Meet our athletes, some of the best skiers and snowboarders in the world. From big mountain skiing to boarder-cross, the athletes below call Alyeska home and we proudly support their efforts.
Callan Chythlook-Sifsof was raised in rural Alaska, 500 miles away from the nearest chairlift in one of the most remote areas in North America. She started snowboarding when she was seven on a small hill behind her grandpa’s house, advancing to nearby peaks, following her big brother and family up and down mountains on snowmachine. Her progression was somewhat backwards, as she spent her first years on a snowboard in the Alaskan backcountry and later moved to Girdwood with her family when she was 12, where formal training and competition began at Alyeska Resort. She is a Boardercross (SBX) and hard boots/gates specialist.
In 2006, she earned a berth on the U.S. Snowboard Team. She landed on the podium in her first World Cup snowboardcross in Japan, taking the Bronze medal. The same season brought a double title of 2007 U.S. National Champion and Junior National Champion in Boardercross and a 4th-place in World Cup Finals.
Callan is a 2010 Winter Olympian and the Arctic Man Champion, finishing the season with the infamous Valdez Extreme, King of the Hill. She was thrilled to be 5th in New Zealand’s World Heli Challenge and placed 2nd in the 2011 North Face Masters, also wining the Young Gun Award. Even with all her racing success, it's the powder days at Mt. Alyeska and the Alaskan backcountry that are the essence of snowboarding for her.
Get to know more about Callan Callan featured in Alaska Magazine article
A promising cross country runner while growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, Kikkan added cross country skiing as a training vehicle...and then became a champion skier, too. She's already got the best Olympic, World Championships, and World Cup results by an American woman. And she's just getting started.
Following a season in which she became the first U.S. woman in the 27-year history of modern cross country World Cup to attain a victory when she won the Rybinsk, Russia sprint event, Randall took her success up another level to become the first U.S. woman to earn a medal at World Championships, winning silver in the freestyle sprint.
"It's hard to describe and it's only settling in. When I wrote my goals down last spring, thinking about World Championships took my breath away. Now, seeing the medal in my hands, it’s just incredible.”
Career Highlights
• 2009 World Championship Silver Medalist
• First ever American Women’s World Cup Victory
• First ever American Women’s Olympic Top Ten
• Three-time Olympian
• 14-time US National Champion
• US National Ski Team Member
Elyse grew up skiing at Alyeska Resort, alpine ski racing with the Alyeska Ski Team while finding a passion for big mountain skiing. After moving on from ski racing and graduating from the University of Nevada Reno with a degree in International Studies, she decided to pursue a career in professional skiing.
To help establish herself in the professional ski world, Elyse has competed in Freeride Competition events for the past three seasons and has won the majority of events she has entered. She won the title of 2008 Freeride World Champion and in 2009 was voted ‘Best Female Line of the FWT’. Moving forward in her career, Elyse plans to pursue a bigger presence in ski films. She filmed with Rage Films in 2008 and can be seen in Down Days and Such As Life. She says, "I am a native Girdwood freeskier who is lucky enough to call skiing my job. At this point, I am very happy with what I have accomplished and am thrilled to continue on my exciting journey of skiing."
Some of Elyse's recent accomplishments include:
2009:
1st Place - FWT Stop #2 Squaw Valley, USA
3rd Place - FWT Stop #3 Tignes, France
Awarded FWT 'Rider's Choice Female Line of the Year'
2008:
1st Overall - Freeride World Tour
1st Place - FWT Stop #2 Sochi, Russia
1st Place - FWT Stop #3 Tignes, France
1st Place - FWT Stop #4 Verbier, Switzerland
(the infamous Verbier Xtreme)
1st Place - IFSA's US Freeskiing Open Squaw Valley USA, CA
Alyeska Resort athlete Jason Scheben was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, and grew up skiing and racing at Alyeska Resort. After one year of racing at the collegiate level for Western State College of Colorado in Gunnison/Crested Butte, he decided to focus primarily on big mountain freeskiing and the backcountry. He spent six seasons in Crested Butte, CO and five seasons in Snowbird, UT, eventually making his way back home to Alaska.
