Carrabassett Valley Academy (CVA) is a private

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

and

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

academy in

Carrabassett Valley Carrabassett Valley is a town in Franklin County, Maine, United States. The population was 673 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and is water. ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, at the base of

Sugarloaf Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain ( pt, Pão de Açúcar, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to ...

. Established in 1982, the school's alumni include Olympic competitors

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer. He is an Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, a two-time overall World Cup champion in 2005 and 2008, and the most successful male America ...

Seth Wescott Seth Wescott (born June 28, 1976) is an American snowboarder. He is a two-time Olympic champion in the snowboard cross. Life and career Wescott was born in Durham, North Carolina, and lives in Whistler, British Columbia. Growing up, Wescot ...

Kirsten Clark Kirsten Lee Clark (born April 23, 1977) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. Born in Portland, Maine, she made her World Cup debut in November 1995 and retired from international competition following the 2007 season. ...

, and Emily Cook, as well as Jeremy Jones, nine-time ''

Snowboard Magazine ''Snowboard Magazine'' is an independent snowboarding publication. It was founded in April 2004 by Mark Sullivan and Liz Sullivan in Hailey, Idaho. Soon they were joined by Jeff Baker, Jeff Douglass, Aaron Draplin, Gary Hansen and Jason "J2" Rasmus ...

'' Big Mountain Rider of the Year. Since 1982 CVA alumni have included 12 Olympians, winners of 92 US national titles, 11 X-Games competitors, 26 NCAA and USCSA All-Americans, 39 US national team members, and six world champions.

History

The Sugarloaf Region Ski Education Foundation (SRSEF) was founded in 1968 as a non-profit organization offering advanced ski training. In 1972 the Maine State Board of Education approved a tutorial program at the center, held for four to five weeks during the winter. Students skied in the morning and were tutored in the afternoon. Their home schools provided work while the SRSEF provided tutors and a space to study. In 1982 the SRSEF helped found CVA as a five-month tutorial program, in a new campus in the former Capricorn Lodge, and the following year it became a nine-month ski academy, with 20 students. The SRSEF hosted all competitions at Sugarloaf, from high-school level races to the US Alpine championships, until 1992, when they created the Competition Center. In 1995 Sugarloaf and CVA took over the SRSEF weekend program, initially called the Junior Competition Program, then later Sugarloaf Carrabassett Valley Academy (SCVA). It is now known as the CVA Weekend Program. From the 1990s to early 2000s, a building known as the Lumberjack was used as a girls' dorm, but it was sold in the 1990s. The Capricorn Lodge was used for classrooms, dining, equipment storage, and the boys' dormitory. Today Murphey Hall, a three-story building, is used as a dormitory for all students. CVA has students from abroad, including Japan, Korea, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Since 2010 the school has maintained close links with Lycee Lannemezan, a winter sports school in

Lannemezan Lannemezan (; Gascon Occitan ''Lanamesa'', "heath of the middle") is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department and the Occitanie region in south-western France. The inhabitants are called Lannemezanais. Lannemezan is the largest city in ...

, France.

Notable alumni

- 2004/2005; 2007/2008 Alpine Overall World Cup Champion; Olympic Gold, Silver, & Bronze Medalist *

- 2006 and 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist, Snowboard Cross * Jeremy Jones - 9-time ''Snowboard Magazine'' Big Mountain Rider of the Year *

- US World Cup & Olympic Ski Team Member. US National Downhill Champion * Emily Cook - US Olympic Freestyle Team Member *

Julie Parisien Julie Madelein Josephine Parisien (born August 2, 1971) is a former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup alpine skiing, alpine ski racer from the United States Ski Team, United States. She specialized in the technical events of Slalom skiing, slalo ...

- US World Cup & Olympic Ski Team Member. US National SL/GS Champion * Sam Morse - US Ski Team Member *

Maria Wanner Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

- Biomedical Engineer/Snowboarder

References

{{authority control Private high schools in Maine Boarding schools in Maine Educational institutions established in 1982 Schools in Franklin County, Maine 1982 establishments in Maine