acclaimed Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF).

Your Team

SVSA alpine athletes are placed on one of several SVSEF teams based on age and ability level when they join: FIS Team, USSA Team, or Intermountain Team. Each alpine team is managed to optimize age-appropriate progressions for maximizing athletic development, with the goal of creating productive and healthy timelines for athletes to ensure the best possible outcomes and experiences.

Your Training Venues

Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain is arguably one of the finest racing mountains in the country, with consistent steep pitch, a hard reliable surface, world-class snowmaking and grooming, and varied training conditions all over the mountain. Alpine athletes also train on Bald Mountain’s sister slope, Dollar Mountain, located just behind Community School’s Trail Creek academic campus.

Members of the U16 and older age groups also participate in year-round fitness training designed to complement their on-snow skill development. The conditioning program strives to strike a balance between utilizing the best that modern equipment and training theory has to offer with the timeless pursuit of adventure and inspiration that comes with being immersed in mountain-town culture. Athletes work out in the Athletes’ Training Center, located within the Ketchum Campus Residence Hall, and, during the fall dryland season, outdoors—enjoying the incredible network of trails to hike, run, and bike.

What Your Year Will Look Like

SVSA athletes get on the snow in Sun Valley in mid-November, when training camps launch on Bald Mountain. On-snow training and competition then extends through the competitive season (early April). Spring, summer, and fall camps are offered for SVSEF alpine athletes, with unique and age-appropriate opportunities to enhance development.

Throughout training, whether on snow, in the gym, or in the outdoors, SVSA skiers embody the core values of SVSA and SVSEF: passion, perseverance, sportsmanship, teamwork, creativity, and character.

READY TO FIND YOUR STRIDE? SUN VALLEY SKI ACADEMY IS YOUR PLACE.

Recognized as USSA Club of the Year four times, SVSEF is a renowned cross country program with an excellent reputation. SVSEF cross country skiers have won U.S. Junior National Championships, U.S. National titles, Super Tour races, and Super Tour season titles; five former SVSEF cross country athletes have represented the U.S.A. at the Olympic Games.

Sun Valley Ski Academy skiers have left SVSEF and Community School to go on to ski for top-tier NCAA Division ski programs, including: Dartmouth College, University of Utah, University of Colorado, Middlebury College, Bates College, Bowdoin College, University of Vermont and University of New Hampshire, with many of our alumni earning NCAA Championship podium finishes and NCAA All-American Honors.

YOUR TEAM

SVSA cross country athletes train and travel as part of the SVSEF Comp Team, a year-round ski program that provides high school skiers aged 14 to 19 the opportunity to fully develop their ski capacity through a comprehensive training program. Based out of the SVSEF Lake Creek Training Center north of Ketchum, Comp Team athletes attend training camps and competitions as members of one of the most successful winter sports clubs in the United States.

YOUR TRAINING VENUES

The Sun Valley area is recognized as one of the premier cross country skiing destinations in the world. Over 200 kilometers of ski trails are groomed by PistenBully and offer a complete array of trail profiles for all training needs. SVSEF facilities and trails have been designated by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee as an official Olympic cross country training site on the basis of the organization’s exceptional facilities and programming. Consistent snow conditions, including what is often some of the earliest-available skiing each winter season in the United States, and an ideal training altitude that helps athletes develop maximal aerobic capacities are also benefits for cross country skiers.

The Lake Creek Training Center offers a strength gym, wax room, athlete lockers, and bathrooms and is situated on the team’s FIS homologated race trails. The Athletes’ Training Center (located within Community School’s Ketchum Campus) is a fully equipped gym modeled after the USSA Center for Excellence in Park City, Utah. The state-of-the-art 3,200-square-foot space that serves Community School Upper School and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation athletes offers everything an athlete needs to become strong and fit for their athletic endeavors.

WHAT YOUR YEAR WILL LOOK LIKE

The Comp Team trains year-round through dryland and on-snow programming. The summer season includes multiple training camps, with both dryland and on-snow opportunities, and athletes often compete in local summer endurance events that include mountain and road bike races and running events. The winter season competitive schedule is made up of regional and national-level races both in our community, including U.S. Super Tours, IMD Divisional races, and the ever-popular Boulder Mountain Tour, and within the Intermountain Division.

READY TO LAUNCH YOUR MOGUL SKIING TO A NEW LEVEL? SVSA IS YOUR TICKET TO FLY.

