The Flagstaff Alpine Ski Team (FAST) is the starting point for all skiers. Once a skier can confidently ski the entire mountain, they can continue to advance their skills on the All-Mountain Team, train with the FAST Race Team, or move to the GCFT Freeski Teams and focus on backcountry, moguls, or the park.

The athletes are grouped by age, maturity and skiing ability. We are a small program and are flexible. If you have a request for your child to ski with a friend and/or sibling, please let us know. We will do our best to accommodate, however please be aware  we try to group by ability and may need to adjust as appropriate.

Skiers are placed into teams based upon ability level.  We track the ability throughout the 12-16 week training season* using US Ski & Snowboard progression and curriculum.

FAST is dedicated to the training of young athletes to teach mountain awareness and safety, improve technique,  and provide racing opportunities for all athletes.

The FAST Race Team competes in the US Ski & Snowboard Southern Series of the Rocky Mountain Division of the Rocky-Central Alpine Region.

Membership in US Ski & Snowboard is required for athletes, and for parents volunteering in US Ski & Snowboard sanctioned events.

The goal of Team FAST is to teach mountain awareness and safety while instilling strong ski fundamentals and HAVING FUN.  We follow US Ski & Snowboard curriculum* of skills progression. Many of our coaches are highly certified and passionate about winter sports and teaching our youth the fundamentals of skiing.  Our goal is to provide 14-16 weeks of training and competition opportunity, depending upon program selection, AZ Snowbowl terrain and availability. 

The Flagstaff Alpine Ski Team is the starting point for all skiers. Once a skier has learned advanced skills and can confidently ski the entire mountain, they can decide to stay on the FAST Race Team with a focus on racing or move to the Grand Canyon Freeride Team and focus on backcountry, moguls or the park.

The athletes are grouped by age, maturity, and skiing ability. We are a small program and also pretty flexible…… if you have a request for your child to ski with a friend and/or sibling,  please let us know. We will do our best to accommodate however, please be aware that we try to group by ability and as some progress faster than others, we may need to adjust as appropriate.

WHAT TO EXPECT ON TRAINING DAYS

Please click here to access the Parent / Athlete manual for a more in depth look at expectations.

• Meet at the Ski Shacks (located just south of the Agassiz Lodge), 15 minutes prior to the start of training (suited and booted)
• If you are late, please wait at the Ski Shacks and coaches will come by to check for late arrivals. You may let any coach that comes by and they can contact your athlete’s coach.
• Athletes will be placed in groups based on ability first and age second.
• Coaches will use a variety of learning activities each training day to help with athlete skill improvement
• On weekends we break for a half-hour lunch around 11am.  Athletes may store lunches in the team building. Due to the short lunch break, it is best to bring a lunch from home. You are more than welcome to join your athlete for lunch. 
• The afternoon session will be dependent on how morning training went and the goals for the day.
• At the end of the day you will meet your athlete at the team building for pick-up. At this time, you may check in with coaches to see how the day went and ask any questions you may have. 

If at any time you have questions you may always ask your athlete’s coach or Alpine Director Charlie Boyer. Our primary goal for each athlete is to instill a passion for skiing or snowboarding and to accomplish this we will make training a fun and productive environment. We will teach the athletes how to ski and snowboard well in a variety of terrain, along with introducing them to competition. 

*season length is snow and terrain dependent:

Season dates, curriculum, estimated training hours, and dedicated training space all based on Arizona Snowbowl snow and terrain availability.