BIOGRAPHY
Another in the long line of Squaw Valley powder hounds (Julia Mancuso, Marco Sullivan, Travis Ganong), Bryce Bennett blasted onto the U.S. Development Team in the same way he hucks cliffs at Squaw – by going big. An invite to a 2011 spring tryout camp proved to be the only opportunity he needed and successfully punched a ticket onto the team by showing coaches his form on the hard stuff is just as solid as it is in the fluff.
He continued to ski large in 2012 by producing top 25 performances in super G, slalom and combined at the Junior World Championships, including a stunning sixth in the combined. He then rolled that speed into the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships and stomped a blitz of junior podiums, enough to skip a rung on the U.S. Ski Team ladder by leaping C Team entirely.
BRYCE SAYS
I was really stoked to make the Development Team last year. It helped me figure out what it takes to become a World Cup athlete. I know I have a long way to go, but the pieces are in place. Now it's more a matter of making the right training and race decisions to continue moving my career forward.
If all goes well, I'll be in a position to take a NorAm title, get a Junior Worlds medal and possibly a World Cup start. Those are the goals.
FIRST TRACKS
Bennett had skiing in the bloodline before he was born. His mother worked at Alpine Meadows Resort and Dad was a former telemark racer. Both had him on skis at age 2 and it wasn't long before he was a regular at the Squaw Valley Might Mite program. "They had some amazing Mighty Mite coaches at Squaw," says Bennett. "They just got you so pumped for skiing, no matter what the weather was doing." By eight-years-old, he'd decided he was going to race in the Olympics.
OFF THE SNOW
While he may be too young to have seen the 80's classic film RAD, Bennett used to be a BMX racer and easily graduated that love to mountain biking. When not on the dirt trails around Squaw (by bike or foot), you'll find him on the golf course. "I've had some good weeks, last one I was two over for 18," he said. Also a big friend of the fish, as long as they're at the end of his fly rod. "My favorite spot is the Truckee river, but you'll never get me to tell you where my holes are."
