Alpine Race Team Coaches
Pam Tucker-Kopp -Head Coach
Pam grew up in a Red Lodge Skiing family and competed for both Silver Run and Rocky Mountain College ski teams.
She graduated from RMC with a Physical Education degree, and coached for a short time for Silver Run, before moving to Boise in 2013 to coach FIS and USSS athletes. She is a level 200 certified coach with 16 years of experience and a certified Technical Delegate. Pam is happy to be back home in Red Lodge, where she and her husband will raise their son Mills.
406-860-8460
pamela.tucker10@yahoo.com
Jeremy Wolf- Assistant Head Coach
Jeremy Wolf started skiing when he was three years old at Marshall ski area while his father worked as manager of the hill. Already in love with the sport, he then joined the Silver Run Ski Team at age five and raced for the team and Northern Division through high school. Jeremy competed in the local USSA and Northern Division races and later FIS races across the country. Jeremy decided not to race in college and went to a school with no racing team. However, he quickly found his way back to the snow in a different sport, skier-cross, and competed in the USCSA and USASA nationals in skier-cross as an individual his first two years at University.
Jeremy then made one of the more rewarding job description changes in his life and started coaching U12 athletes for Schweitzer Alpine Racing School. After two years, Jeremy moved home to Billings and became an assistant coach to the Rocky Mountain College ski team. The RMC men’s and women’s teams won multiple national titles during these two years.
Jeremy then moved to Vermont (I know, blah, the east coast snow, right!?) to get his MFA and spent two years being a season pass holder at Sugarbush mountain. During this time Jeremy also interned for Backcountry Magazine, Cross-country Skier Magazine, and wrote his MFA thesis on his experiences growing up as a ski racer. He has moved back to the only state where the sky can truly be referred to as “big” and is ecstatic at the opportunity to work for his childhood ski club and the great community of SRST. The employees of Silver Run, the athletes, and the whole community of Red Lodge and the mountain have often been involved in Jeremy’s favorite memories.
406.698.2997
jeremy.wolf@rocky.edu
Mark Selby – Part-Time Coach
Mark grew up skiing at Red Lodge Mountain. In 1991 he became a ski and snowboard instructor and achieved his Level 2 in both disciplines. He coached the Red Lodge Mountain Alpine Training Team for 5 years before joining Silver Run in 2000 as a part-time coach. Mark has the ability to help athletes understand the mechanics of skiing, especially in a racecourse. In the offseason, Mark spends his time fishing, rafting, and playing golf. Mark is an outside salesman for Spencer Fluid Power. He has a passion for skiing and teaching youth how to go fast! Mark is a USSA certified Level 200 coach.
406.670.8500
skiandfloat@gmail.com
Riley Selby – Part Time Coach
Riley grew up racing with the team from age 7. He was small for his age, but showed tremendous perseverance and dedication to training and eventually made a name as a ski racer in the division. His ability to relate to young people as a coach has made him a favorite among the athletes.
406.697.2100
selbysnarf@hotmail.com
Spela Pavlick – Part Time Coach
Spela Pavlick started racing in her native Slovenia at the age of 8. She participated and podiumed in various junior international competitions, including Whistler Cup, and Trofeo Topolino. As a FIS racer, she raced in the Europa Cup and participated in two Junior World Championships. In 2003 she made the decision to continue her skiing career in Montana, racing on the NCAA Division I circuit, while attending Montana State University.
After graduating from MSU, Spela continued to coach as an assistant coach at MSU, and later as a YSL coach at Big Sky SKi Education Foundation, and Silver Run Ski Education Foundation.
These days Spela lives in Red Lodge with her husband Chad, and their two young racer boys. She enjoys spending time outside with her friends and family. Spela holds two master’s degrees and works as a mental health therapist at Intermountain Health in Laurel and Red Lodge.
(406) 698-3077
spelabertoncelj@gmail.com
Chad Pavlick – Part Time Coach
Chad Pavlick grew up in Montana, and ski raced with the silver run ski team from a young age through high school. After high school, he continued ski racing with a scholarship to Rocky Mountain College, Billings. He graduated with a Business/Finance degree in 2001. He started his other passion guiding fly fishermen, in his sophomore year of college.
Chad’s love for skiing and racing continued after college. He began coaching with Silver Run in 2001. He coached the development team for 10 seasons, then following those years also coached for 3yrs with the Big Sky Ski Team, YSL.
