The outdoor opportunities are abundant in the greater Tahoe region and every couple of years, local talent rises and proves to the world that natural ability, focus, and the right training and environment create a winning mix. Sofia Sanchez, a recent graduate of Sugar Bowl Academy did just that when she took second place at the International SkyRunning Federation World Youth Championships.
The championships, which took place in early August, marked the fourth year the event has been held, and according to organizers, featured a record number of athletes. Sofia Sanchez took first place last summer and returned this year with a target on her back. Recovering from a hip injury and hoping to defend her title, Sofia Sanchez put her mind, body and spirit to the test. Sanchez earned silver in the youth women division with a time of 46:28, which was 15 seconds faster than her time last year.
In two years of competition, Sanchez has picked up three gold medals and two silvers.
For further details about the world championships, and photos of the event, visit https://trailrunner.com/trail-news/. For full results for the event, visit http://enduro.ficr.it.
Sugar Bowl Academy
Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy is a community dedicated to providing passionate skiers the opportunity to pursue athletic dreams, academic excellence, and personal growth while celebrating grit, grace, and courage. They aim to be a gold standard for ski teams and ski academies.
The Sugar Bowl Ski Team Foundation was founded in 1998 by Tricia Hellman Gibbs, a former member of the U.S. Ski Team and a graduate of Williams College. Following in the footsteps of her father, Warren Hellman, who founded Stratton Mountain School in Vermont, Tricia had a vision of developing a world-class junior ski program and academy on the West Coast.
Tricia’s passion, support and leadership helped develop Sugar Bowl Academy into a world-class educational institution for competitive skiers on Donner Summit, in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Today, Sugar Bowl Academy is nationally recognized as one of the premier sports academies in the country, and the only ski-in/ski-out ski academy in the U.S.