His goal for the resort and other sponsors is to market Alyeska and products endorsed by way of photos in major winter publications. He has been published in POWDER, SKIING, BACKCOUNTRY, ALASKA MAGAZINE, COAST, FREEZE, and Alyeska’s marketing sources including signature images in print ads and on the new website. This is Jason’s 5th consecutive sponsorship with Alyeska and his constant evolving marketing has created a successful relationship with the resort and our mission statement. He is currently sponsored by industry leaders 4FRNT Skis and Bindings, Full-Tilt Boots, Oakley Eyewear and Outerwear, Discrete, Dynafit and Alyeska Resort.
Learn more about Jason
Alyeska Resort athlete Clint Butler is a Girdwood local. He spent five seasons at Snowbird Utah . His home keeps him close to Turnagain Pass and Alyeska, two of the best playgrounds on Earth. His passion is shown in the picture’s featured in Alyeska ad’s among others that can be found in publications in major ski magazines. He is thankful for the support from Alyeska, being treated well by Oakley over the years, and this year by 4FRNT. His drive to be creative and ski the technical lines offered at Alyeska motivates him to be on the mountain most days.
Alyeska Resort athlete Zach Halverson grew up in the Girdwood valley ski racing with the Alyeska Ski Club and freeskiing all winter long. He raced until age fifteen when he decided to try out the big mountain skiing scene. At sixteen he joined the Alyeska Freeride Team. Zach now competes on the Junior Freeride Tour. Big Mountain skiing rewards aggressive line choice, creativity, fluidity and control.
He says, “ I plan to ski the Freeskiing World Tour (FWT) events. I'm prequalified for all the events. I will be traveling to South America for two FWT events and an additional photo/film event, and then plan to ski the North American FWT events after Christmas." After the FWT ends in South America, Zach plans to spend a semester in the upper Amazon Basin with the National Outdoor Leadership School before coming back to Alaska. Zach's sponsors include Tecnica/Blizzard and Smith Optics. Besides being an avid skier he also enjoys climbing mountains. In 2008, he climbed the Grand Teton via the Exum Ridge, and in 2009 he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. He is a four-time age group winner of the Mt. Marathon race in Seward, Alaska and also a four-
time age group winner of the Alyeska Mountain run.
2010-11 Season Highlights:
Kieffer spent his childhood chasing his older brothers on skis down the mountain at Mt. Alyeska. Now it’s Kieffer whom others are trying to catch. In 2010 Kieffer was named to the U.S. Alpine Development Team. He is the first Alaskan to be named to the Team since 2001. Kieffer learned how to carve his turns as a toddler on the slopes of Alyeska, starting at the Alyeska Ski School at age 2, and skiing in front of his dad in a harness down the face of Mt. Alyeska. He started racing at age 6 with the Alyeska Mighty Mites, and continued through the Alyeska Ski Club Junior race program. He attended Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont for his junior and senior years of high school. Kieffer first represented the United States in international competition at the Whistler Cup as a 12 year old, competing against skiers from 20 nations. In 2007, while a member of the Alyeska Race Team, he competed at the 47th annual Trofeo Topolino in Italy, the alpine world championship for children age 14 and under, where he won gold and silver medals. In 2010 and 2011, he represented his country at World Junior Alpine Championships, in Chamonix, France and Crans Montana, Switzerland, respectively. When he is not skiing with the U.S. Team, Kieffer attends Dartmouth College.
Icy courses in the east are OK when it comes to racing, but they’re not much good for off-piste skiing. For Kieffer racing is only part of the picture. Skiing the terrain and powder at Alyeska is a necessary part of skiing and life. Kieffer enjoys training with the Alyeska Ski Club when he’s home, and especially likes the early rides on speed skis. Every holiday season he clicks into his race skis and competes in the Alyeska Coca Cola Classics with his fellow Alaskans. Kieffer is sponsored by Rossignol Skis, Lange Boots, Shred Optics, Slytech Protection, Komperdell Poles, Mountain Tees and the US Ski Team.
Rosie Mancari 
Born and raised in Anchorage, AK, Rosie is a 16 year old honor student at South Anchorage High School. She began snowboarding at the age of 3 and started competing for the Big Alaska Series at 13. Currently riding for Chugach Alaska Snowboard Team, Rosie has earned her spot on the podium this year with gold medals in both Giant Slalom and Boarder Cross. Her goals are to be competitive in the Race to the Cup, Rev Tours and USASA nationals and eventually become a U.S. Olympian.
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