Currently, he lives in Red Lodge with his family and loves raising his two boys outdoors. He is the owner-outfitter of Front Range Drifters, where he continues to create a livelihood guiding fly fishermen. He is also a 3 day a week Pro-patroller at Red Lodge Mountain. Safety first!
(406) 698-4763
pavlickc406@gmail.com
Kim Sommerfeld – Part Time Coach
Kim grew up on Red Lodge Mountain. After graduating with a degree in Outdoor Education she spent spent her time in the mountains as much as possible. From backpacking, and fishing or hunting, climbing to ski patrolling and coaching/teaching. She funded her endeavors through her lifelong goal of working for the Forest Service as a Wildland Firefighter. After several summer seasons of adventure all over Wyoming and the Wild West, and completing many goals, she settled down and started a family. She and her husband currently live in Billings, but are excited to be moving back to her home town to raise their daughter. She is thrilled to be returning to Silver Run to pass on the passion for mountain life that was cultivated here so many years ago! Kim spends her summers now managing the pool in Red Lodge, and uses her free time volunteering at Red Lodge Fire Rescue as an Advanced EMT.
(307) 272-7388
sommerfeldkim@gmail.com
Free Ride Team Coaches
Nick Gaddy – Head Coach
Nick has a deep appreciation for skiing and the mountains he skis on. His background in backcountry guiding, mountaineering, avalanche education, and in the ski industry makes him a perfect fit for the free ride team. He has a passion for sharing his love of the outdoors with other skiers of all skill levels. Nick grew up in Washington and has a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University. The Red Lodge area is a great location for his explorer attitude. In his spare time, he likes to climb, works at Beartooth Basin in the summer, and slings a mean cocktail at Natalie’s Front Bar.
406.425.2774
gaddynj@gmail.com
Peter O’Brien – Part Time Coach
After graduating from the University of Montana, Peter dedicated his life to coaching Freeskiing. After a five year stint as the head Free ski coach for Ski and Snowboard Club Vail in Colorado, Peter was hired by the US Free ski team working with elite level Slopestyle, Halfpipe, and Bir Air athletes. After a successful four years coaching world cups, NorAms, and having athletes named to the Olympic Team in PyeongChang it was time to focus on family. Peter moved to Billings and continues his passion for the sport with the Silver Run Freeride Team. As a Level 300 certified coach, he is focused on long term athletic development and safe progression of skill development. Peter strives to find the fun each and every day on the hill and hopes to instill a love for the sport in every athlete he gets the opportunity to coach. When the snow melts you can find Peter and his family fishing, hiking to go fishing, and camping near good fishing.
406.861.0025
peter.joseph.ob@gmail.com
Graham Messe – Part Time Coach
Graham Messe is a New Hampshire native who first made his way to Red Lodge in 2014, and has finally decided to stay. He began skiing at the age of 5 in New Hampshire and began working in the ski industry while attending college at the University of NH. After graduating with a BS in Geology, Graham began a decade of seasonal drifting and rewarding seasonal work around the western US. During this time he, lived and worked in AZ, WA, WY, MT and traveled extensively while focusing on skiing and geology. Highlights of this time include an MS in Geology from Western Washington University, five seasons as a federal park ranger, three seasons as a research geologist for North Cascades NP, two international research expeditions, and four seasons prospecting for precious metals. Ski highlights include ten seasons of coaching at AZ Snowbowl, Mt. Baker Race Team, Jackson Hole Evolution Freeride team, the Mount Snow Competition Freestyle Team, and Beartooth Basin. Graham currently maintains numerous professional ski certifications across several organizations including, PSIA (Alpine 2, Freestyle 1, Telemark 1, Children’s Specialist 1), USASA (Freestyle 200), and IFSA (coach), as well as avalanche, mountaineering, and WFR medical certifications. When not skiing or working as a geologist, Graham pursues guitar, rock climbing, traveling, mountaineering, and learning strange new things. He is excited to call Red Lodge home after years of drifting, and wicked stoked to have the opportunity to ski with the Silver Run Freeride rippers.
603.381.1536
graham.messe@gmail.com
Zach Brown — Part Time Coach
Zach grew up skiing at Red Lodge Mountain. A self proclaimed “kid at heart”, he spent many years as a fishing guide in AK, and was on the ski patrol staff at RLM. His fun loving, easy going spirit makes him a great fit as a ski coach. Zach and Julia live in Red Lodge. He spends his summers as a concrete worker.
