IFSA Regional Director Board

East

Juan was in born in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands of Spain. As a kid, Juan grew up enjoying the ocean and water sports and it wasn’t until his first visit to the US in his early twenties that he skied for the first time. Juan relocated permanently to New England a few years later and continued to watch his passion for skiing grow. Juan has taught his two sons to ski and watching them develop as Freeskiers made him fall in love with Freeride. Juan began volunteering in the Eastern Region 7 years ago by helping to recruit, train, and coordinate judges. Juan began judging himself last season and will continue to do so in 2022-23. Juan plans to move to Vermont full-time next summer and hopes to dedicate a lot more time to helping coordinate Freeride in the Eastern Region. When he’s not skiing, Juan is out riding bikes (mountain, road, or gravel), open water swimming, paddleboarding and enjoying the company of his wife and dogs.

Rockies (RMFS)

Shannon was born and raised outside of Detroit, Michigan and traveled with her family to their cabin every weekend to ski Boyne Mountain. After having kids, Shannon and her husband Mike picked up and moved to Vail, Colorado and here is where the story begins…Fourteen years ago her oldest son, Grifen switched from moguls to Big Mountain and Shannon has been involved ever since. She is excited to help IFSA and the Freeride community grow as the love of this sports run deep in her family of five. Grifen and Blake have both competed in the FWT. Grifen was on the circuit skiing for 3 years and is now married living in Eagle, CO. Blake is entering his 3rd season snowboarding after winning last year (2022). Tanner is a sophomore at the University of Utah.

You can find Shannon and her husband Mike at many of the Rocky Mountain Region events helping out, so don’t be shy and say hello! Shannon runs the Regional Delegate Board for IFSA.

Intermountain

Beau Burley is a former coach for the Bogus Basin Ski Education Foundation as well as the Tamarack Ski Team. Beau is an Idaho native that loves skiing and the mountains. He’s lately been judging in Idaho and Utah and has been involved with judging IFSA Freeride events for around 10 years.

Northern

Wallace Casper is an IFSA Junior Series alumni based in Bozeman, MT who has been connected to the IFSA organization in some capacity since 2008. Wallace competed in the IFSA Junior Series for 6 years and earned the Mayor of Freeride Title back in 2013. The award proved well-deserved as Wallace has been a huge support to the IFSA in growing and establishing a more cohesive Northern Region. After graduating high school Wallace attended Montana State University where he founded the collegiate Freeride club team and competed in the FWQ series for another two years. Wallace began coaching for the Big Sky Freeride Team in 2016 and was promoted to Head Coach in 2018. Wallace was instrumental in bringing Freeride events to Big Sky and was an immense help in successfully executing our 2022 North American Junior Championship.

Far West (TJFS)

Jason Dobbs is the Executive Director and co-founder of Tahoe Freeride, a Tahoe-based 501(c)3 non-Profit event production company. Jason—AKA "Snoopdobbs”—often serves as the voice of Freeride, emceeing competitions in Tahoe and beyond. He brings a wealth of experience as a former adult competitor, achieving a ranking as high as 12th on the Freeskiing World Tour. Meanwhile, Jason invested nearly 20 years into coaching Freeride youth and helped to establish one of the country’s first junior Freeride competition teams. His mentorship and coaching have fostered many North American Champions and FWT athletes. Jason lives in Reno, Nevada without ACLs and his exuberant son.

Pacific NorthWest (PNW)

When Kevin was a ski instructor, he noticed kids would “age out” from regular lessons. He started a terrain park program for the school which attracted older kids. Jim Jack encouraged him to start a freeride team and that was the impetus that propelled his involvement in this side of the sport. Back then, the junior freeride world was in its humble beginnings. Being part of the evolution of IFSA and the sport has aided in Kevin’s abilities to provide quality experiences for athletes and their families. He also holds certifications with PSIA, AIARE, AASI and USASA. The training and lessons from the other organizations have helped Kevin better understand both the sport and the athletes that participate in it. Kevin’s success in business helps with the important, and often overlooked, back end of the sport and management of programs.

Pacific NorthWest (PNW)

Courtney Smith began skiing when she was three-years-old and has never stopped! She grew up spending every weekend in an RV parked at Stevens Pass. In her early teens she became a ski school instructor and began competing in IFSA junior competitions. Courtney attended Gonzaga University and graduated with degrees in Communications and Elementary Education. While there, she established and managed the Gonzaga Freeride Team. Courtney currently competes in the FWQ Series and earned a 2nd place podium at the 2022 Kicking Horse FWQ 4*. Courtney also serves as an IFSA Freeride Coach and she is excited to use her experience as an athlete, coach, and educator to support the Freeride community.

Courtney is serving as a Regional Delegate alongside her dad, Kevin Smith. When Kevin was a ski instructor, he noticed kids would “age out” from regular lessons. He started a terrain park program for the ski school which attracted older kids. Local legend and Freeride hero, Jim Jack, encouraged Kevin to start a Freeride team and that was the impetus that propelled his involvement in the sport. Back then, the junior Freeride world was in its humble beginnings. Being involved in the evolution of IFSA and the development of the sport has aided in Kevin’s abilities to provide quality experiences for athletes and their families.

Western Canada

After winning the IFSA World Tour in 1999 Jeff began to help refine the judging system while implementing a venue boundary protocol and judging IFSA World Tour events across North America. Twenty two consecutive seasons later, Jeff has trained over 50 Freeride judges while acting as Technical Director or Head Judge for over 200 events. As an IFSA Judge Advisory Board Chair member and a Senior Head Judge Jeff helps us manage all aspects pertaining to technical directing, judging, judge training and scheduling for all IFSA events in Western Canada.

Eastern Canada

Ariane Goulet serves as the Secretary and Freeride Coordinator for Estski, non-profit organization promoting backcountry skiing in Eastern Canada. As a former snowboard instructor with a background in boardercross and giant slalom, Ariane moved to Freeride in 2019 and has competed in the FWQ Series in Europe and America.

South America

Fernando was born to be wild. He grew up in farmland close to nature and often riding horses. Fernando or “Focha” earned a professional degree in Marketing and Public Relations. After studying he started skiing and working as a ski instructor living the “never summer” life and traveling between Chile and Canada. It was during this time that Focha discovered his passion for Freeride and traveling in the backcountry. After a few years he moved to a small mountain town in Chile called Farellones, and started exploring the Chilean Backcountry.

Focha is the Freeride Sudamérica co-founder and he has been involved in organizing Freeride events in South America as well as Junior events for the last 7 years. Focha has a strong vision to develop the South American Freeride community based on education, culture, and athlete exchanges between North and South America. His experience in marketing/branding and producing outdoor events alongside his risk management skills has led him to serve as the Outdoor Mountain Activities Manager at La Parva Ski Resort.

South America

Gonzalo grew up skiing at a small ski town in the Argentinean northern Patagonia called Caviahue. At age 17 he started instructing skiing at his home resort and from age 19 he's been doing double winter seasons, skiing more than 200 days a year, travelling to the USA and going back to Argentina and Chile to work as a ski instructor and ski coach. In 2013 he competed for the first time at age 24 at a 4-star event in Chile and since then he has competed in Chile, Argentina and the US, dreaming about the development of the sport in South America.  Gonzalo has a journalist degree and he spends his days working as a full cert ski instructor at Aspen Snowmass, serves as an IFSA Head Judge and is the managing director of Freeride Sudamerica for Argentina.

“Aligning the sport with US and Canada and creating a one Americas region it will give athletes many opportunities to travel, learn about other cultures and mountains and it will raise the sport to the next level”