Beyond the X: Snow schools for Olympic hopefuls

A capsule look at Statton's Sochi dozen with interviews conducted by the school's Director of Communication Meredith Morin:

Emily Bamford
Stratton Mountain School class: 2010
Event: Alpine
Hometown: Doreen, Australia
Credentials: A member of the 2010 Australian ski team, Sochi is Bamford's first Olympiad. A three-time winner of the Australia New Zealand Cup overall, she placed 13th in the slalom (SL) in Austria Jan. 18.
Quote: "I'm looking forward to representing my country at the most prestigious sporting event in the world," she said. "That is something that will be part of me forever. Growing up, the Olympics were always my main goal. And now that I know I have reached it, it is just so rewarding. I'm excited to take in every minute of it."

Sophie Caldwell
SMS class: 2008
Event: Nordic
Hometown: Peru, Vt.
Credentials: After skiing to her career-best sixth place finish in the World Cup sprint final in Switzerland on Dec. 31, Caldwell placed seventh in the World Cup spring final in Poland 19 days later and entered the Olympics ranked 10th in the Sprint World Cup points and 25th overall. She was a five-time All-American at Dartmouth. This is her first year on the U.S. Ski Team and first Olympics.
Quote: "I'm trying not to set many outcome goals and really focus on enjoying the experience while setting process goals that will prepare me as best as possible. … As far as the Olympic experience goes, I'm probably the most excited for the opening ceremonies, and as far as the races go, I'm probably the most excited for the skate sprint."

Danny Davis
SMS class: 2006
Event: Snowboarding (halfpipe)
Hometown: Truckee, Calif.
Credentials: A member of the U.S. Snowboarding team from 2005-09, Davis took the X Games halfpipe gold in his first finals appearance on Jan. 26. Nine days earlier, he clinched an Olympic-team spot by placing first in Mammoth, Calif. Two days later, he played second at the Mammoth HP Grand Prix. Davis took a two-year hiatus from the sport starting in 2013 recovering from a back injury in an ATV accident that ended his 2010 Olympic bid. He was the Snowboarder Magazine 2006 Rookie of the Year.

Alex Deibold
SMS class: 2004
Event: Snowboarding (snowboardcross)
Hometown: Manchester, Vt.
Credentials: Placed third at the Lake Louise Word Cup on Dec. 10 and 10th at the Vallnord Arcalis, Andorra World Cup on Jan. 11. He took second in the 2013 Sochi World Cup and made the finals at four out of five World Cup starts in 2013. Deibold attended the 2010 Olympics as a wax tech for the U.S. Snowboard team, but not as a competitor.
Quote: "Making the team as an athlete is a dream cometrue. I'm so excited to experience all the things I got to watch my teammates get to do last time that I had to miss out on. I think the thing I'm most looking forward to is walking in opening ceremonies and getting to be part of that amazing moment."

Jessie Diggin
SMS class: Elite Team
Event: Nordic
Hometown: Afton, Minn.
Credentials: The first-time Olympian is a five-time U.S. champion and teamed with Kikkan Randall to win USA's first World Championship gold medal in the team sprint of 2013. Diggin is ranked 16th overall in the World Cup points and 17th in sprint. She spends much of her offseason training and working alongside current SMS student athletes.
Quote: "I'm looking forward to the relay the most."

Alexandra Duckworth
SMS class: 2005
Event: Snowboarding (halfpipe)
Hometown: Kingsbury, Nova Scotia, Canada
Credentials: The first-time Canadian Olympic Team member finished ninth in the Stoneham, Canada World Cup HP on Jan. 18, a month after she took sixth in the Ruka, Finland HP World Cup.
Quote: "I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the Stratton Mountain School alumni, watching as many other sports as I can, and putting down a good run for Canada."

Kris Freeman
SMS class: 1999
Event: Nordic
Hometown: Andover, N.H.
Credentials: A four-time Olympic qualifier, Freeman won the 15-km FIS race at Black Mountain, Maine after taking fourth in the Sprint National Championships in Soldier Hollow, Utah on Jan. 10. He also took third in the 30-km on Jan. 8. A former winter-term student at SMS, he has earned top-10 finishes in more than a dozen World Cup events.

Simi Hamilton
SMS class: 2013
Event: Nordic
Hometown: Aspen, Colo.
Credentials: A second-time Olympian, Hamilton won World Cup gold in the men's sprint in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on Dec. 31. Two weeks later, Hamilton was fifth in the Team Sprint and 20th in the individual Sprint in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Quote: "I'm really looking forward to the type of excitement that is exhibited by all of the other competitors there (at the Olympics). When I went to The Games in Vancouver, I remember being awe-struck by how psyched everyone was. It's just such a unique atmosphere in the athletes' village and at the venue. And even though you get some of the same energy on the World Cup circuit, the amount of intensity of it at the Olympics is absolutely amazing."

