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ISLESBORO — On sea and land — or boats and skis — brothers Lake and Jett Lindelof have, for years, impressed onlookers.

While Lake is a 17-year-old junior and Jett a 15-year-old sophomore at Islesboro Central School, the duo are perhaps better known statewide for their talents in Alpine ski racing, something they have proven a strong aptitude for since just out of diapers.

And while the siblings attend ICS, both sharpen their skis — and talents — with other schools.

Lake attends ICS through the fall and spring, but attends Carrabassett Valley Academy — which is a private boarding school at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain — November to March where he is enrolled in their winter term Alpine ski racing program.

It had been a goal of Lake’s to get into CVA at a young age. After applying as a seventh-grader and going through what his mother, Tracey, called "a rigorous admissions process," he was accepted into the program and has been attending CVA in the winter months since eighth grade.

When he was in seventh grade, Lake began to participate in Alpine training put on by CVA on Friday afternoons.

"It was a way for kids like myself who were not enrolled at CVA to get a feel for what it was like to ski and train with them,” Lake said. “I participated in many of these training days. I would get excused from school and my mom would drive me up to Sugarloaf. After doing a couple of these training days and taking laps with the CVA kids at the time, I quickly realized that if I went to CVA and trained with them every day, I would see incredible results. I told my mom on the car ride home after one of the training sessions that I wanted to go there.”

Through CVA, Lake has raced all over New England and also has attended preseason ski training sessions in Colorado and Austria. He also participated in an International ski racing series in Finland.

The Lindelof family got the opportunity to see Lake on weekends — mostly if they made the trek to Sugarloaf — but “CVA has very strict COVID prevention protocols and testing in place this year,” Tracey said. There also is no standard winter break at CVA as that is the peak of the competitive racing season.

While Jett goes to ICS full-time, he does attend CVA’s high school weekend training program, which allows flexible weekend and school vacation training options. He also practiced with the Camden Hills Regional High School Alpine ski team at the Camden Snow Bowl while he represents ICS as an independent skier.

“We are very thankful for Camden [Hills] to allow this opportunity for Jett and that the coaches and team have welcomed him as one of their own,” said Tracey. “Jett has been excelling at nearly every race.”

At the time Lake got in, Jett decided against applying to CVA’s winter term program and was happy to remain part of the Camden Snow Bowl middle school Alpine team, which won the state Class A middle school championship during his eighth-grade year.

The Lindelof boys began skiing at young ages — Lake at 5 and Jett at 3 — and began weekly lessons at Hermon Mountain, which was close to the family’s Swanville home “and a great place to learn,” said Tracey.

The Lindelofs also have a home on Islesboro.

“We joined the Penobscot Valley Ski Club and the boys began their racing program at Hermon Mountain when Jett was 6 and Lake was 8,” said Tracey. “We are very grateful for this small, family-run mountain that provided a wonderful introduction to skiing and a solid foundation for ski racing advancement.”

“My mom actually signed me up for lessons and that's how it all started,” said Lake. “I really liked it and picked it up super fast. Within a couple weeks of lessons, my instructor was having me demonstrate certain things to the other kids. After a couple weeks of that, my instructor told me that I should ski for the race team. He said that was the next step to get better at skiing, so that's what I did.”

Both later transitioned to the CSB’s middle school race team when Lake was in seventh grade and Jett sixth, though they still attended some of Penobscot Valley Ski Club's practices and events.

Shortly after that was when Lake made the transition to CVA.

“I was in seventh grade when Lake first went to CVA,” said Jett. “I had been on the Camden Middle School ski team for the past year and I really enjoyed it. I also liked being at ICS in the winter and playing basketball.”

“I’m really grateful for Hermon Mountain’s Penobscot Valley Ski Club and Camden Hills’ Ragged Mountain Ski Club because without these ski clubs I wouldn’t be where I am today,” said Lake.

Currently, the Lindelofs are members of the United States Ski & Snowboard Association (USSA) through CVA and race in Maine Alpine Racing Association (MARA)-sponsored races in the state.

By all accounts, the competition seasons for the brothers could not have gone any different.

