The top mogul skiers from the Purgatory Freestyle Team ventured north to Steamboat Springs over the holidays for Rocky Mountain Division U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association-sanctioned events. The events included the top freestyle mogul skiers in age groups from across the state.
Amina Youssef earned a silver medal with a career high scoring run Sunday, while teammate Trudy Mickel captured a silver medal Saturday for the U15 girls. Youssef finished 11th overall among 43 competitors, while Mickel added a bronze medal Sunday.
“This is so impressive given that Amina and Trudy are so young competing against women nearly twice their age,” Kirk Rawles, Purgatory Freestyle program director, said in a news release. “They are competing in a field that includes U.S. Ski Team members and the Australian freestyle team.”
Unfortunately, Rawles said Thursday, Amina Youssef suffered a knee injury in a slow fall in training and likely will miss the rest of the season.
Sadie Smith posted a personal best with fourth- and seventh-place finishes for U17 girls.
Sadie and her sister, Hannah Smith, were coming off superb performances at the annual U.S. Freestyle Ski Team Selections Dec. 17-21 at Winter Park. The Smith sisters were invited to the event after placing in the top 60 in the United States last season. Selections included the United States, Australian, Chinese and Japanese national teams.
Natalie Youssef placed 12th for U19 girls at Steamboat, and Ellie Duke competed in the U17 category.
George McQuinn earned a bronze medal in duals for the men in Steamboat. Coleman Bader and Jimmy Pope posted personal bests for the year, placing ninth and 14th, respectively, for U17 skiers.
The Purgatory Freestyle Team young-gun “Devos” competed at Telluride this past weekend in the opening event of the Southwest Freestyle Tour. Charlie Mickel won the U11 age group with brother Freddie taking the U9 crown. Nina Quayle earned a silver medal for U11. Cole Alexus finished in third place in U13, followed by Hunter Rawles in fifth, Freddy Rawles in sixth and Aiden Quayle in eighth.
The Purgatory Freestyle Team will compete this weekend in Aspen for moguls and at the Vail Freeride Championships.
Then the team will look to defend home turf at Chapman Hill at the Durango Orthopedics & Spine Colorado USSA Moguls on Feb. 13-16.
“We are excited to host the USSA mogul events at Chapman again this year,” Rawles said. “We are planning to run under the lights this year, so it should be pretty exciting.”
