The 2026 Freeski National Championships have come to a close and it was yet again a week where Bridger Ski Foundation Freeski athletes shined. This year we had eight BSF athletes and four additional Montana athletes that have been a part of BSF programs in the past. Taking the national stage we had: Ezekiel Copley, Hudson Dail, Hudson Barbieri, Emmett Turner, Finn Klug, Walter Brown, Jack Zimmer, Henry Barbieri, Lucia Savoia, Charlie Alexander, Liam Byrd, and Andyn Gillespie.
We had beautiful weather all week and everyone was both nervous and excited for what lay ahead. Throughout the week we saw athletes battle all kinds of obstacles. From injuries, to conditions, to equipment malfunctions, and mental strain, they persevered through it all.
A couple highlights in slopestyle was Lucia taking home a bronze medal, and Liam taking home silver and both putting up run scores in the 90s. Both athletes were just barely bumped out of the gold spot in the last couple drops of their events. We also had Hudson Dail and Ezekiel Copley make finals in their event and finish a respectable 7th and 11th out of 67 of the best athletes in the nation. Another notable shoutout is Charlie Alexander throwing two different double flip variations in his run that he had dialed in training. Unfortunately during his drops both the snow conditions and wind made it very difficult to put it all together.
Each night of the week, under the lights at Copper Mountain, was the rail jam event. This spectator friendly event was always a great show! Henry Barbieri, Finn Klug, and Walter Brown all stood out in this event. Walter had a couple of the biggest slams of the night and had some body damage on his face to show for it! Finn had some of the best rail skiing of his season but battled a very icy landing and missed the cut to finals by one spot! Henry Barbieri threw down some huge tricks, making it to finals. He impressed the judges even more in finals and got to take home a bronze medal! Lucia, and Liam, medaled in rail jam as well, bringing home hardware in both events!
All of our athletes did an incredible job, and it's not always about the result. I was extremely proud of the way our athletes carried themselves, interacted with each other and other athletes, and acknowledged all the event staff for their hard work. BSF was represented well, and this shows how important culture and comraderie is to our program.
Full Nationals Results:
Slopestyle:
Hudson Dail (Boys 13-14) - 7th
Ezekiel Copley (Boys 13-14) - 11th
Lucia Savoia (Girls 15-16) - 3rd
Liam Byrd (Boys 15-16) - 2nd
Emmett Turner (Boys 15-16) - 76th
Finn Klug (Boys 17-18) - 28th
Walter Brown (Boys 17-18) - 30th
Jack Zimmer (Boys 17-18) - 37th
Henry Barbieri (Boys 17-18) - 14th
Charlie Alexander (Boys 17-18) - 35th
Rail Jam:
Lucia Savoia (Girls 15-16) - 2nd
Liam Byrd (Boys 15-16) - 3rd
Henry Barbieri (Boys 17-18) - 3rd
(Results for rail jam not tabulated past the top 19)