For Lake, there were no races until late January for CVA, which does not compete in races under the Maine Principals’ Association banner. If CVA races prior to that were scheduled, they were canceled due to COVID. Postseason races also were canceled, though Lake was able to get in several International Ski Federation (FIS) races in New Hampshire at the end of the season.

This is Lake’s second year being part of FIS. and he was able to get in 24 races, 15 of which were FIS and nine which were USSA.

Jett’s, by comparison, “was one of the busiest seasons I’ve ever had.”

In addition to his high school season alongside Camden Hills skiers, he also had a handful of races in the USSA and MARA leagues with the CVA weekend program, for a total of 22 races.

Of note, Lake finished his season lowering his FIS points to 140.02 in slalom, 112.91 in giant slalom and 182.2 in super giant slalom. Jett had a second-place finish in the glalom and seventh in the giant slalom at the KVAC championships at Black Mountain.

Lake’s days at CVA are a far cry from the schedule of a typical high school student, though it begins the same as most, around 7 a.m., unless of course he needs his skis tuned.

After breakfast, the vans load up at 8:15 a.m. “and if you’re late, you get left behind and have to find your own ride up the mountain.

The lifts open at 8:30 and skiers get two warm-up runs before meeting at the training venue, where they ski until 11:45 a.m.

After lunch, the students go to class 1:15 to 5:30 p.m. before dinner.

“After dinner, I either go to the gym or tune skis until around 7:30 p.m., which is when study hall is,” said Lake. “You have to be in your room for study hall. There's a lot of homework at CVA, so I normally spend the rest of my night doing homework. We get checked into our rooms at 10 p.m. and we can't leave our floors after that. I normally go to bed around 11:30 p.m. When you're a student at CVA, you miss a lot of school due to competitions so you complete a lot of assignments and school on the road without being in a classroom. It’s a rigorous schedule that teaches a lot about time management and how to handle a heavy academic and athletic workload.”

While the brothers ski for teams roughly 100 miles apart, off the mountain, they could not be closer.

The duo share their own lobster boat and are student-licensed lobster fishermen, who are completing the necessary requirements to become commercial lobster fishermen after high school.

Jett said he first got the opportunity to go out with a commercial fisherman as the third man on the boat “when I was 11 or 12” and enjoyed it so much, “The next summer I got myself a smaller lobster boat and went out with my dad accompanying me.”

Later that summer Lake expressed interest and joined Jett aboard the Jett Set and the two began fishing themselves.

Tracey said the boys have fished through the summer and fall four years and “have earned respect from most of the Islesboro fishermen, which is quite a feat.”

“They are quite close,” said Tracey. “They have a good brotherly relationship and have a natural ability and love of skiing and being on the water. Their most frequent disagreement seems to be who's going to drive the boat to their first string of traps.”

Lake added “lobstering is a ton of fun for me” and "it doesn’t even feel like work.”

“Being a high schooler and running a lobster boat with my brother certainly creates people’s interest,” said Lake. “We’re asked a lot of questions, some of which we answer, and some we don’t. People are amazed when we pull up to the dock. Taking on such a venture as a high schooler has taught me what it's like to run a business in the real world. I love it.”

The boys enjoy “basically everything outside,” said Lake, including wake boarding, sailing and soccer. Lake also is a certified lifeguard and has participated in the annual Islesboro Crossing for Lifeflight — an event that has participants endure a three-mile swim across Penobscot Bay to Islesboro — on three occasions.

Tracey said, “I think Lake, and possibly Jett also, will continue organized skiing beyond their high school years."

As reported by U.S. Ski and Snowboard - U.S. Ski Team athletes Nessa Dziemian and Nick Page each skied to career firsts as they were crowned National Champions on Thursday. For the first time in 25 years, the nation’s best mogul skiers descended on Snowbird for the 2021 Moguls Freestyle National Championships. Athletes were treated to two beautiful Utah-bluebird days of training ahead of the moguls competition, which had light snowfall throughout the day and kept the course interesting.

Dziemian sustained a season-ending injury in November 2019 that kept her off of the competition circuit - until now. In her first contest back in twenty-four months (her last being the 2019 National Championships in Waterville Valley), Dziemian stomped it out for the win. This is Dziemian’s second National Championship title, but first win in singles.

