AHS senior and amateur skier, Cassidy Jarrell, recently received an invitation to ski in the upcoming Dew Tour on October 10. The Winter Dew Tour is a ski and snowboard competition that offers aspiring athletes, like Jarrell, the opportunity to compete against some of the most talented skiers and snowboarders in the world. The winner of this event comes away with more than just money and medals: Qualification for the winter X-Games, held in our hometown of Aspen Colorado, and a spot on Winter Olympics Team.

The Dew Tour is only the beginning for Jarrell. He has higher hopes this year for a possible appearance in the Winter X-Games, and to one day be a medalist in the Olympics. Jarrell travels all over the world for training and coaching. He recently just returned from his trip to Wanaka, New Zealand where he trained for three weeks alongside AHS freshman, Tristan Feinberg.

“It’s a lot of stressful and hard work. I missed a whole lot of school last year and worked my butt off,” Jarrell said.

Aspen locals and Jarrells good friends Torin Yater-Wallace and Alex Ferreira are Dew Tour veterans. They have each competed in the event for three years and have both been podium athletes. Jarrell has been a top-three finisher in mostly all of his events in the past year and walked away with gold at USAA Nationals in Copper Mountain, Colorado but has never seen something quite like the Dew Tour.

“It’s a very large competition, it’s been a dream since I was about five years old. I’ve been writing about it in my elementary school papers forever. It’s a very cool event and I’m stoked to be in it,” Jarrell said. “Torin and Alex are also contestants. It’s a dream come true to be able to compete against them.”

Jarrell is taking one step at a time in his career and trying to make the best out of every ski season. The Dew Tour is a great start to this year, but he hopes to make bigger appearances in his hometown for the 2018 X-Games.

“I’ve had a lot of thought about it,” Jarrell stated. “There’s a potential chance that I could be in it this year, but I put my foot down and said if not this year, then without a doubt next year.”

Jarrell may not win every event he competes in, but one thing is for sure, he will always have AHS cheering him on whether he’s in Aspen or New Zealand.