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| AVSC Freestyle/Freeride Director Eric Knight |
 | The 2010-2011 season will mark Eric's 13th season coaching and 9th year as AVSC Freestyle Director. Under Eric's leadership,the Freestyle Team has tripled in size and won National Junior Championships in moguls and aerials. Eric was the 1995 British National Mogul Champion and a member of the British Freestyle Team from 1995 to 1998. He has competed in Nor-Am,Europa Cup,World Cup and World Pro Mogul events around the world and brings his knowledge and experience from the highest levels of freestyle skiing to AVSC. |
| AVSC Freestyle/Freeride Head Coach Lynn Merriam |
 | Lynn has been coaching professionally for 14 years, 9 of them with AVSC. Lynn is a native Mainer who grew up skiing at Sugarloaf. She has a BS in Business Management with a minor in Sports Management from Springfield College, MA. Lynn worked at USSA in 1999 & was named AVSC Gale Spence Award Freestyle Coach in 2005. She is a USSA Level II Aerial/Mogul certified coach, USSA certified judge & served as a judge at the 1998 & 1999 X-Games. Lynn loves her dogs, bird hunting, polo, and boating... and we love her dog Blanca! |
| AVSC Freestyle/Freeride Coach Jeremy Mirfield |
 | Jeremy started skiing at age 8 at Nashoba Valley Ski Area, MA. At age 14 he started open mogul comps then moved on to Budweiser, Mountain Dew and Red Bull Pro comps. At 16 he started teaching skiing at Nashoba after school and moved to Steamboat Springs in 1998 to further his teaching career. He worked at Ski School and volunteer coached Devo 2's for SSWSC. In April of 2001 he passed his Level 3 PSIA Exam and moved to Aspen. In 2002 he started a 7 year stint of back-to-back winters working at Aspen Skiing Company and coaching the Southern Alps Free Ride Team in New Zealand. In 2003 he competed in the New Zealand Free Ski Open and also became the Lead Pipe & Park trainer for Aspen Skiing Company. In April 2006 he became a PSIA Pipe & Park Examiner. Winter of 2007 hestarted working with AVSC as a part-time coach. "Thanks to AVSC for giving me the opportunity to work with the athletes at this Club," says Jeremy. "I am committed to this club and its athletes. BRING ON THE SNOW!!!" |
| AVSC Freestyle/Freeride Coach JF Bruegger |
 | JF Bruegger was born at Aspen Valley Hospital on November 13th, 1981. Shortly after birth, it started snowing and didn't let up for nearly 30 straight days. He immediately fell in love with the mountains and winter and started sledding on a Flexible Flyer, with Dad, that winter. He started skiing at Aspen Highlands the winter of '84-'85 and hasn't missed a season at Aspen Snowmass yet. At the age of 10, JF joined the alpine team with AVSC and with the guidance of many great coaches, finally learned how to turn. JF continued with the alpine program until high school at which point he joined the freestyle skiing revolution, when "snowboard" terrain parks became "alpine" terrain parks. JF got his degree in Mechanical Engineering from CU Boulder in 4 years while still skiing at least 60 days a season. During that time his interest shifted from the parks to the big mountains and backcountry of Colorado. Two years after graduating from CU, he rejoined AVSC as a freestyle coach and hasn't looked back. JF's goal as a coach is to instill his love and passion for all aspects of skiing in the youth of the Roaring Fork Valley. |
| AVSC Freestyle Coach Jeremy Weir |
 | Jeremy grew up in Cumberland, Maine, and started his competitive skiing career with Carrabassett Valley Academy, at the ripe old age of 9. After coaching trampoline camps for a number of years, he became the head freeride coach at Squaw Valley, CA. Though Jeremy focused on park and pipe, he made sure that his students were well versed in the arts of mogul skiing, and the occasional hot dogging. According to Jeremy, "aside from two planking it, I fill my time with hiking, skateboarding, photography, and all types of music. Hollarado everyone!" |
| AVSC Freeride Coach Aaron Anderson |
 | Aaron has been coaching freestyle skiing for 12 years and is a graduate of both Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont and the University of Colorado. Aaron comes from both a racing and freestyle background and loves his sponsors including Seirus Inovations, Smith Optics Surface and Dalbello. Aaron also has a really cute daughter named Zea. |
| AVSC Freeride Coach Jenny Harris |
 | Native Aspenite, Jenny Harris, was raised by passionate local skiers and was an athlete with AVSC for six years of her youth. Now 27, she has spent the last five winters in the valley dedicating her days to becoming a top level freeride skier, and she enjoys sharing her enthusiasm, knowledge, and love for skiing with our athletes. Jenny loves spending time in the company of friends and family including her husband, Matt Grumbacher and their dog, Powder. Besides doing laps on the Aspen Gondola, Jenny can be found exploring the Utah desert, hiking in the mountains, and waterskiing and wakesurfing on Ruedi Reservoir or Lake Powell. |
| AVSC Freeride Coach Andrew Wickes |