“I feel very emotional about the whole thing,” said Dziemian of her feat in the finish area. “There were definitely a lot of challenges along the way. I battled a knee injury, I battled depression and anxiety... I just did not think i was going to come back from it at all, it was the hardest thing. My knee was constantly hurting and I just felt like I was at the lowest of lows. At this moment, it just feels like all of that hard work has finally paid off.”

Results aside, Dziemian was at a loss for words in describing how proud she was of her performance. Her cork mute to cork grab finals run was the highest degree of difficulty for any woman in the field and was a goal she has had in mind for herself for a long time. “I wasn't even going to do it right before the comp run. But for some reason I just pushed out of the gate and said to myself ‘I’m doing it, I’m going to achieve my goal today.’ So even though with all of the practice runs I had where it was not working, having it just work out on the one run where I needed it to was an absolute gift, and I am very thankful for it.”

Dziemian also finished 2nd in the Duals competition the following day. We are so proud of you Nessa!

Carrabassett Valley Academy’s Head of School Kate Webber Punderson has announced the upcoming addition of Kirk Dwyer to CVA’s senior administration and coaching team. 

Kirk is currently the Executive Director and Alpine Program Director at Ski and Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV). In this role he oversees Alpine, Snowboard, Freestyle and Nordic as well as all the areas needed to support those programs. Over his five-year tenure Kirk had an immediate and significant impact on SSCV. In partnership with the Vail community he built the Golden Peak Expansion and constructed their new clubhouse, while strengthening their coaching staff and increasing the quality of their athletic programs.  

Prior to arriving at Vail, Kirk served as Headmaster at Burke Mountain Academy (BMA) for 16 years. During his time at BMA, in addition to ensuring the smooth operations of the Academy, he served as President of Burke Mountain Ski Area and coached alpine athletes. Notably, Kirk was Mikaela Shiffrin’s primary coach during her time at BMA. Kirk began his coaching and school administration career at Green Mountain Valley School (GMVS). In his 25 years at GMVS he coached men and women, was a classroom teacher and Assistant Headmaster. Kirk grew up in Maine and has a home in South Harpswell. He and his wife Robin are looking forward to moving to the area this spring and getting to know everyone in the community.

Punderson stated, “Kirk brings a nearly unmatched level of experience, professionalism and achievement to CVA programs already on the rise. His role here will be focused on advancing our strategic initiatives in the area of athletics. In the immediate future, and in partnership with Sugarloaf, he will lead the efforts to increase training volume on the mountain through the addition of a surface lift. He will also serve as Alpine Technical Director and on-hill coach. Sean Chatellard, our Alpine Program Director, will work in partnership with Kirk and our strong team of alpine coaches to set the bar even higher with a long-term and competitive vision.”

Chatellard added, "Kirk's addition to our team is very exciting news for the direction CVA Alpine is currently headed, Kirk's world class expertise and extended experience in the ski racing industry will not only solidify all the hard work the Alpine staff has put into our program these past few years, but will also help propel us forward into new horizons. Exciting things are happening in our community and I very much look forward to working closely with Kirk and taking things to the next level."

Kirk Dwyer shared, “I am so excited to have the opportunity to join the CVA community. I grew up in Maine and despite my years of working in Vermont I have always considered myself a Maine native. I have spent considerable time at Sugarloaf over the years and understand the strong history of snowsports based on a great mountain as the foundation. There are great opportunities at CVA and Sugarloaf. The highest goal for a program, athlete, or coach is to be the best we can be. I look forward to working with all of you with this aspiration.”

A record-breaking show of support was demonstrated at Carrabassett Valley Academy’s annual Scholarship Bash held Saturday, Feb. 20.

The event, held for the first time virtually, brought the community together in a tremendous show of support, contributing over $180,000 to assist CVA student-athletes with scholarship funds.

CVA’s Head of School Kate Webber Punderson says the support for this event, in its new format, was amazing. “From those who signed on as sponsors, bought raffle tickets, donated cash during the live stream event, volunteered on the event committee, donated raffle prizes and auction items, bid on items or simply watched the event online, we hope every person involved takes great pride in knowing what a tremendous difference your support has made. Over half of CVA student-athletes receive financial assistance. Truly, our students would not have the CVA opportunity without all of you.”

