We recently wrapped up several IFSA events here at Monarch. These junior competitions were held on High Anxiety and in Mirkwood Basin. These Freeride events see teams from all over Colorado and New Mexico compete for bragging rights and a spot in the IFSA Rankings. Kudos to all of the athletes and their incredible families for showing up BIG! We love hosting these events and it’s definitely one of our favorites each season here at Monarch.

Here is a great article written by Nathan Ward that was recently in the Mountain Mail about Team Monarch and our Freeride athletes competing all around the western US. Huge shout out to Kyle Blakely and all of the Team Monarch Coaches and Competitors that have worked tirelessly to put Monarch Mountain on the map!

*The International Freeskiers Association (IFSA) was established in 1996 by freeskiing pioneer Shane McConkey. Freeskiing in the 1990s was comprised of the different disciplines of skiing outside of alpine racing which included big mountain, slopestyle, half-pipe, big air, and skier-cross. McConkey believed that the sports included in freeskiing needed an athlete-driven governing body to ensure that the athletes had a voice in the development and governance of their sport. Since then, the sport of freeskiing has grown rapidly and each of the disciplines have evolved into strong individual sports. Today the IFSA is centered on junior and adult big mountain Freeride competitions and is now known as the International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association.

The IFSA began sanctioning junior events in the 2010-2011 season. Explosive growth and a need for sanctioning in Region 2 at the FWQ Adult level led the IFSA to partner with the Freeride World Tour in the 2014-2015 season. Since that time, the IFSA has unified events across North and South America to form the Junior and FWQ Series within Region 2. The explosive growth of the sport has led to an incredible amount of evolution within the IFSA organization and to the sport of competitive Freeride itself.

*Historical information courtesy of IFSA