COPPER MOUNTAIN, CO (Nov. 21, 2015) - The naming of the 2015-16 U.S. Alpine Ski Team during Nature Valley First Tracks at Copper Mountain was a time of celebration, with 58 athletes having their names read and proudly marching on stage. Some of the biggest applause came for two athletes who were not there to make that walk onto the stage – Ronnie Berlack and Bryce Astle. The two promising young stars were killed in an avalanche last January. Athletes, coaches and families all agreed – they should be honored for their athletic achievements with a place on the team.
It was a special weekend. Ronnie’s ashes were spread on the dyeline of Copper’s speed center and friends, family and teammates had a chance to share some of their favorite stories about the boys. Addison Dvoracek—who wears a necklace with Bryce’s ashes in it—and Erik Arvidsson laughed about Ronnie and Bryce’s brash confidence in their skill. Mikaela Shiffrin remembered Ronnie’s sweet note to her when she was only 13. Jackie Wiles and Michael Ankeny mused on what it means to have the boys on their team.
The weekend also included an important avalanche awareness education session Friday night to help athletes better understand the risks of the mountains and prevent similar accidents. Read below to see what Ronnie and Bryce’s 2015-16 teammates took away from the weekend and some of their favorite memories of the boys.
ON NAMING RONNIE AND BRYCE TO THE U.S. SKI TEAM
Mikaela Shiffrin
I think it totally made sense that Bryce and Ronnie were named. They were great skiers—full attack all the time and totally embodied the U.S. Ski Team spirit. We all miss them a lot and it made it feel like they were there with us.
Michael Ankeny
I think that [naming Ronnie and Bryce to the U.S. Ski Team is] a great idea. They’re such a strong and important part of the U.S. Ski Team community that it means so much to everyone and they’re going to forever be a part of the U.S. Ski Team community. It was inevitable that they would have been named to the team again. They were moving up in the ranks because they were skiing so fast and love the sport so much. It was very appropriate and a good way to honor them.
Jackie Wiles
I think Ronnie and Bryce being named to the team is very important for the camaraderie of our group. They are a special part of our team and it was a really hard, tragic loss. For them to be there with us on stage was really important. It was great that they could do that for the families.
Bryce Astle
ON MEMORIES OF RONNIE AND BRYCE
Erik Arvidsson
Last year, Ronnie was forerunning Birds of Prey and he was riding up the lift and he goes ‘Man! I should be racing right now!’ Ronnie, at the time, didn’t really have the accolades to be starting a World Cup, but that’s the kind of person he was. He was so happy to be forerunning, but he could talk up a mean game. He would tell anyone that he was doing the training runs. He was sure of what he wanted and he wasn’t afraid of talking about it.
Addison Dvoracek
We had gotten to Panorama and it was during the GS days after the Aspen NorAms. Bryce had done well and was going to be starting first. He blew it the first day—I think he hipped out seven times in the course—and ended up starting super deep the next day. We got out and inspected and after, Bryce was like, ‘Dude, I’m going to get a top five today.’ We laughed. He was starting in the 40s or 50s. I was like, ‘OK, Bryce.’ After first run, he ripped and ended up in 11th or 12th and then sent it second run and got fifth. I came down after my run and he was just sitting on this bench outside with this big ole grin on his face. That was one of the coolest things.
Mikaela Shiffrin
I think one of my favorite memories of Ronnie was at Burke. We were doing a secret Santa my first year with the whole school—70 kids—and Ronnie was my secret Santa. He gave me a hair tie, like a really rainbow-colored scrunchie, and wrote a note. I think his parents wrote the note for him because he was nervous and the note said the scrunchie was for me to tie back my beautiful hair! It was so sweet. It was honestly one of my really awkward phases of life—I had braces and felt terrible about myself—I was probably 13 or 14. But it the first time someone else made me feel actually beautiful. It was just Ronnie to make other people feel good.
Michael Ankeny
I remember the first time I ever saw Ronnie in the [Center of Excellence]. He and the younger boys were doing rope climbs in the gym. The rope is probably 25-30 feet tall. You get the big, muscly guys like AJ Ginnis up there going up and doing it no problem and other guys were struggling with it. Ronnie comes in and slaps on work out gloves and gives it his best shot. Everyone was giving him crap for putting on the gloves, but he made it up to the top and it was awesome. He was loving it. He was a goofy guy and was fun to be around. He didn’t care what other people thought—he was going to do it anyways.
Jackie Wiles
My favorite memory of Ronnie was before we made the U.S. Ski Team, we were in the same rookie class. We had a camp in Mammoth and he did a stand-up comedy act for the whole group. He was really, really good, but it caught us all off guard and it was hilarious. He told some good jokes and just showed you the type of person he was—loving life and having fun all the time, not caring what people thought. It’s a great lesson everyone can learn from. He was a great friend of mine. It still hits hard; it’s sad. We learned a lot from him and I think that’s most important.
I didn’t get to know Bryce that well as he was quite a bit younger, but I met him a couple times at the COE before the season. He was very friendly—always smiling and would come up and say hi. You could tell his character right when you first met him. They’re both heavily missed and we hold them close to our hearts everyday when we’re on the hill.
Ronnie Berlack.
ON AVALANCHE SAFETY
Michael Ankeny
I think that one of the biggest takeaways was that there are a lot of resources to be aware of before we go out into a potentially dangerous situation. There are websites where people are logging snow conditions and there are avalanche forecasters going out and checking the snow all the time, which is great. I guess the biggest thing is that it’s on us to be aware of what’s happening and make sure it’s safe for us and everyone around us.
Erik Arvidsson
This is an important event for numerous reasons—but it’s really important this year because back in January, we lost two of our teammates to an avalanche in Soelden, Austria. It’s really important for us to prepare ourselves so this doesn’t happen again. I really enjoyed learning about the other things we could do—as far as classes and safety equipment that can help us in avalanches. You never know where you’re going to be or what you’re going to be doing. I definitely wasn’t expecting what happened to happen, and it happened to me. It can happen to anyone.
Jackie Wiles
I’ve never done an avalanche course, so I think it was great for the whole team to do that. I think it’s an important topic that’s not talked about enough. A lot of us are at a pretty high level of skiing, so we tend to think we’re invincible. But you have to respect the mountain; that was my big takeaway. You never know when you can enter the wrong zone. I think it’s great for us to have that—a little bit of awareness so we can be safer on the hill. It’s a good lesson for us and I know we will all try to keep learning about avalanches.