Professional auctioneer Carrie Ervin, a CVA alumna and Sugarloafer originally from Waterville now living and working at Christie’s New York, did a masterful job of getting the crowd to donate generously during the cash call.

Congratulations to Fred Wetmore from Madawaska, Maine, grandfather of Dev Thomas ‘16 and Lulu Cushman ’26, the lucky winner of the $10,000 cash prize.

Please join us in welcoming Jenny Piot, a recently retired World Cup speed skier from the French National Team (FFS), into our CVA family as she spends the rest of the winter with us.

 

Jenny grew up in the small mountain village of Bourg d’Oisans, in the high alps near Grenoble. She started skiing at the young age of 2. Her Mom was a ski instructor and Dad was a ski patroller. At 10 years old she joined the ski club in L’Alp d’Huez, one of the many local ski resorts in the area, famous as a regular stage of the Tour de France in summer. By 15, she had enough success to be selected to the Ski Academy (Ski Etude) Pôle France in Albertville, which only accepts the top 15yr. olds in France. At age 16, she was selected into the French C Team. Jenny skied in her first World Cup at the age of 17 in SG. The next year she was moved up to the B team after her first podium finishes in Europa Cup (one step down from the World Cup) events.

 

By the age of 20, Jenny made the French A team, and that year, in 2013, won the Downhill at the World Junior Championships at Le Massif, Quebec. At 22 she was selected to compete in the World Championships in Beaver Creek, CO, where she scored her first top 15 result in World Cup events. A few years later, at 25 she qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. She continued to ski at the World Cup level in DH, SG, GS, AC & Parallel events until January of this season, when she decided to retire from World Cup racing.

 

Upon retirement, Jenny expressed interest in traveling to the states to gain experience in the American ski racing scene and further develop her ability to speak English. One of her coaches, Alberto Senigagliesi, the Alpine Director for the French National Team Women’s Europa Cup and World Cup teams, sent her our way. Way to go Alberto!

 

Alberto followed a similar path back in 2000 when he retired from the World Cup. His father, a former World Cup coach of the Italian and Spanish National Teams, is a good friend of Ron Bonnevie’s and connected Alberto with Ron many years ago. As such, Alberto came to Sugarloaf where he coached at CVA for 3 years with the FIS Men’s group, mentoring many of the best in those years.

 

Jenny will be skiing with our Weekend Program groups at different times through the February vacation week and on various weekends when she is not racing at FIS events. She will also be providing a World Class example to our full-time academy athletes midweek until she returns to France April 15. Finally, a huge shout out to the Sevigny family for graciously hosting Jenny in their Reddington home. It certainly takes a village, and we have one of the best here at Carrabassett Valley Academy!

Aside from arching turns like no one else has, Ted Ligety’s vast experience, wealth of knowledge and willingness to mentor younger teammates cannot be overstated, according to U.S. Ski Team men’s technical coach Forest Carey.

“It’s invaluable, you can’t measure it – just the respect that he has from the guys is enormous,” Carey tells Ski Racing Media about Ligety.
Read the article online

Shelby Downing, High Performance Director, and Brenna Huckaby Clegg, Dorm Parent, have teamed up to facilitate a new program for CVA's female student-athletes. The Body Project, offered through the National Eating Disorders Association, is a group-based intervention that provides a forum for high school girls and college aged women to confront unrealistic appearance ideals and develop healthy body image and self-esteem. It has repeatedly been shown to effectively reduce body dissatisfaction, negative mood, unhealthy dieting and disordered eating.

 

Shelby and Brenna introduced the program to all students, both male and female, during advisory last week. Topics related to body positivity and self-esteem were discussed in an attempt to better understand the pressures and struggles that many of us face and become a stronger more supportive community together.

 

We are grateful to have Brenna as a member of our community this year. She's a humble Two-Time Paralympic Gold medalist, cancer survivor, and passionate disability inclusion advocate. Brenna is married to snowboard coach Tristan and lives with their two daughters in a faculty apartment in Murfey Hall.

“Student of the Month” is awarded to a student who has shown strong commitment to their academics, is intellectually curious, and pushes themselves to grow and learn.

