After a winter full of high-flying ski and snowboard competitions, Copper Mountain Resort served as the hosts of the ski week portion of the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association (USASA) National Championships from April 6-10.

Much like the snowboard portion of the event the previous week, the competition not only featured talented youth-level skiers, but also saw several landmark performances from Summit County-based freeskiers.

With athletes decked out in their most stylish competition outfits, the national championship event began with a freeski rail jam competition on Saturday, April 6.

All five of the Summit County skiers featured in the men’s open class competition, finished within the top 40 athletes in the 44-man field with Dillon’s Evan Wischmeyer crashing into the top 10 and placing eighth.

Wischmeyer was followed by Silverthorne’s Max Loveless in 18th, and Copper Mountain’s Forest Woodward narrowly missed the top 20 by placing 21st. Alma’s Ethan Abbey took 24th, Daniel Hough of Frisco finished in 32nd and Silverthorne’s Owen McKibbin placed 40th.

Wischmeyer later returned to the slopes to compete in the Group 1 men’s freeski slopestyle and halfpipe competitions, where he was able to secure two more top-10 finishes. On Monday, April 8, Wischmeyer earned a score of 88.33 to take sixth in the slopestyle competition before matching that finish in the halfpipe on Tuesday.

Wischmeyer earned a top run score of 77 in the halfpipe competition, which was beat by Aspen’s Hunter Maytin who earned a score of 92.75.

Copper Mountain’s Colin Harris took 14th in the Group 1 freeski slopestyle competition with a score of 15. McKibbin took 8th (71.75) and Hough placed 11th (48) in the Group 1 halfpipe.

Stay up-to-date on all things Summit County. Get the top stories in your inbox every morning. Sign up here: SummitDaily.com/newsletter

The next group of Summit County residents to shine bright at the national stage were the Nick siblings of Silverthorne. Joey Nick, 13, competed in the freeski 13- to 14-year-old boys halfpipe competition, where he was able to put together two clean runs that caught the attention of the judges. 

Nick scored 88 on his first run to lead the rest of the field and then improved his score on his final run by slinging together a cork 900, a 540, a cork 1080, a 720 and an alley-oop flat 540. 

The run bumped Nick’s score to a 92.50, which was more than enough for the burgeoning freeskier to be crowned a 2024 national champion.

“It felt good because I spent the last year working hard to learn new and bigger tricks, such as cork 9s and cork 10s,” Nick said of his national-title berth. “It took hundreds of tries to dial it in and get really good at it and be consistent. I worked on them on trampolines and rollerblades at the Woodward Copper Barn and then took them to snow.”

With a 2024 national title under his belt, Nick hopes to continue to work hard throughout the spring and summer in order to hopefully stand atop the podium next winter. 

“I’m excited to go back to Mammoth and Mount Hood to hit their halfpipes this spring and summer to progress and keep grinding away,” Nick said. “This past season that just ended, I competed in the Rev Tours for the first time, and there were a lot of bigger and older guys doing bigger and better tricks. I want to do those tricks like them, so that motivates me to be like them.” 

Nick was followed by Dillon’s Cash Thwaites in fifth place with a score of 53.75.

After winning national titles in the snowboard halfpipe and snowboard slopestyle competitions at Copper the previous week, Sammie Nick, 10, showed off her versatility and stamina by slinging tricks during USASA nationals “ski week.”

Nick began her pursuit for additional USASA honors in the freeski 9- to 10-years-old slopestyle competition where she earned a top run score of 92 to add a bronze medal to her already overflowing trophy shelf.

Silverthorne’s Emma Loveless took 25th in the 9-10-years-old slopestyle competition. 

Following the slopestyle competition, Nick then aimed her skis down the halfpipe walls where she was able to put together two clean runs. Nick scored 63.25 on her first run before bumping the score to 76.25 on her final run. The score garnered Nick a silver medal, finishing behind Park City’s Beau Woodring’s score of 83.50.

“I had a great season,” Sammie Nick said. “I progressed so much because older kids, like my brother, were pushing me. They do a trick, and then I try it. And if I fail, I just try it again and again and again. I love hanging out with them because they’re my friends, and I feel happy with them.”

With two top-three finishes and a seventh-place finish in ski cross, Nick was also named the overall champion for the freeski 9- to 10-year-old girls division with 2,860 points. 

When asked how she manages to balance the two, challenging winter sports amidst school and a busy competition season, Nick says she tries to just have fun with it.  

“I just do whichever sport I want that day, skiing or snowboarding,” Nick said. “Sometimes I ask my friends which one they want me to do the next day. Sometimes I take a vote. Sometimes I even ski and snowboard both on the same day. I do whatever I feel like doing in the morning, and I take the other pair of boots for later in the day. Skiing and snowboarding are similar, but different.”

In the girls 11- to 12-years-old halfpipe, Dillon’s Lainey Steen topped the competition with a best run score of 92 with Frisco’s Naomi Lyman quickly following in ninth with a score of 58.50.

Steen and Lyman returned for a stacked girls slopestyle competition. Lyman scored 88 to place eighth and Steen finished in 21st with a score of 41.

In the 11-14-years-old rail jam, Steen earned her second gold medal of the competition while Lyman tied for ninth place. Steen and Lyman rounded out the competition with second and third-place finishes, respectively, in the ski cross competition, boosting their respective rankings in the overall results.

With 2,520 points, Steen won the overall title, Washington’s Kayla Friberg took second and Lyman finished in third.   

The competition concluded with Dillon’s David Asher Cockrell placing seventh and Silverthorne’s Mateo Stachran taking 11th in the 15- to 16-year-old slopestyle competition.