Ambassadors

KASHA BELL- Mountain Ambassador since 2011

Kasha’s story: When I turned 7, my parents decided my siblings and I ought to learn to ski. So, they packed us in the car, turned on George Michael’s Wham album, and drove us to Snoqualmie for lessons. I quickly accelerated through the various levels of magic carpet riding, rope towing, and pizza making. Consequently, after just a few lessons, I got to go on a traverse to the big bad world of Ski Acres. While showing off my french fry turns on this new “extreme” ski terrain, I knew that I had found something special. My obsession with skiing was born.

Nowadays I inarguably live the greatest winter life a girl could ask for; I ski up at Crystal during the week and work as a skydiving instructor/videographer for Kapowsin Air Sports on the weekends. I feel so lucky to call Crystal my home mountain. One of the many reasons I love skiing Crystal is because they allow/encourage licensed paragliders to fly at their mountain. Consequently, my friends and I often times split good weather days between speedflying (a form of paragliding) and skiing. Mostly I love skiing Crystal because the hardest choices my friends and I have to make throughout the day involve deciding how to allocate between all of the awesomeness Crystal has to offer…Southback laps, speedflying, eating at the Summit House, the Doors, Northway, Left Angle, beers in the sun, etc.??? Life is rough, huh?

Home Town: Shelton, WA
Other Interests: skydiving, painting, cooking, running, wakeboarding, learning new stuff
Sponsors: Crystal Mountain…that’s it!

TEMPLE CUMMINS- Snowboard Ambassador since 2010

Temple has been on the forefront of the snowboard industry since the beginning. He is most known for his epic jump over the moving train in the movie “Easy Rider,” where he helped set the standard for modern snowboard films. Working closely with some of the biggest snowboard manufactures over the years Temple has guided the industry to where we see it today. Whether it be through his pro-model boards or his savage style of shredding Temple Cummins helped create what snowboarding is now.

Filmography
“Easy Rider,” FLF Productions
“TB6,” Standard Films
“TB10 Optigrab,” Standard Films
“Hurricane,” Mervin Manufacturing
“The Mockumentary” Mervin Manufacturing

Sponsors
GNU, Northwest Snowboards, Oneballjay

KYLE MILLER- Mountain Snowboard Ambassador since 2010

Whether it’s epic waste deep pow turns at Crystal or slaying the high glaciated slopes of Mt. Rainier, Kyle Miller has proven that with a little bit of ambition and a lot of determination anything is possible. Crystal Mountain has been his training ground for the past decade where you can find him skinning, hiking and climbing on or around the resort in preparation for spring and summer big mountain expeditions. It has been a wild ride over the past few years running up and down the Cascades to ride 25 separate volcanoes (all in one season) and hanging out deep in the remote regions of the North Cascades and Olympic Mountain to tag first descents on seldom ventured peaks and week long expeditions. Kyle has become a pioneer of sort for splitboarding and he owes it all to the terrain and knowledgeable staff around Crystal.

Kyle’s adventurous spirit and personality can be found on his website whereiskylemiller.com. He is also a guest blogger for Frequency the snowboard Journal and was most recently featured in the February 2010 Backcountry Magazine.

He is sponsored by Eddie Bauer/First Ascent, Crystal Mountain Spark R & D and Pacific Pile and Marine. Other companies that have shown support throughout the years include Ibex, Black Diamond, Smith Optics, Petzl, Spacecraft, Burton, Lib-Tech, Venture, Voile, Prior, Trew Gear and Gu.

ANDY BERGIN-SPERRY Mountain Snowboard Ambassador since 2010

Tacoma boy Andy Bergin-Sperry grew up shredding Crystal Mountain and other Washington resorts. You can check him out in the most recent Wild Card’s Saturday Night Ride and Tailgate Alaska 2010- or just look for him shredding at Crystal. He’s sponsored by Crystal Mountain, Lib-Tech, Spacecraft, Von Zipper, POW, Bern, Northwest Snowboards Shop, Wildcard Movies, and Beacon Barber Shop.

BLAIR HABENICHT Mountain Snowboard Ambassador since 2009

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Blair grew up skiing at Crystal Mountain, racing for CMAC under the coaching of Allen Lauba with Libby Ludlow, Scott Macartney and Tatum Skoglund, among all the other talented people that have come out of the program, including the power trio of Backstroms. Despite invites to US Ski Team development camps and a third place finish at the Junior Olympics at 15, he traded his skis for a snowboard and the freedom to express himself that ski racing could not provide.

The year he graduated from Western Washington University, he went pro for Lib Technologies Snowboards and Dragon Optics. Volcom added him to their team half-a-year later, and his dreams of traveling the world to snowboard turned into a reality. He has traveled extensively in the last three years all over the continental United States, Canada, and Alaska. He spent a good portion of 2009 in the Alps of Austria and Switzerland, and spend this past August in the Andes.

Blair has had numerous published photos in Snowboarder Magazine, the second largest U.S. snowboard publication with a subscriber base of over 60,000, Frequency Magazine (who did an interview with him recently and printed a picture of his first Crystal Mountain seasons pass when he was 2 years old!) as well as international magazine coverage in the Swiss publication Whiteout and Japan’s version of Frequency, Snow Style. He also landed on the front page of the Seattle Times winter Gear Guide in the Getaway’s section with a photo taken at Crystal.

