RED's Simon Hillis -- North American Freeride Champ for his age
By Red Mountain
Four young Rosslanders qualified for the 2017 North American (NORAM) Junior Freeride Championships. Simon Hillis, Liam Gaudet, Calix Webber and Natalie Cooper recently competed at Kirkwood Mountain in California, April 5th to 8th.
“The NORAM Freeride Championships welcomes the most talented young freeriders in North America. Any support we can provide for the future of freeriding, especially with our own RED Mountain Juniors, is something that fits nicely with RED’s culture of youth and big mountain skiing,” says Don Thompson, RED’s General Manager.
Leading into this NORAM event and based on this winter’s competition results, one of RED’s sponsored athletes Simon Hillis, was placed first overall in Canada and was tied for first place in North America.
His goal was to complete in Kirkwood to ultimately become the North American Freeride Champion for his age, and his ultimate dream became a reality. Simon was placed 3rd in the Kirkwood event, which gave him enough points to break the tie and place 1st in all of North America for his age.
The other athletes also put in a stellar effort, with Liam placing 10th, Calix 26th and Natalie 21st in their respective age categories. A full list of results can be found here.
“Speaking on the behalf of the RED community, we are very proud and honored to see Simon, Liam, Calix and Natalie compete at such an elite level. These young athletes are impressively enthusiastic and talented and we wish them all the best in their Freeride endeavors,” Thompson added.
RED Mountain Resort along with Powderhound, Clansey’s Café & Bar, and Ferraro Foods donated a total of $1,450 to assist these RED Mountain Freeski Academy Athletes with costs associated with the event including accommodation, lift tickets and travel.
