Missoula Freestyle Team (MFT) has been training at the Montana Snowbowl for many years, and they have built all of their jumps by hand since the team started. The reason being, they do not have a crew designated to build their jumps. However, their ‘park crew’ consists of their hard-working coaches and the help from the MFT athletes.

     MFT has 6 Hellgate Knights that show up every weekend to train and put in hard work for upcoming comps. Recently, coach Joe Dillion and River Lucas, with help from friends and their athletes, worked to build a 50” jump they call “Big Bertha” which will help with their training for nationals.

    “The biggest, the best, shaped jump we have ever had up at the bowl,” said Max Jakob, an MFT athlete and senior at Hellgate. Max has gone to nationals once but has qualified for nationals twice. Recently,  Max has taken the first place podium twice this season at the Montana Snowbowl. He couldn’t be more thrilled with how the bowl has prepared him for these comps and is even more stoked about the possibility of

trying crazy tricks on

their new jump! “It’s especially helpful when training for nationals because the jumps are roughly the same size as our new one. I definitely feel like the jump will benefit me with the ability to train with longer air time”

     The boys all struggled with getting enough speed to clear the knuckle the first two to three times going off the jump, but once they figured it out, the training day lasted 45 minutes longer than usual and was full of excitement and smiles from coaches and athletes. Members of the community at Snowbowl gathered to cheer and watch these boys fly high in the air and have the time of their lives!

     “I got to be the guinea pig,” said Luke O’Leary, an MFT athlete and a senior at Hellgate. Luke took the pleasure of being the first person to take flight off of Big Bertha, and he barely made it over the knuckle. “The first time I went off her, I knuckled it so hard. But the next time sent it huge and cleared it easy.”

    Joe Dillon is the head coach for the slopestyle team with MFT. Dillon was part o

f MFT for several years before becoming a coach 10 years ago. Dillon loves his job of helping these kids fly in the air and progress though new heights and tricks.

     “I wanted to build a structure that would be similar to the size jumps we will be hitting for our national competition, and we have 3 athletes who are ready for double flips, and double corks. This jump helps us achieve these tricks” Dillon said about their need for a 50-inch jump. He was proud and thrilled with how the athletes took to the jump, and how easily they hucked themselves into the air. Their youngest athlete, Jude Owens, was tentative to go off the jump, even though he had been off jumps higher than ‘Big Bertha’ before at last year’s national competition. “It took a slight bit of convincing to get him in the air, and once he was, it was great! The kid killed it.” Dillon said.

   MFT has continued to progress through their years, and by building a 50-inch jump, they have only

made it easier for their team to constantly progress.MFT not only offers slopestyle, but they also offer the following programs: little riders team, development team, big mountain team, big mountain competition team, slopestyle team, snowboard team, competition slopestyle team, junior competition mogul team, and competition mogul team. All of these teams consist of highly trained coaches who enjoy having fun in the snow with a group of kids.