 | Andrew Wickes had no choice but to be a serious skier. Born between Highlands and Ajax at our very own Aspen Valley Hospital, Andrew was in love with the mountains as soon as he set foot on a pair of skis at 2 years of age. He spent time in all of the AVSC programs (except for Snowboarding) until he found his niche in freestyle/freeride. Growing up under the guidance of local legends like Steele Spence and an excellent freestyle coaching staff, Andrew and the first contingency of the ATA were able to make a splash in the international park skiing community. He has a variety of championships and awards attached to his ski career, but what he is most excited to bring to the team this season is his love for skiing and insights on skiing's role in developing quality human beings. |
| AVSC Freestyle Devo 2 Head Coach Zak Fishkin |
 | Originally from the North Shore of Boston, Zak attended The Holderness School for High School where he trained moguls with the Waterville Valley Freestyle Team and competed on the boarding school circuit. "I got my first pair of twin tip skis during my senior year of high school and began skiing park." Zak moved to Colorado in 2000 to go to CU Boulder and ski for the Breckenridge Freeride Team from 2001-2003. He competed in Slopestyle and Big Air competitions such as the US Open and the X-Games Qualifiers. Zak moved to the Aspen Valley in 2004 and coached the CRMS Big Mountain Team from 2005-2007. Zak is the current owner of Double Diamond Moving and Storage company. Other interests include driving big trucks, eating peanut butter and fluff sandwiches (see photo), sailing his hobie-cat and spending time with his two pit bulls Lion & Ninjah. |
| AVSC Freestyle Devo 2 Coach Chason Russell |
 | Growing up in Telluride, CO allowed Chason to ski at an early age and fueled his passion to be in the mountains. Chason attended Montana State University in Bozeman, where he studied photography and found plenty of time to pursue skiing and kayaking. As a way to give back to the community that has given so much, Chason dedicated much of his time to the youth of Telluride as an instructor for the Telluride Academy, Telluride Kayak School, and as head coach for the Telluride Ski Clubs Big Mountain Program. As the seasons and finances allow, Chason spends his free time pursuing adventure and photography on a global scale. Chasons recent trips have taken him to UK, Chile, Alaska, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Canada, India, Nepal, and to many of the peaks and canyons around the Southwest. More recently Chason has relocated to Aspen, CO to fulfill a care-taking position and explore the Elk Mountains. |
| AVSC Freestyle Devo 2 Coach Peter Sengelmann |
 | Originally born in Chapel Hill, NC, Peter grew up in the great state of Maine. Peter began skiing as soon as he could walk, taking his talents from the driveway to nearby Sunday River. In High School Peter competed in USSA while skiing with Gould Academy. He attended the University of Denver and upon graduation moved his abilities from Colorado's Front Range to the Aspen Valley. This is Peter's second year coaching and he is looking forward to it. |
| AVSC Freestyle Devo 2 Coach Connor Quigley |
 | Connor Quigley (aka Kip Roughrider) was born in Aspen Valley Hospital in 1993 and was on skis by the time he was 2 years old. Connor has been skiing competitively with AVSC for 10 years; he began ramp camp in Park City's Olympic facility when he was 8, and has also trained in New Zealand. Connor was AVSC's young freestyle athlete of the year in 2004, and won the Rocky Mountain Division Aerials competition in 2006. He received two subsequent invitations to the Junior Olympics in the freestyle aerials division in 2007 and 2008. Although he has competed in moguls, aerials, and pipe and park, most recently Connor has been pursuing his interests in skiercross and big mountain skiing. If skiing is Connor's first love, it's closely followed by lacrosse, football, golf, and storytelling. |
| AVSC Freestyle Devo 2 Coach Kristin Bersani |
 | Originally from Weston, Massachussets, Kristin grew up skiing/training out of Stratton, Vermont. She spent middle school and high school skiing with Stratton's Freestyle Team, competing mostly in high school through USSA. This will be Kristin's first year coaching and she says, "I am extremely excited to get out on the snow!" Other than skiing, Kristin loves anything chocolate and photography! |
| AVSC Freestyle Devo 1 Head Coach Ryan Koster |
 | AVSC is pleased to have Ryan Koster join us for his third season as Devo Coach. Ryan is an avid big mountain/freeride skier who grew up in Glenwood Springs. In addition to his talents as a coach, Ryan also is the afternoon host on local radio station KSPN. |
| AVSC Freestyle Devo 1 Coach Justin Vassar |
 | Justin originally hails from Buffalo, NY. He co-founded the Ski and Snowboard Club at Williams College (Williamstown, MA), from where he graduated in 2008 with a BA in psychology and neuroscience. Justin is interested in pursuing a career in physical therapy/sports medicine. Justin has been instructing for Aspen Skiing Company for the past two seasons at Buttermilk, and he is excited to join AVSC to coach freestyle skiing. When not skiing, he enjoy playing piano, longboarding, and the great outdoors. |
| AVSC Freestyle Pre-Devo Head Coach Jake Moe |
 | Jake is originally from Denver, CO. He has spent the last 5 winters in Aspen tallying consecutive 100+ day seasons. "I enjoy all types of skiing, from park and pipe to shredding trees and sending cliffs," he says. When he's not skiing you can find him giving snowshoe tours, staffing the door at Eric's bar or doing homework online for his Masters Degree in Environmental Policy and Management at DU. |
