2017-18 Race Place Catalog Cover Stories
Dalton Swallow
Dalton is from Donnelly, Idaho near Brundage Mountain, McCall. He started skiing at 2 years old and ski racing in the 5th grade. Dalton turns 16 on December 28th and will be one of the youngest U19 FIS athletes, but he's looking forward to the challenge. McCall doesn't have a FIS level program so Dalton is transferring schools and joining the Park City Ski Team 400 miles south.
Dalton's Mom is a single parent working full time to support the household and his ski racing dream. Dalton contributes what he can with a summer landscaping job. Winning the front cover award will also help support his dream.
Academics is a real strong suit for this young racer and has learned to balance time consuming training and race schedule of ski racing with the need to devote time to studying. This has paid off with a 4.0 GPA and he wants to continue future education with a science major in college. As proof of this dedication, he won the Presidential Academic Award last spring.
Dalton is extremely well rounded in athletics with sports such as football, kayaking, track, mountain biking and soccer, but skiing is his number one. He said,
“Even though ski racing takes up a majority my time on the hill, I still find time to go rip turns on a powder day. I also compete in big mountain competitions and shred the free ride park. I love the free feeling of skiing and am truly happy when on a pair of skis.”
He goes on to say,
“As I focus on my skiing career, I have set many goals along the path I want to pursue. These goals range from small technique goals such as keeping forward pressure or high edge angle to bigger goals such as making it to U19 Nationals. Most important is continuing to grow and become not only a better ski racer, but also a better person. I believe this sport has a lot to offer for personal character.”
Well said Dalton! Race Place is proud to help you reach your goals with the $3,000 Front Cover Award for 2017.
BACK COVER WINNER: Jacey Johnson
We are proud to have Jacey as a Race Place cover athlete. The Race Place family hails from Minnesota and we recognize that racers from small Midwest hills are usually not given the credit they deserve. Her cover photo shows her hauling it at Nubs Nob helping her team win the Michigan State High School Championship. Great racing as a Freshman!
Jacey started skiing at two years old and fell in love with racing when she was eight. She is now a 2nd year U16 and several paragraphs of her own story are below:
“I live in Marquette, Michigan so we don’t have very big 'mountains'. My ski team trains on a little hill called Marquette Mountain. It's my second home during the winter. I spend 2 hours training each day and 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Every day I hope to get faster and improve on my technique. Sometimes I take the day off if I have too much homework or a big test. I maintain a 3.8 GPA, which is a prerequisite from my parents and my ski coach, Wendy Maas.
Ski racing has taught me many things, but most important are time management, good sportsmanship, confidence, friends that race together stick together, my parents are awesome & skiing is pretty much my whole life. Not sure if I will always race, but I will definitely free ski as long as I can.
Going to practice relieves stress and makes me happier and clear minded. It's also very fun to ski with my best friend, Ainsley. We are competitive and she usually wins, but it makes it more fun for me to keep trying to pass her and reach my goals. Ski racing has given me advantages at a young age that I would otherwise have not found. One of those is the opportunity to be a positive role-model for the younger racers on the hill. I absolutely love this sport and can't wait for the freezing cold adrenaline rushes in the start gate this season."
Jacey wins the $1,500 Race Place Back Cover Award for her great photo, attitude and passion for ski racing!