Sun Valley is one of the birthplaces of freestyle mogul skiing, where early pioneers like locals Bobbie Burns and Penelope Street honed their skills on Bald Mountain’s natural terrain park. Today, this heritage shines through young mogul skiers whose commitment to their sport is clear in their mogul and aerial technique, their passion for achieving their lofty goals, and the spirit they show in support of their teammates.

YOUR TEAM

SVSA athletes are members of SVSEF’s mogul competitive teams (Travel Team or Progression Team), created to provide a training and competitive pipeline for athletes who are ready to commit to intensive, year-round ski training and, in some cases, aspire to become professional mogul skiers. Through trampoline, water ramp, and on-snow aerial training in the summer and fall and on-snow training and competition November through April, Mogul Team athletes gain skills and confidence to set, strategize, assess, and achieve their skiing goals.

YOUR TRAINING VENUES

Mogul Travel and Progression Team athletes train on the famous Roundhouse Slope located on Bald Mountain, as well as on our new full-time mogul training venue within the Warm Springs Race Country arena. Content consists of technical ski work, access to a mogul course application, and on-snow aerials, as well as a wide range of challenging, terrain-focused free skiing.

The Air Barn is our indoor anti-gravity training venue located at the Dumke Family Sagewillow Campus. Athletes have access to a dry-slope tow-in ramp to airbag, three trampolines equipped with spotting rigs, and an additional airbag pit. The Air Barn also provides a year-round indoor venue, which supplements conditioning provided within the Athletes’ Training Center, located within Community School’s Ketchum Campus. The state-of-the-art 3,200-square-foot Athletes’ Training Center serves Community School Upper School and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation athletes and offers everything an athlete needs to become strong and fit for their athletic endeavors.

WHAT YOUR YEAR WILL LOOK LIKE

The mogul competition teams train July through June of the following year. Summer training includes ski and water ramp camps and dryland (strength and conditioning and trampoline workouts in the Air Barn). Dryland continues in late spring, when an additional ski camp is also a possibility based on yearly planning. Once the mountain opens, the teams train six days a week (Tuesday through Sunday), with an average 100+ days on snow and weekly Air Barn sessions. The winter season also includes a full travel schedule comprised of competitions in the Intermountain, Far West and Northern divisions. A typical season averages six trips (in addition to Junior Nationals and U.S. Nationals for those who qualify).

Ready to go big? SVSA is your big mountain base.

As an SVSA student-athlete and a member of the SVSEF IFSA Big Mountain Team, you can compete in IFSA regional, national and potentially international events.

Your TEAM

SVSA athletes on the SVSEF Big Mountain team will be introduced to mountaineering concepts such as snow safety, backcountry travel, and avalanche awareness, as well as Big Mountain competition strategy and execution for performance success.

Your Training Venues

Big Mountain athletes will train on Bald Mountain, Dollar Mountain, and in the stunning backcountry surrounding Sun Valley. (Off-resort training sessions require third-party guide services and are offered at an additional cost per session.)

In addition to on-snow venues, Big Mountain athletes will train in Community School's Air Barn, our indoor anti-gravity training venue located at the Dumke Family Sagewillow Campus. Here, athletes have access to a dry-slope tow-in ramp to airbag, three trampolines equipped with spotting rigs, and an additional airbag pit.

SVSA skiers also have access to the Athletes’ Training Center, located within Community School’s Ketchum Campus. The state-of-the-art 3,200-square-foot Athletes’ Training Center serves Community School Upper School and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation athletes and offers everything an athlete needs to become strong and fit for their athletic endeavors.

What your year will look like

Athletes begin their season in mid-October, when dryland training begins, with sessions at the Air Barn and other conditioning venues.

On-snow training and competition runs November through April. In a typical week, the Big Mountain Team trains four days, Thursday through Sunday, with supplemental Air Barn training throughout the season.

WINTER TRAINING

Winter training takes place Thursday and Friday afternoons, as well as all day Saturday and Sunday. Select Air Barn training will be utilized as well as specific off resort training opportunities.

Please Note: Big Mountain Team members will be required to own avalanche safety equipment. This equipment will be required for all training sessions, both at the resort and during off-resort opportunities. Equipment use and education will be provided. General outline of gear: pack, avalanche transceiver, snow shovel, probe and slope meter.