Banks Gilberti and Stephen Smith Join Team Summity Coaching Staff

Summit County, CO (November7, 2008) --- Ever wonder where the pros first get their start?  Like Toby Dawson, Jeremy Bloom and Bobby Brown.  How did they become such great skiers?  Well, to start, they trained with some of the best coaches in the industry. And if you live in Colorado you have the chance to train with them too. This ski season Team Summit is proud to announce that Banks Gilberti and Stephen Smith will be the newest coaches to join Team Summit’s Freeride Program.

Tyler Morant, Director of Team Summit Freeride, is excited to make this announcement. “I have skied with Stephen Smith for years now.  His coaching approach is impressively simplistic, speaking with ease to the teenage riders of Team Summit.”  Morant goes on to say, “ when Banks Gilberti said he would work with me I was blown away. This is a guy who has been killing it on tour for the last two years!”

As one of the top riders in the sport, Banks Gilberti is definitely a sweet edition to Team Summit. Gilberti has placed 1st at the 2006 Redbull Schooled, 2nd at the 2007 Redbull Schooled, and 5th at the 2007 Aspen Open Pipe. On top of that he has had segments in the videos "Enjoy" and "PhotoPlay."

Stephen Smith has been featured in the videos “Worland Warrios 3: Enter the Worland” and “Dead Air.” Smith is one of the most amazing urban rail sliders of his day. “I can’t wait to work with the kids at Team Summit,” Smith declares. “I will do anything to help the kids get better at the sport I love.”

Gilberti and Smith will be working with the Team Summit Freeride programs starting November 8, 2008.  They will be coaching Team Summit’s Freeride Development and Competition programs. These programs train at Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, and Keystone in addition to competing across the country in slopestyle and halfpipe skiing events.

To be the best in the sport, there’s no doubt you have to train with the best coaches, and Team Summit has got ‘em!

Readers interested in learning more about Team Summit can visit www.TeamSummit.org.

About Team Summit
Team Summit is a non-profit organization that provides year-round programs in snowboarding, alpine, freestyle, freeride and telemark skiing, to residents of Summit County, the Front Range, and guests.  There is an emphasis on team participation, goal setting and a life-long involvement in on-snow sports.