Slaying big lines on big mountains has taken Katarina Seibert to big places.
The 2015 Durango High School graduate took her passion for skiing to Western State Colorado University in Gunnison. The former ski racer turned in her race suit years ago, and she has found success in the freeride discipline in which skiers are judged on runs down big mountains that are free of man-made terrain. Athletes will jump cliffs and perform tricks, but the focus is on the difficulty of terrain and how well the skier masters the line.
Seibert, daughter of Elizabeth Salkind and John Seibert, excelled in her freshman season competing for the Western State Mountain Sports Freeride Ski Team and was named the program’s Women’s Skiing Athlete of the Year.
“It’s really exciting, especially as a freshman, to get that award because I feel like I worked really hard the past few years in junior competitions and hadn’t really received too many awards because of crashes in competitions and various injuries,” Seibert said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It was nice to have a season where I didn’t get injured and got recognized.”
Seibert finished the 2015-16 season with her best result of the year at the biggest event of the year. She took third at the Collegiate Freeride Championships in Aspen.
Seibert said she had never skied Aspen before and relied on pre-event inspection of the terrain with Western State coach Jason Holton. During inspection, she found which cliffs and areas she wanted to hit.
“We decided on a line that pretty skiing focused with a cliff at the bottom,” she said. “There were two cliffs on it that I hit. I had a really good run and made it to the finals.”
The finals were held at a different venue where spectators could see the big air contestants were getting. Seibert said she was nervous because there were 40-foot cliffs the men were hitting that were intimidating. She picked a line she was comfortable with and went for it, as she caught an air over the cornice at the top, made a few sharp turns and hit her big feature before skiing safely to the bottom.
“It was a thrill to be on the podium and stand up there as one of the younger athletes,” she said.
Seibert was involved with ski racing as she grew up in Durango. She loved racing but said she got a bit tired of it by her sophomore year of high school and wanted a new challenge. That’s when she found the Four Corners Freeride team and her interest in big mountain skiing blossomed thanks to coach Brian Buerger and ski areas such as Silverton and Wolf Creek.
“She’s incredibly driven and fearless,” Buerger said. “She has an incredible passion for the sport and has shown an incredible amount of development.”
Buerger said freeride skiing and snowboarding is often misunderstood. He works with young skiers to ensure they are going about the backcountry sport in the proper way with smart decision making and sound tactics.
“Everyone makes an assumption about it probably based on popular culture and myth,” he said. “Basically, it’s about getting out and enjoying every aspect of the sport and being able to ski every condition and have the most fun.
“What we really do is teach fundamentals. The assumption everyone makes is that we’re sending kids off big jumps and cliffs and skiing recklessly fast. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Seibert’s parents admitted to some nerves while watching their daughter compete, but they couldn’t be more proud of the strides she has taken.
“Her dad and I are so proud of Katarina’s persistence and determination,” Salkind said. “It’s nerve-racking watching Katarina jump off cliffs, but I know she is thrilled to be a part of this exciting sport.”
Seibert said she was inspired by the late Shane McConkey during her early freeride days and has found further inspiration from professionals such as Ingrid Backstrom, who she named her car after.
The dean’s list student at Western State was selected for the women’s skier of the year award ahead of teammates on the freestyle team as well as women on the alpine and Nordic ski teams.
“She won with her passion for the sport, high standards for her own competitive success and her dedication to preparation and training,” Holton said in a news release. “Ms. Seibert follows former Freeride World Tour athlete and Western State alumna Francesca Pavillard-Cain in receiving this high honor.”
The Western State Mountain Sports program is only in its second year. The program offers competition in skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking and trail running. Seibert praised the program and her coaches for giving her opportunities to travel to Canada, Taos and litany of premier ski venues.
Seibert plans on doing more running this summer to build leg strength, and she’s also plans to compete in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic’s Quarter Horse road race to Purgatory Resort, a place she is well-familiar with.
“My goal, obviously, is to eventually qualify for the Freeride World Tour, so that’s what I’ll be working toward,” Seibert said. “It’s really competitive because they cut the number of riders significantly for the upcoming season, so it’s going to take a lot of hard work.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
