Revelstoke freeskier Jake Teuton, 15, is having an impressive season which has included his debut on the North American Junior Freeski Championship circuit.
On Mar. 27, Teuton took 2nd place at a North American Junior Freeskiing Championships tour stop in Kirkwood, California. Teuton raced against competitors in the 15–17 year age range.
The result follows a win at the Castle Mountain Junior Freeskiing competition held Mar. 18–20 at Castle Mountain Resort, Alberta. Teuton raced against a field of 12–15 year olds in that competition.
Also this season, Teuton placed fourth at a freeskiing competition in Kimberley.
The RSS student says the key to success in freeskiing is “super aggressive” skiing and being solid on your skis. “The main thing, I would say, is be a really confident skier because if you’re not a confident skier a lot of these venues will rock you and take you for a ride,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that crash and crash hard.”
“Hit cliffs and try to stomp on them,” Teuton says of his approach.
In Kirkwood, Teuton started his run with a cliff drop, then went off another 20-foot drop into a tight transition, did two more cliff bands and wrapped it up with a 360 near the end. He was more than pleased with the run, describing it as “super fluid.”
Teuton is a relative newcomer to skiing; he’s in his fourth season on skis after switching from snowboarding after eight seasons. Teuton participated in freestyle skiing in the 2007-08 season, and then rode with the Revelstoke Mountain Freeriders last year before that program went on hiatus.
He says he always pushes himself to progress. “I just like going fast, I guess.” he said. “I do my own thing.”
Teuton is sponsored by Fortitude Skis, Marker Bindings and Revelstoke Mountain Resort. He says a big part of the tour competitions is about getting your name out there to sponsors. He’s happy with his successes so far, and he’s enjoying the ride. “[It’s] definitely an amazing thing to do when you’re young,” Teuton said of his experiences so far. “It’s just really skiing that gets you the best that you can be.”
Teuton’s final North American Junior Freeski Championships race of the season takes place April 8–9 at Snowbird, Utah.