Jackie Hernandez
SMS class: 2010
Event: Snowboarding (snowboardcross)
Hometown: Londonderry, Vt.
Credentials: The first-time Olympian won the SBX World Cup in Valmalenco, Italy in March 2012 and was eighth in the Blue Mountain, Canada World Cup last February. She is coming back from injury and clinched her Olympic spot on Jan. 25.
Quote: "It has been a crazy ride, but I'm so happy. I can't wait to walk into opening ceremonies with Team USA and so proud to represent our country, then get on the course and do what I love. I want to bring home a medal, preferably gold."

Lindsey Jacobellis
SMS class: 2003
Event: Snowboarding (snowboardcross)
Hometown: Stratton Mountain, Vt.
Credentials: Jacobellis became the most decorated female snowboardcross athlete in X Games history by winning her eighth gold medal in Aspen, Colo., Jan. 24. She is one of five SMS alumni who have made three Olympic teams. She won silver at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games and has won 27 World Cups. She has overcome two knee operations since January of 2012.
Quote: "The last two years, what I've been through, this is like the icing on the cake," she told reporters after the X Games gold medal in Aspen. "This is the best confidence I could get going into Sochi."

Klara Krizova
SMS class: 2007
Event: Alpine
Hometown: Zlin, Czech Republic
Credentials: A member of the Czech Republic team, Krizova is ranked 46th in the world for downhill. This is her second trip to the Olympics after placing 29th in the super G at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

Andy Newell
SMS class: 2002
Event: Nordic
Hometown: Shaftsbury, Vt.
Credentials: Another three-time Olympian from SMS, Newell is ranked 10th in the World Cup sprint points and 33rd overall. He finished fifth in the world in 2013 for sprint distances, including six top-10 World Cup finishes.
Quote: "It's going to be amazing to head to Sochi for my third Olympics. This time around feels different because we have a cross country team that's more competitive than ever before, and we have strong medal potential on both the men's and women's side. I'm personally looking to redeem myself after crashing out of the Vancouver sprint. … This time around, I'm confident that I can be as fast as anyone else in the sprint, and I'm going to make sure I have a lot of fun out there."


1976 — Innsbruck, Austria
Abbi Fisher, alpine (1975 class)

1980 – Lake Placid, N.Y.
Abbi Fisher, alpine (1975)
Heidi Preuss, alpine (1979)

1984 — Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
Chaiki Ishoka, alpine (1978)
Sue Long, nordic (1978)
Gale "Tiger" Shaw, alpine (1979)

1988 — Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Ingrid Langell Butts, nordic (1981)
Pam Fletcher, alpine (1981)
Joe Galanas, nordic (1983)
Nobu Mori, alpine (1983)
Kristen Petty, nordic (1982)
Gale "Tiger" Shaw, alpine, (1979)
Leslie Thompson, nordic (1981)
Heidi Voelker, alpine (1987)

1992 — Albertville, France
Ingrid Langell Butts, nordic (1981)
Ben Husaby, nordic (1985)
Krista Schmidinger, alpine (1988)
Leslie Thompson, nordic (1981)
Heidi Voelker, alpine (1987)

1994 — Lillehammer, Norway
Ingrid Langell Butts, nordic (1981)
Gaku Hirasawa, alpine (1991)
Ben Husaby, nordic (1985)
Kerrin Petty, nordic (1987)
Krista Schmidinger, alpine (1988)
Carrie Sheinberg, alpine (1990)
Leslie Thompson, nordic (1981)
Heidi Voelker, alpine (1987)

1998 — Nagano, Japan
Gaku Hirasawa, alpine (1991)
Tasha Nelson, alpine (1995)
Kerrin Petty, nordic (1987)
Ross Powers, snowboard (1997)
Patrick Weaver, nordic (1988)
Stacey Wooley, biathlon (1986)

2002 – Salt Lake City, Utah
Tessa Benoit, nordic (1995)
Kris Freeman, nordic (1999)
Kristina Joder, nordic (1997)
Alexandra Munteanu, alpine (1999)
Tasha Nelson, alpine (1995)
Ross Powers, snowboard (1997)
Pete Thorndike, snowboard (1996)
Patrick Weaver, nordic (1988)

2006 — Torino, Italy
Kendall Brown, snowboarding (2008)
Kris Freeman, nordic (1999)
Lindsey Jacobellis, snowboard (2003)
Andy Newel, nordic (2002)

2010 — Vancouver, BC, Canada
Kendall Brown, snowboard (2008)
Kris Freeman, nordic (1999)
Simi Hamilton, nordic (SMST2)
Lindsey Jacobellis, snowboarding (2003)
Klara Krizova, alpine (2007)
Andy Newell, nordic (2002)
Louie Vito, snowboarding (2006)