Blair films with the Seattle based production company Think Thank Productions, whose film last year entitled “Stack Footy,” became the third highest selling snowboard video worldwide. In the last two years he hasalso filmed with Absinthe Films, and Europe’s best selling film production company, Pirate Movie Productions.

Check out Blair’s bio on the Lib Tech website.

SCOTT MACARTNEY Mountain Ambassador since 2008

Crystal Mountain is proud to welcome Scott Macartney as an official Mountain Ambassador. Stay tuned for info on autograph signings and “Ski with Scott” opportunities along with updates on his races and the road to 2010.

Scott Macartney grew up in Washington State skiing at Crystal Mountain where his mother and father (both ski patrollers there) taught him to ski. Scott skied in his first race – the Cherry Tree Charge Downhill – at age 7. He was hooked. Chasing his older brother Matt and friends from the area, he trained with the Crystal Mountain Alpine Club and worked his way through races in the Washington, the Pacific Northwest, the Western Region and then the entire U.S.

He was the Western J3 slalom gold medalist in ’93, J2 SL champ in ’94, silver medalist in slalom at the ’95 J1-2 Western Junior Olympics, J1 SL champ in ’96, and national junior super G champ in ’97. By ’99, he had a taste for DH, earning the bronze medal at Junior Worlds- which put him on the National team. He then worked his way through the C-Team (the Nor-ams), the B-Team (Europa Cup and some World Cups) to become a steady point scorer on the World Cup speed circuit. He is currently in the first group (the top 30 in the world) in Downhill.

Career Highlights
Two World Cup Podiums- Val Gardena DH ’07, Garmisch SG ’06
Olympic Teams: 2002, 2006
World Championship Teams: ’05, ’07
2006: Olympics – 7th in SG, 15th in DH, 16th in combined
’03 Nor Am super G champ (3 wins)
’99 Nor Am overall/SG champ (2 wins)
’98 Juniors Worlds DH bronze

Scott’s website
Scott’s WCSN Blog

LIBBY LUDLOW Mountain Ambassador since 2008

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Libby’s international success sprang from the humble roots of Crystal Mountain. She learned to love speed by chasing her brothers around Crystal’s rugged terrain, and cultivated her skills in CMAC’s outstanding race program. She couldn’t be happier to now be serving as a Mountain Ambassador for Crystal, the place where it all began.

As the best female alpine skier the Northwest has seen in over twenty years, Libby forged her ten-year career on the U.S. Ski Team during one of the strongest eras of U.S. skiing history. Over the course of her professional skiing career, Libby was a National Champion, she ranked tenth in the World in Super-G, had three top-ten World Cup finishes, was a member of two U.S. World Championships Teams, and placed ninth in the 2007 World Champs. In 2006 she fulfilled her dream of becoming an Olympian by competing in the Torino Olympic Games. She battled back from four knee surgeries before deciding to retire from the U.S. Ski Team in May of 2008.

Libby’s World Cup training and competition brought her to all corners of the earth, but she is delighted to finally be back skiing at her favorite ski resort full-time. In between her weekends spent ripping around Crystal, Libby can be found instructing yoga at various Seattle-area yoga studios. Details regarding Libby’s yoga teaching schedule can be found at www.libbyludlow.com/blog

INGRID BACKSTROM Mountain Ambassador since 2007

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Ingrid Backstrom grew up in Seattle where she spent her winters skiing down Crystal Mountain and her summers hiking back up it on backpacking trips with her parents and two younger brothers. After graduating from Whitman College, the call of the mountains drew her to Squaw Valley, California, to put in what she thought would be a yearlong stint as a ski bum. It only took a few freeskiing contests, however, for Ingrid to realize that she had found her niche, and that she’d be calling the mountains home for a long, long time. Ingrid’s star is on a phenomenal rise, as her string of first-place titles shows. She recently won awards for “Best Female Performance” and “Breakthrough Performance” (for her segment in Matchstick Productions’ film Yearbook) at the 2005 Powder Magazine Video Awards, Best Female Performance at the 2006 Powder Awards, and People’s Choice Award at the 2007 Powder Awards. When she’s not skiing, Ingrid still stays outside as much a possible, running and biking to relax and keep fit. Ingrid is grateful for the opportunities that her sport brings her, especially getting to travel and ski with “amazing people around the world.”
Sponsors: North Face, Volkl, Technica, Marker, Scott USA & Crystal Mountain.
Accomlishments: Too many to list.

