Building pieces
Tracy Keller, head of the Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy, is all smiles while standing in front of the school's entrance during a recent snow storm at Sugar Bowl Resort in California. This storm on Jan. 30 marked the first significant snowfall at the resort in nearly two months.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
Sugar Bowl doesn't have nearly the track record on the slopes as SMS — who does? — but the philosophies and goals appear on the same track, which makes sense.
Sugar Bowl's founder is Hellman's daughter Tricia Hellman Gibbs, a former member of the U.S. Ski Team whose vision was to develop a world-class ski program and academy on the West Coast. Like Stratton, SBA graduates often go on to some of the top universities in the country — Dartmouth, Bates, Boston College, Colorado and Middlebury — while pursuing their skiing dreams.
The school's new mission statement is: "Sugar Bowl Academy inspires and empowers passionate, highly motivated students, setting the stage for competitive skiers to seek and celebrate challenge with grit, grace and courage."
Asked if Sugar Bowl is carrying the torch for western ski academies, Director of Admissions and head U-16 coach Bryce Hubner said: "We're young compared to our national rivals. It takes a long time to get a school going and the people in place and admitting the right kids. Our kids over the last 4-5 years have been achieving at the very highest level.
"We are competing with schools that have been going for decades longer. It's nice to get in the mix. I wouldn't say by any means we're the standard for the west or rest of the country, but we are among the top ski academies in the country."
With the recent completion of a 10,000-square foot classroom/administrative office building, a nearly completed spacious 33-resident dorm and expanded athletic training center — tabbed the "Sporthaus" — Keller believes Sugar Bowl will soon fill its student body capacity of 75.
Keller actually grew up near Stratton prior to attending Dartmouth, where she was captain of the alpine ski team. She's held about every post at Sugar Bowl, including dean of students, teacher, coach and dorm parent.
"All the recent construction growth is symbolic of how we've evolved over the last 15 years," she said. "We're a school of competitive high school skiers that is going to be one of the premier teaching ski academies in the country and the world.
"We've put kids on the U.S. Ski Team and I'm certain we will have Olympians, whether it's 2018 or 2022. … There's no easy way to get to the Olympics, but if you're looking for a program to put all the pieces together, that's us."
Suger Bowl Academy 10th-grader Cole Turner treks through the snow while returning from lunch.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
