{"id":794914,"date":"2019-04-17T19:04:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T01:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/team-summit-youth-big-mountain-snowboarders-wojtalik-lemire-podium-at-north-american-championships\/"},"modified":"2019-04-17T19:04:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T01:04:00","slug":"team-summit-youth-big-mountain-snowboarders-wojtalik-lemire-podium-at-north-american-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/team-summit-youth-big-mountain-snowboarders-wojtalik-lemire-podium-at-north-american-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Summit youth big mountain snowboarders Wojtalik, Lemire podium at North American Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.8585858585859\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-364561-250\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily | Local Team Summit snowboarders Zack Wojtalik (left) and Lucas Lemire hold up their second and third place awards won at Friday's 2019 IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"7.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4.jpg\" alt=\"Local Team Summit snowboarders Zack Wojtalik (left) and Lucas Lemire hold up their second and third place awards won at Friday's 2019 IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Local Team Summit snowboarders Zack Wojtalik (left) and Lucas Lemire hold up their second and third place awards won at Friday&#8217;s 2019 IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.<\/strong><br \/>Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily | Local Team Summit youth big mountain rider Zack Wojtalik, 13, sends a cliff earlier this season.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"7.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-1.jpg\" alt=\"Local Team Summit youth big mountain rider Zack Wojtalik, 13, sends a cliff earlier this season.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Local Team Summit youth big mountain rider Zack Wojtalik, 13, sends a cliff earlier this season.<\/strong><br \/>Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily | Zack Wojtalik, left, and Lucas Lemire, right, pose for a photograph with their Team Summit big mountain coach Sam Michaels during Friday's IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"9.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-2.jpg\" alt=\"Zack Wojtalik, left, and Lucas Lemire, right, pose for a photograph with their Team Summit big mountain coach Sam Michaels during Friday's IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"14\">\n<p><strong>Zack Wojtalik, left, and Lucas Lemire, right, pose for a photograph with their Team Summit big mountain coach Sam Michaels during Friday&#8217;s IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.<\/strong><br \/>Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily | Team Summit big mountain snowboarders including Zack Wojtalik, front, give a thumbs-up during Friday's 2019 IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"8.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-3.jpg\" alt=\"Team Summit big mountain snowboarders including Zack Wojtalik, front, give a thumbs-up during Friday's 2019 IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>Team Summit big mountain snowboarders including Zack Wojtalik, front, give a thumbs-up during Friday&#8217;s 2019 IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.<\/strong><br \/>Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily | Team Summit snowboarders stand atop a ridge before dropping into big mountain terrain earlier this season.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"6.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-4.jpg\" alt=\"Team Summit snowboarders stand atop a ridge before dropping into big mountain terrain earlier this season.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Team Summit snowboarders stand atop a ridge before dropping into big mountain terrain earlier this season.<\/strong><br \/>Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-5.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily | Team Summit's big mountain snowboarding team seen at a competition at Crested Butte Resort earlier this season.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"6.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BigMountainSB-SDN-041819-4-5.jpg\" alt=\"Team Summit's big mountain snowboarding team seen at a competition at Crested Butte Resort earlier this season.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Team Summit&#8217;s big mountain snowboarding team seen at a competition at Crested Butte Resort earlier this season.<\/strong><br \/>Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/team-summit-youth-big-mountain-snowboarders-wojtalik-lemire-podium-at-north-american-championships\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/team-summit-youth-big-mountain-snowboarders-wojtalik-lemire-podium-at-north-american-championships\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Team Summit snowboard director Matty Voegtle is a snowboard lifer. The athlete-turned-coach grew up while the sport he loved matured as well. He\u2019s competed in many contests and rode many a powder day at some of the world\u2019s best snowboarding locations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A late January trip to Snowbird Resort in Utah currently goes down as the most special conditions he\u2019s ever shredded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe best snow I\u2019ve ever been in,\u201d Voegtle said. \u201cEighty-eight inches in four days, so crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It wasn\u2019t the sheer amount of 11 feet of snow over four days that made that trip so memorable for Voegtle, however. Rather, it was an epic snowboarding weekend because of the people who joined him there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Voegtle traveled to Snowbird as part of Team Summit\u2019s big mountain team, which included a pair of youth snowboarders, Lucas Lemire, 14, and Zack Wojtalik, 13.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Much like big mountain snowboarding is a new snowboarding discipline \u2014 only officially on the competition scene for a few years and in select locations \u2014 Lemire and Wojtalik are also new, young riders within the discipline. And, considering big mountain snowboarding is a sport with almost a frontier-like feel with few athletes having come before you, the young riders have leaned on Voegtle and other Team Summit coaches, like big mountain coach Sam Michaels, to show them the way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In doing so Michaels, Voegtle and Team Summit, more accurately, are showing Lemire and Wojtalik \u201cthe line.