TYLER CECCANTI Mountain Ambassador since 2007

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Tyler is 21 years old and has been a Crystal local all his life. His parents taught him how to ski at the young age of two and soon put him into the CMAC program. He raced for CMAC for eight years until eventually wandering off into the backcountry. He entered in his first Big Mountain competition at 13 in the men’s division. Tyler finds competing very exciting and challenging, but his true passion is coming home to Crystal, filming in the backcountry and skiing with friends. Tyler has been filming with K2 skis and most recently started a production company- BHP- with friend John Rutherfurd. They hope to have a movie out next year. He would like to thank his sponsors and especially his parents for always pushing him to be the best he can be and for all of their unconditional support.
Sponsors: Crystal Mountain, K2, Spacecraft, Smith Optics, Dakine, Full Tilt
Accomplishments:
2009 7th Red Mountain Freeskiing Championship
2008: 1st Red Bull Cold Rush Viewers Choice, 9th Red Bull Cold Rush, 14th Freeskiing Competition (Taos, NM), 1st Silver King Freeride (Crystal Mountain)
2007: 1st Junior US Extreme Skiing Championships (Crested Butte, CO), 6th Junior Canadian Open Freeskiing Championships (Red Mountain), 2nd Junior Smith Optics Freeskier Comp (Fernie, BC), 4th Silver King Freeride (Crystal Mountain, WA)
2006: 3rd, Junior Silver King Freeride (Crystal Mountain, WA)
2004: 2nd, Junior Silver King Freeride (Crystal Mountain, WA)
2003: 1st, Junior Silver King Freeride (Crystal Mountain, WA)

Check out Tyler’s blog

LAURA OGDEN Mountain Ambassador since 2006

Although Laura’s mom swears it is the risk gene, Laura knows it’s her love for the mountains that created her passion for skiing. Or it could have been the freedom found in a drivers license and Crystal Mountain on the weekends in high school. Laura grew up primarily playing soccer, which she played at Colorado College while pursuing a biology degree in the Rocky Mountains. However, she also pursued another passion at Arapahoe Basin, Jackson Hole, Snowbird, Alta, Whistler/Blackcomb, and eventually back at Crystal Mountain. She followed her dream of skiing professionally by competing in all the freeskiing competitions, winning her first one at Crested Butte in 2004. She went on to win the overall North American Tour in 2005, and the World Tour in 2006 (with conviction – she won all the events in the tour!). She is still competing and working on a killer film segment with Rage Films. She would like to thank her parents for letting her put off a corporate job as long as possible.
Sponsors: Crystal, Volkl, Tecnica, Marker, Scott USA & Arc Teryx
Accomplishments:
2008: 1st Silver King Freeride (Crystal Mountain)
2007: 1st Women’s US Extreme Skiing Championships (Crested Butte, CO), 1st Women’s Silver King Freeride (Crystal Mountain, WA), 1st U.S. Freeskiing Finals (Kirkwood, CA)
2006: 1st North American Freeskiing Championships (Snowbird, UT), 1st Verbier Ride (Verbier, CH), 1st US Freeskiing & World Finals (Kirkwood)
2005: 1st Molson Canadian Freeskiing Championship (Red Mountain, BC), 2nd New Mexico Extreme Skiing Championship (Taos, NM), 2nd SAAB US Extreme Skiing Championships (Crested Butte, CO)

KEITH ROLLINS Mountain Ambassador since 2001

Sometimes the most random day can change a life. For Keith that day came when he was 17 and some friends in his high school shop class invited him to go night skiing at Crystal Mountain. A poor kid living in Tacoma, Keith was more inclined to go fishing and almost passed on the opportunity. But his friends talked him into it and his life was never the same. Keith is now the Puyallup Sturtevants store manager and in his 6th year with the company. His free time is spent skiing and biking, often in front of a camera. Keith has had over 200 photos published in ski and bike magazines and has even found himself in a couple of movies. Whether he’s skiing the backcountry at Crystal Mountain with his 9 year old son Blake, or heli-skiing a peak in Alaska, Keith still gets that same feeling he had 21 years ago when he first grabbed hold of that rope tow at Crystal.
Sponsors: Crystal Mountain, Rossignol, Sturtevants, Marker, Lange, Outdoor Research, Smith Optics, Dakine, Santa Cruz & Clif Bar

WAYNE GREVEY Mountain Ambassador since 2001

Wayne’s ski career started in 7th grade. He borrowed a pair of skis to go on a family trip to Rainier. Unfortunately, the plan was to go cross country skiing and Wayne hit the trail at Paradise locked into a pair of Hexcel Alpine skis. He was a bit slow on the flats, but blew by everyone on the downhill – free skiing from the start. Wayne’s love for skiing led him to Crystal Mountain where he began catching the eye of local photographers. His career has included covers on Powder and the October 2008 issue of Backcountry. He’s been fortunate enough to work with some of the best photographers in the industry and has had pictures published in every major ski magazine. His images are used on posters, product brochures, and a variety of media. Wayne’s been featured in 2 movies by CASCA Productions and appeared in Warren Miller’s film, “Fifty”, skiing the King. Upcoming projects include coaching youth and adult freeride camps at Crystal. For private group ski days with Wayne, contact Crystal Mountain Snow Sports. Wayne is grateful to his family, friends, and sponsors for all their support.
Sponsors: Outdoor Research (OR), K2, Leki, Full Tilt, Dakine, Smith Optics, Salomon, Clif Bar, Swany, Redbull, Fox River, Sturtevant’s, and Crystal Mountain who makes this all possible.