A handful of Windells Academy students are causing quite the commotion in the emerging freeski lineup. Most recently, Senior Academy student and Indiana native, Nick Goepper, took first in Men’s Ski Slopestyle at the Winter Dew Tour Championships at Snowbasin. Nick’s performance won him the number two spot for overall Dew Tour Slopestyle athletes, as well as his fifth consecutive podium at a major event. Nick was named the Mitch Breakthrough Male Athlete of the Year. Currently, Nick holds the number one spot for Men’s Slopestyle in the AFP Top 100. Huge congratulations, Nick, from all of us at Windells! Read more about Goepper’s win from Freeskier Magazine and Alli Sports.

PC Freeskier Magazine

Alex Beaulieu-Marchand, Senior Windells Academy student from Quebec City, Canada, took 10th in Men’s Ski Slopestyle at the final Dew stop. ABM placed 9th at the Waterville stop and he was runner up for the Ballpark Rookie of the Year award. ABM has had an impressive year and the Windells Academy staff of teachers and coaches are ecstatic about his overall performance.

Both Nick and ABM have received offers from the US and Canadian Freeski Teams. Mike Hanley, Windells Academy President, describes both boys as academically driven. After graduation, Alex has his sights set on Universite Laval in Quebec and Nick plans to attend Westminster in Utah.

Windells alumni are continuing their successes years after they graduate from the Academy. Maggie Stout, Pennsylvania native, placed second in Women’s Pipe at the North Face Open. Congrats, Maggie!

For more information on Windells Camp and Windells Academy, visit our websites at www.windells.com and www.windellsacademy.com.

Last year, La Nina dumped record amounts of snow onto Mount Hood. When Session 1 rolled around, Timberline cut troughs into the snow under the lifts so that they could run. The amount of snow was mind boggling. The Northwest is having a pretty good year right now, too, especially compared to the rest of the country, where snowfall is less than average this year.

If you happen to live in an area where you could use a little more snow right now, enjoy this Take me Back Tuesday and remind yourself that even if there’s less snow outside right now than you would like, there’s tons of shredding to be done this summer.

This is what the park looked like during Session 1.

Chris Hagerty, bright on a gray day.

Mount Hood was completely white for weeks.

Assistant Head Digger, Everest Arnold.

Nick was featured in a recent article in his local newspaper.

Nick Goepper is a rising you am on the freeskiing scene. Since last season, Nick has been showing up on podiums at major slopestyle events, turning heads with his style and large bag of tricks. More than that, Nick is only getting better. He’s a student at Windells Academy and a pretty awesome guy, too. He let us in on what he felt like, winning silver at Winter X Games 2012.

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE SILVER MEDAL AT WINTER X GAMES 2012! WHAT WAS IT LIKE STANDING ON THE PODIUM?

It was amazing! Definitely a dream come true. It was hard to take it all in at once.
WHAT WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING PART ABOUT THE SLOPESTYLE COURSE AT WINTER X? WHAT WAS THE MOST FUN PART?
The most challenging part of the slope course was either the technical rails or the four consecutive jumps. The most fun part was definitely the first wall ride feature.

YOU HAVE BEEN STANDING ON A LOT OF PODIUMS AT BIG EVENTS LATELY, WHAT’S THE SECRET TO YOUR SUCCESS?

Lots and lots of PROTEINNNNNNNN SHAKES. Just kidding, but I have been training a lot on trampolines and perfecting my double corks.
HOW DOES TRAINING AT WINDELLS ACADEMY HELP YOUR SKIING?

Training at Windells Academy helps my skiing immensely. They have every facility imaginable to progress your skiing along with accommodating coaches to help.
WHAT CONTEST HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE TO SKI IN SO FAR?

X Games for sure. The amount of hype and attention that surrounds it is more than any other contest.