Galen Riggs, a ski racer turned freeride skiier, competes on the Sugar Bowl Freeride team.  He competes at USSA Freestyle, Snow Bomb, IFSA U.S. Extreme Freeskiing comps, and Team intrasquad comps.  When it comes to tricks in the park, Galen has attained such tricks as spins up to 900 to left with grabs, switch tricks up to 540, Cork 720s/540s, 270s on and off rails and boxes, step-downs, tables, step-ups as large as 85 feet, Truckers, Criticals, and many more.  He has also dropped 35’ cliffs, grabs, front flips, and loves to ski steep technical lines.  Galen has many notable achievements:

·         Placed 2^nd at Targhee Tee-Off IFSA Big Mountain comp ‘08, 13th  place in Halfpipe

·         J2 Division at the USSA Junior Olympics

·         Invited to Hans Saari Memorial Ski Mountaineering Camp ’08

·         Featured photos in Foothills Magazine

·         13^th place ’06 & ’08 US Junior National Extremes

·         3-time season overall champion at Freeride Team Intrasquad Competitions

Galen is working towards getting on the podium at Crested Butte Junior National Extremes, dropping 40’ cliffs, 360s off cliffs, and of course, skiing more powder!  In the park his goals are to hit switch 720s with grabs, Misty 540s/720s, Cork 900s, Flair’s, and Flat Spins.   Galen fills his spare time by playing guitar, art, and mountain biking. 

3/17/09

Crested Butte, Colorado

Galen recently competed in the Junior National Extremes, which boasts the most technical lines of any competition in America.  On day one, Galen chose a line that ended with a ten foot drop.  He skied aggressively, and ended up in fourteenth place at the end of the day.  He decided to step it up a bit and ski the scariest line he could find in the finals.  Galen entered with a 25 foot cliff, made two quick turns, and had a perfect finish with two giant turns to the end.  This effort won the finals for him!  After combining all of his points, Galen ended up in the #5 spot out of about 50 contestants.  Way to go Galen!