In the world of freestyle skiing, there are few who develop skiers like Wasatch Freestyle club in Park City. Having produced numerous freestyle Olympians, Wasatch’s latest accomplishment is qualifying 5 of 12 skiers for next week’s FIS Freestyle Junior World Ski Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Other Wasatch skiers currently on the World Cup circuit include Nick Page, Kasey Hogg and Cole McDonald. “We’re very, very proud of them,” said club director Jon O’Brien on the five junior worlds skiers. “I’m on the edge of my seat to see what their results may be, they have tremendous potential.”Jessica Duda, Nate Gendron, Chase Littlefield, Freddie Mickel and Jack Petrone qualified for the event by skiing well at a national selection event earlier this season in Winter Park, Colorado. Ski and Snowboard Club Vail is also sending five skiers to Almaty. There are six U.S. boys and six girls competing. At U.S. selections, there were also four wildcards handed out for the two U.S. World Cups this season, all four going to Wasatch skiers – a first. “Bryon (Wilson) was junior world champion in 2007 and went on to win a medal in men’s moguls at 2010 Olympics,” said O’Brien. “It can be a great propeller into a World Cup career and Olympic career.”Wasatch will be sending coach Emerson Smith with their five skiers. Smith won a silver medal at the event in 2016.“It’s a lot to manage and balance,” said O’Brien on the skiers schedules. “They’re learning great time management skills, which is something that is going to last throughout their lives.”The skiers have been training and competing since October around the globe. The junior worlds team made their day-plus trek to Almaty Thursday. The Wasatch contingent at the national selection event in mid-December in Winter Park, Colorado. Credit: Photo courtesy of Hank KosinskiThe five skiers had positive mindsets heading off to Almaty. The group has been working alongside Wasatch’s sports psychology doctor. O’Brien hopes they can adjust to the far away, Eastern nation and its culture. Wasatch hasn’t heard about the course conditions, since it last held a World Cup in March. The conditions can often change from icy to powdery in a matter of hours. “They’re very well trained to perform when the moment arises,” said O’Brien. “Some athletes seem to have that ability and it also eludes many of us. Again, extremely proud of these young people.”O’Brien knows the skiers will fondly remember the event no matter their results. Wasatch differentiates itself from other clubs the way they manage their skiers schedules – instructing them to skip junior nationals, and by having Deer Valley as their home training base. The club also trains sometimes at Snowbird. They hope to have a course up-and-running at Deer Valley in the coming weeks. “We have a new motto since we were awarded the 2034 Olympics of making champions from Champion,” said O’Brien. “We have a very strong contingent of athletes that are 11-to-15 years old, that are right on the heels of these athletes that have just received international recognition, and we’re really focusing on getting them into our champions from Champion pipeline.”To track the Wasatch skiers’ results at junior worlds, see the event’s FIS page. Tuesday the moguls competitions will be held, Wednesday the duals and Thursday the aerials. To learn more about Wasatch Freestyle, see their website.The post Wasatch Freestyle director proud of junior world championships skiers appeared first on Park Record.