 

“Athlete of the Month” is awarded to the student who has shown strong commitment to their athletic training and achieved new levels of success for themselves. 

“Community Member of the Month” is awarded to a student who has gone above and beyond to lift others up, encourage school spirit and teamwork and help to maintain a positive and family-like community.  

Thank you D’Ellies for your support of CVA and these awards.

One of CVA’s most treasured and long-standing traditions is volunteering at the Special Olympic Maine Winter Games held annually at Sugarloaf. Due to the pandemic the Games have been canceled this year but that doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking of the amazing Special Olympians we meet each year. 

CVA wishes the best to all the athletes training and competing virtually in the Special Olympics programming this year. We’ll miss our opportunity to cheer you on in person, but know we’ll be supporting you from afar, and we can’t wait to see you at Sugarloaf next year! Please enjoy this heartfelt video that CVA student-athletes contributed to, and CVA National Honor Society members put together for you.

Watch the video here

Approximately fifty former students and staff attended the annual CVA Alumni Reunion on January 14th. It was the first time we’ve held the event in an online video format. A special thank you to our former Head of School John Ritzo, and former art teacher Patty, for joining us and sharing the memories of funny stories with alums near and far.

 

Six countries were represented at the event: Canada, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United States.

Three Canadian provinces: British Columbia, New Brunswick and Quebec

Sixteen states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington DC, Wyoming

Alpine: We’re racing! U16 and U19 alpine Academy and Weekend Program athletes competed at Sunday River on January 11th in Maine Alpine Racing Association’s (MARA) “Turkey Chase”. Due to Covid-19 the flow of the day and the racing scene looked and felt a bit different but the athletes and coaches quickly adapted to the changes. No spectators were allowed to gather at the finish line but a new web cam facing the race trail, Monday Mourning, broadcasted the races online. The traditional in-person awards ceremony was replaced with results published online. 

 

The slalom course was a great venue for our athletes to rid themselves of their early season jitters. Several top finishes were earned; the U16 Men went 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th, the U16 Women had two top 10 finishes with 7th and 8th, and the U19 Women had 3 top 10 finishes with 7th, 8th and 10th.

Liam Moffatt '15 of Truro, NS is one of three recipients of the 2020/2021 Neil Daffern Award for Excellence. The Award, named in honor of the legacy of Neil Daffern, aims to recognize and provide financial assistance to Canadian riders who have the potential to be among the World’s best in their respective disciplines.

A pioneer in snowboarding, Neil Daffern co-designed the first twin-tip snowboard under the BARFOOT name, which paved the way for progression of freestyle snowboarding as we know it today. His legacy has lived on and through his charity has helped numerous Canadian athletes achieve their goals.
Moffatt is no stranger to the contest scene or podium on the Nor-Am Cup Tour. He’s one of Canada’s top snowboardcross riders and is looking to make his mark on the World Cup Tour.

“I am so honored to receive this award. There is a long list of athletes that have received this award that have gone on to do amazing things in the snowboard world and I’m really excited to not only have the help from this award for this tough season ahead but also be added to this list to go try and make my mark.” – Liam Moffatt '15

New role and staff member: Patrick D'Amboise LCPC has joined CVA as our new part-time school counselor. With a B.S. in education and a M.S. in counseling, Pat has over 37 years of experience in counseling, with a focus on youth. As a father of CVA alum Sean D’Amboise, Class of 2004, and through his additional passion as an outdoor educator (he worked for Outward Bound and founded Project Quest, an outdoor education program for teens), he is uniquely positioned to connect with, guide and support CVA students and staff.

Pat’s role will be to assess the impact of the students’ mental health needs on learning and school participation, provide on-call duties, and collaborate with the health care team to promote health and wellbeing of the student body. Pat’s role will be to assess the impact of the students’ mental health needs on learning and school participation, provide on-call duties, and collaborate with the health care team to promote health and wellbeing of the student body. Pat will provide confidential emotional support to our students including short-term, solution-focused therapy, crisis intervention, advocacy, and referral, when necessary. He will be providing support on campus in the form of pre-scheduled meetings and drop in office hours, as well as conduct group work and activities. His services will augment the Community Clinical Services Outpatient Counseling our students currently access through telemedicine.