This news is sure to become a wonderful advertisement of what can be accomplished when attending or training at the Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy.
The Academy, located at Sugar Bowl ski resort in Norden, will have a record-breaking eight skiers connected to the program participating in the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy (SBSTA) will be represented internationally with six alpine skiers and two Nordic skiers in Beijing.
“We are so proud there will be eight skiers representing four different countries in the Winter Olympics,” said Brian Krill, Executive Director of the elite ski academy. “This emphasizes the connection between the strength our programs, international competition, and ultimately all the kids from our mini mites to these Olympians.”
Sugar Bowl Olympic Alpine skiers
- Luke Winters, United States, class of 2015
- Louis Mühlen-Schulte, Australia, class of 2017
- Katie Parker, Australia, class of 2017
- Michel Macedo, Brazil, class of 2017
- Maureen (Mo) Lebel, United States, trained several years at Sugar Bowl
- Alice Robinson, New Zealand, trained with Sugar Bowl ski team
Sugar Bowl Olympic Nordic skiers
- Hannah Halvorsen, United States, class of 2016
- JC Schoonmaker, United States, trained with Sugar Bowl ski team
The year-round Sugar Bowl Ski Team and Academy is a nationally recognized Alpine, Freeride, and Nordic ski team and ski academy that has produced multiple U.S. Ski Team members, NCAA collegiate competitors, national champions in virtually all age groups, and numerous nationally ranked athletes.
It is the country’s only ski-in/ski-out ski academy. Sugar Bowl Academy is noted for combining rigorous academics with a competitive skiing program.
“Seeing athletes reach this height of qualifying for the Olympics reminds me of all the training, hard work, dedication, and joy all our athletes experience day after day and year after year,” Krill said.
Below is a list of the Sugar Bowl group that will be competing in Beijing.
Luke Winters: He will represent the U.S. Ski Team in the men’s slalom in his first-ever Olympics.
Winters grew up skiing Oregon’s Mt. Hood with his twin brother Cody, another Sugar Bowl Academy athlete.
Luke Winters made his World Cup debut in 2018, competing in a handful of races. In his second slalom of 2019, he was the only American on the start list and finished the first run in second place.
A career-best 10th finish in the World Cup slalom January 8, 2022, moved Winters to 24th in the World Cup slalom rankings.
“It feels great to be named to such a small team of Alpine athletes this year,” Winters said. “The Olympics are another step in my career, but I can’t help but think back to all the work and time it has taken to get here. Sugar Bowl Academy played an integral part in my growth as a person and an athlete.”
Louis Mühlen Schulte: While he excelled in a wide range of sports at a young age, the snow eventually won him over and narrowed his focus to becoming an elite skier.
His journey in alpine skiing gained prominence with a bronze medal at the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in ski cross. Louis graduated from Sugar Bowl Academy in 2017 and now skis for Montana State University.
“With great time management and hard work, I have managed to juggle a full-time college load and race the NCAA series, Nor-Am, the occasional ANC, and even a World Cup start,” Schulte said.
Katie Parker: She became an Australian national champion in moguls and several alpine disciplines at age 10. The family would head to the U.S. during southern hemisphere summers to ski on the northern winter slopes.
At the University of Utah, Parker earned All-America honors in the giant slalom at the 2020 NCAA Championships and has recorded two podium finishes, four top-five finishes, and 12 career top-10s in her three seasons with the Utes.
Despite the many pandemic disruptions, Winters had a solid finish to 2021 season with two top-10s (5th giant slalom and 9th slalom) in December at the Nor-Am Cup leg in Panorama, Canada.
Michel Macedo: Originally from Brazil, he was raised in Portland, Oregon. Growing up, he skied Mount Hood before heading to Sugar Bowl Academy for his final two years of high school.
Macedo is currently a junior at Middlebury College in Vermont. This will be his second Winter Olympic Games.
Alice Robinson: During her time training with the Sugar Bowl ski team, Robinson became the youngest woman from any nation to win at prestigious Sölden.
On the World Cup circuit, Robinson wrapped up her 2020-21 season with a win at the Giant Slalom finals in Lenzerheide (SUI) in March 2021.
This will be Robinson’s second Olympic Games. She finished 35th in PyeongChang in 2018, where she was New Zealand’s youngest-ever Winter Olympian.
Maureen (Mo) Lebel: Growing up in a family of skiers, she was named to the U.S. Ski Team’s National Training Group, and in 2018, she competed in all disciplines – slalom to downhill – at the World Junior Championships.
Lebel won the national downhill title and finished third overall in the NorAm downhill standings.
In fall 2018, Lebel enrolled at the University of Utah, but injuries kept her from competing that winter and the next one. Lebel’s injuries brought forth a new level of motivation and determination.
“I’m refueled to work hard in everything I do while still focusing on enjoying the process,” Lebel said.
In October, as Lebel was training for her first World Cup at the Lake Louise speed races, her father, Jay, passed away in a car accident, delaying her debut. She made her World Cup debut at a downhill this month, dedicating it to her father.
“My goal is to one day leave the sport of ski racing feeling 110 percent fulfilled, knowing that I have worked as hard as I possibly could in every situation both on and off the hill,” she said.
Hannah Halvorsen: A Truckee product, she thought her career might be over after being struck by a car as she crossed a street in Anchorage, Alaska in 2019.
It was 11 months before Halvorsen returned to snow, and she wondered if she would ever reach her potential again.
Halvorsen was part of the U.S. women’s relay team that won an historic bronze medal at the 2017 Junior World Championships. Halvorsen finished 8th in the Junior World Women’s Sprint the following year.
Halvorsen currently skis with the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Club as a member of its Elite Team. She was awarded FIS World Cup Sprint starting rights for the U.S. Ski Team this season as a member of the D-Team.
She placed 7th in the FIS World Cup Sprint in Dresden, GER, this season and sealed her nomination to the Olympic team. Halvorsen is currently ranked 38th in the FIS Cross-Country Sprint World Cup standings.
“I was very fortunate to be able to attend Sugar Bowl Academy for high school,” Halvorsen said. “It was here that I was given the tools, support and opportunities to commit to big goals. It helped me start on a path that has given me an amazing ski racing career.”
JC Schoonmaker: From Tahoe City, he spent four seasons training with the Sugar Bowl Ski Team.
He was named to the A Team of the U.S. Ski Team’s Nordic squad after a breakout first full season of World Cup skiing in 2021.
Schoonmaker has balanced attending school full-time, racing for the UAA Seawolves, and competing on the World Cup Tour.
He has made the sprint semifinals three times at World Cup races this season, finishing as high as 7th. In early January, he won his first national title and hopes to be a factor in the men’s sprint in Beijing.
“I’m so stoked to make the Olympic team,” Schoonmaker said. “It’s a crazy feeling to actually achieve a long-time dream like this. Making the transition to Sugar Bowl Academy was huge for me. I feel like each of the past four years I’ve been on the team, I’ve been able to take a huge step forward in my skiing;”
For more information on Sugar Bowl Academy, visit https://sbacademy.org.