\u201d In big mountain snowboarding, \u201cthe line\u201d is what athletes and coaches refer to when speaking of the specific path they will ride their snowboard through in the more extreme, natural above-tree-line terrain where big mountain competitions take place. For example, a big mountain competition location in Summit County is the Six Senses terrain at Breckenridge Ski Resort\u2019s Peak 6 \u2014 extreme, double-black diamond chute-skiing littered with rock cliffs and other natural features that big mountain snowboarders and freeskiers can choose to include in their line.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The idea of strategizing just where you are going to put your snowboard while staring down at off-piste skiing \u2014 the wind sometimes howling at your back on a ridge \u2014 doesn\u2019t come easy for anyone. Now imagine you\u2019re a pair of young skiers thinking about earning points in a judged competition. That\u2019s the sports psychology Voegtle and Team Summit have worked to instill in Lemire, Wojtalik and Team Summit\u2019s five total big mountain riders this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Which brings us back to Team Summit\u2019s Snowbird powder day in late January. Riding that once-in-a-lifetime powder Voegtle feels he and Team Summit helped Lemire, Wojtalik and other athletes to better understand the attitude and psyche Team Summit\u2019s coaches want them to not only bring into big mountain competitions, but wherever and whenever they ride.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The big mountain competition they were there for had already concluded when Voegtle felt Lemire and Wojtalik took their biggest strides as riders. With the shepherding of their coaches, the pair sent bigger cliffs and landed larger jumps than they had in the actual competition. With that, they gained confidence for the rest of big mountain season, which concluded on Friday with podium finishes at the North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cCompetition snowboarding is so counterintuitive,\u201d Voegtle said. \u201cSo, if you can take that attitude of just going out and riding, like, \u2018this is just another day,\u2019 if you can take that into the comp, that\u2019s ultimately what all the sports psychology amounts to. In a scene like that, it becomes so easy to demonstrate. We don\u2019t snowboard for contests. We just snowboard. And, when there is a contest, we are still just snowboarding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lemire and Wojtalik, like any other Team Summit snowboarder, competed in several different snowboarding disciplines when they joined the program. Voegtle said he doesn\u2019t think there is necessarily anything different about a young rider who chooses big mountain over more traditional disciplines like halfpipe or boardercross. That said, he thinks there is a general feeling that big mountain is a bit untapped and a bit more adventurous.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Taking into account that element of adventure, Team Summit\u2019s big mountain coaches focused with Lemire and Wojtalik this year on refining turn technique, turn shape and carrying pressure with their speed. Voegtle realizes the first thing anyone notices about big mountain snowboarding is sending a huge grab off a cliff. But the fundamentals of staying upright and riding with control is more the name of the game in terms of impressing the judges \u2014 especially for young riders lile Lemire and Wojtalik.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Which brings us to the Nor Ams at Kicking Horse. Both Lemire and Wojtalik were, more or less, happy to be there as they were the final two kids to qualify. But, once there, they listened to their coaches, stuck to what they knew, and found themselves on the podium.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Voegtle described Wojtalik as a young rider with a good fundamental foundation and a strong work ethic. A little timid at first, once Team Summit showed Wojtalik what he could already do, his riding blossomed. As for Lemire, Voegtle said he also started the season somewhat timid. But, Voegtle added, being cautious isn\u2019t always a bad thing, as the coach said Lemire\u2019s calculated approach helped him to choose smart lines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Wojtalik earned second place in the 10-rider snowboard male 12-14 competition after Michaels told he and Lemire to be sure to take it easy and stay on their feet, as many competitors fell on their lines. In the Nor Am finals, Wojtalik rode down the center of a chute to skier\u2019s right. It was open-faced, so the judges could see his technique. He also hit what he estimated was a 4-foot rock jib that his Team Summit coaches said would look good to turn out of.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThen, as I went down a really long run out, I was making hop turns down the moguls face,\u201d Wojtalik said. \u201cI showed how happy and proud I was of the run I made. And, at the bottom, there\u2019s this little area called \u2018The Playground,\u2019 little rocks to show the judges what you can do. And, on one of the rocks, I went off a bit too fast, did a melon grab right in front of judges. The judges could see the bottom side of my board because I sent it a little bigger than I wished, 10 feet out, 8 feet up. And I basically landed at the finish corral and was able to ride down through it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lemire finished just behind Wojtalik by executing a few nice turns before hitting a 4-foot drop into another chute. Throughout the rest of his line, Lemire carved and connected fluid turns before hitting another drop near the judges, coming to the stop with one final, textbook turn. Wojtalik and Lemire\u2019s Team Summit teammate Jace Guadagnoli also took eighth place in the competition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Looking ahead, Lemire will next year compete in the 15- to 18-year-old division. Despite the challenge that awaits him, he\u2019s ready to take the next step \u2014 or line \u2014 on his big mountain snowboard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThey are pretty crazy,\u201d Lemire said. \u201cBut I\u2019m trying to set a goal for myself to get at least one podium next year. And that\u2019s going to be hard. But I just want to become a better all-around rider and to help other people to become better riders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/team-summit-youth-big-mountain-snowboarders-wojtalik-lemire-podium-at-north-american-championships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Local Team Summit snowboarders Zack Wojtalik (left) and Lucas Lemire hold up their second and third place awards won at Friday&#8217;s 2019 IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia.Laura Wojtalik \/ Special to The Daily Local Team Summit youth big mountain rider Zack Wojtalik, 13, sends a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 15:48:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}