The air above Marmot Basin was filled with young skiers all weekend, as more than 160 youth athletes flew off jump after jump as they competed in moguls and slopestyle competitions hosted by the Jasper Freeride Freestyle Ski Club.

“At the beginning we were expecting 50 or 60 athletes and then we ended up with 160,” said Nic Bazin, head coach of the Jasper club.

The competitors came from clubs all across Alberta and even one club from Saskatchewan. The interest was so great that the Freeride club’s top athletes – about 15 of them who compete at a provincial level – chose not to participate in this developmental event and volunteered to help run it, instead, freeing up more spots for younger competitors.

“They didn’t have to, but they did it because they love the sport and they want to encourage the younger athletes,” Bazin said.

The events spanned two full days at Marmot Basin, with the youngest athletes taking on a slopestyle course in the mini-rail park at mid-mountain on Saturday, while older athletes ran the main moguls course. Then on Sunday, the younger athletes competed on a modified moguls course while the older skiers rode slopestyle in the main terrain park.

It was there where some of the most impressive skills were on display, with competitors throwing some huge airs off the second-to-last jump of the course.

Ryan Kennedy-Radostits of the Freeride Club took third place in the juvenile male (M3) category of the slopestyle competition, while Lochlan Beauchamp and Ryan Pickle finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the super-youth (M5) category.

On the female side, Jasper Freeride’s Alison Brown finished third in the super-youth (F5) slopestyle category. Brown also won the F5 category in moguls.

Her teammate Olivia Krushell took fifth place in the the youth (F4) moguls category, while Bradan Guy finished fourth in the M3 moguls event.

Jasper Freeride was also well represented in the M5 moguls category, with Ryan Pickle finishing third, Lochlan Beauchamp fourth, Jaco Pickle sixth and Marshall Begon seventh.

And though the club’s top-level athletes opted not to compete in this event, they will get a chance to put their skills to the test at a provincial competition Feb. 4-5 at Castle Mountain. Bazin said about 15 Freeride team members have qualified for the 80 available spots in the moguls and big air disciplines at that event. The team’s strong representation on the provincial circuit is an indicator of its strength, he noted.

“To me that says we’re a pretty strong feeder for high-performance, competitive athletes,” Bazin said.

Three of the current members of the Alberta mogul team are also Jasper Freeride alumni: Troy Minogue, Addison Eady, and Emilie Brown (Alison Brown’s older sister).