coaching staff
Rick Kapala Head Coach, Nordic Program Director: Rick is the fearless leader and driving force behind the SVSEF Nordic Program, which he has been part of for 23 of his 29 years coaching. Rick is originally from Sterling Hts, Michigan and graduated from Michigan Technological University where he studied Biological Sciences. While Rick offers endless support to the Nordic Program he is personally supported by his wonderful wife Bridget. Rick has been part of the nordic world for a good part of his life; skiing on the MTU Varsity Ski Team for 4 years and placing 17th in the 1979 Escanaba Nordic Challenge. Rick has been named USSA Cross Country Coach of the Year 3 times in his career and coached internationally for the USA at World Juniors, World Championships, and Polar Cup. When he isn't chasing SVSEF Nordic skiers around the trails Rick can be found fly fishing and mountain biking or just generally enjoying the outdoors. A few things that you might not know about Rick but probably should is that; he played in a hair band, won a golf tournament and once killed his girlfriend's dog.
Chris Mallory: Chris, Fuzzy, C-Mal, Lambie or Kitty as he is known around the hut, hails from Colchester Vermont and is a graduate of The Unitversity of New Hampshire but has been coaching with SVSEF for 4 years. During his free time Chris can be found Tele Skiing, Mtn Biking or playing wiffle ball both indoors and out but truthfully his heart lies with Nordic. Chris grew up XC skiing and racing in the Bill Koch Ski League in New England where he was a "pretty big deal", he even won a couple of Vermont State Championships. Chris skied with the Mora Skigymnasium in Sweden for a year after high school and highlighted the year with getting to race in the Vasaloppet. After leaving Sweden Chris then skied for UNH for 4 years in college and eventually found his way into the Wood River Valley. Last year Chris was a coach with the US World Junior Team in Finland, and he frequently helps out the Sun Valley Olympic Development Team with their waxing and coaching needs. While most XC skiers in the valley might know Chris as a Wax Guru one thing you might not know about him is that he is a pretty good wiffleball player, he boasts to have won 7 of the last 10 games against Rick Kapala in the PWL (Professional Wiffleball League). Chris is also an accomplished drummer on Rock Band.
Ashley McQueen: Ashley is a Hailey local and SVSEF alumni, she graduated from the University of Utah and has been coaching with SVSEF for the last 3 years. During the very small off season from Nordic, Ashley works as a gardener with Just Flowers, as an outdoor instructor at The Community School and she moonlights as a sales person at Backwoods Mountain Sports. Ashley is a long time skier and lover of the outdoors she spends as much of her free time outside as possible enjoying, Tele Skiing, Backcountry Skiing, Mountain Biking (she is a Mud Honey) and taking her dog, Carter, out on a run or to play. Ashley's parents had her skiing on Dollar when she was just 2 and when she was old enough for the Kinder-cup they had her racing. Ashley proudly recognizes the Kinder-Cup as the highlight of her alpine racing career but when her Dad got tired of pulling her out of nets on race course she began looking for a new winter sport... In the 7th grade Ashely joined the SVSEF Nordic Prep Team and in the 8th grade she won her first race. Ashley raced in 5 US Junior National Championships with multiple top 10 finishes and a silver the 2002 J1 girls relay. Ashley was named to the 2001 and 2002 USA J1 Scandinavian Series Teams and raced for 4 years on the Univeristy of Utah NCAA varsity ski team where she was a 3 time qualifier for NCAA Championships. One important thing you might not know about Ashley is that she is not a fan of the High Five! She "thinks it is over used and awkward in almost any situation other then athletics."