406-208-4695
zbrownmt@gmail.com
Ben Daley – Part Time Coach
While leading a backpacking trip in the Beartooths in 2016, Ben was inspired to return to Red Lodge. Since landing here permanently, he’s worked at the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Foundation and hasn’t missed a chance to ski Red Lodge Mountain or get into the Beartooth backcountry. Before being in Montana, Ben lived between Bolivia, Peru, and the United States, instructing study abroad and gap-year programs that focused on indigenous social movements, history, and language. Ben spends a disproportionate amount of time staring at the overview map of the Beartooths on his living room wall, and can’t wait to become a better skier with the athletes at Silver Run.
414-400-8336
bhessdaley@gmail.com
Maya Crosby – Part Time Coach
Between her shifts baking at Cattail Bakery, Maya likes to spend her time skiing the trees at Red Lodge Mountain or deep in the backcountry amongst the snow-covered Beartooths. Growing up skiing in Crested Butte, Colorado led Maya to competitive racing at Sugar Bowl Academy in the Sierras and eventually landed her in Montana, seeking powder and steep descents. Maya is excited to pass on the fundamentals of skiing while also cultivating a love of big-mountain lines.
541-515-4113
maya.crosby@gmail.com
Masters Alpine Race Team Coaches
Lisa Ballard – Part-Time Coach
Lisa has been the top-ranked American Masters racers in her age group since joining the Masters circuit in 1991. She holds 6 Masters World Championship titles in slalom, GS and super G. She’s the 2017 and 2020 women’s overall Super G champion on the FIS masters world cup. She also ended the 2020 season ranked #3 in GS and #4 in slalom overall, and #1 her age group (Women 55-59) in the world. USSA and SkiRacing.com have named her “Masters Skier-of-the-Year” 6 times, most recently in 2016. She currently serves on US Ski and Snowboard’s Masters Working Group and Northern Division’s Alpine Competition Committee (ACC). Lisa grew up in Lake Placid, New York. As a teenager, she attended Stratton Mountain School in Vermont where she later served as a trustee for 12 years. She was a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 1976 to 1979, competing at the Europa Cup and World Cup levels. From 1980 to 1983, she was a member of the Dartmouth Ski Team and represented the college in four NCAA championships. Between college and the Masters circuit, she competed successfully for 6 years on the Women’s Pro Ski Tour. Along the way, she has been deeply involved in the ski industry, including a stint as Instruction Editor for Snow Country Magazine; a contributor to SKI and Ski Racing and numerous other publications and websites; a member of HEAD’s international design team; as an expert ski analyst, commentator and field producer for ESPN, NBC, Outside TV and several other networks; and as a coach. Lisa was director of the Snow Country Ski Schools, a program in conjunction with the elite PSIA Demo Team. She has taught over 7,000 women to ski better through her “Your Turn” women’s ski events. She also directs masters training camps throughout the United States and the annual South American Masters Race Camp. The author of the top-selling ski book, Ski Faster! Guide to Ski Racing and High-Performance Skiing, she has 30 years of experience coaching athletes from the U8 to the masters level. This is Lisa’s 10th winter in Red Lodge.
406.690.0190
lisaballardoutdoors@gmail.com
Jack Ballard – Part Time Coach
Jack spent his winters as a youth tending livestock on a ranch west of Three Forks, Montana. He was introduced to skiing by riding the high school “ski bus” to Bridger Bowl where skiing “friends” abandoned him after 5.5 minutes of instruction. A subsequent program of self-education yielded a “skier” who could ski very fast in a straight line, drop fearlessly from large landscape features, stop quickly and conquer any slope navigable without turning.
After a 30-year hiatus from the sport, Jack took up skiing again in 2009 and tiptoed into racing a couple of years later. Several years of frustration in an exceedingly technique-driven sport now find him racing competitively in local and USSA Master’s races. He is particularly drawn to speed events and is keenly interested in all aspects of conditioning for ski racing. A former instructor in the Dept. of Education at MSU-Billings, Jack seeks to incorporate his expertise in human learning with coaching. He holds a Level 100 USSA coach’s license and has been certified as a Level 1 PSIA instructor.
In the off-season, Jack recovers from ski racing injuries, fly fishes, hikes, plays tennis, and recovers from ski racing injuries.
406.696.9841
jackballard62@msn.com
Nordic Team Coaches
Eric Dye – Head Nordic Race & Masters Nordic Coach
Eric Grew up in Red Lodge skiing, was on the Silver Run Alpine team for a few years before turning his focus to Nordic racing. Eric raced Nordic all through High school and first two years of college and then moved to Laramie Wy. to coach a Junior High Nordic ski team. Now Eric resides in Red Lodge and coaches the Silver Run Nordic Ski Team. He has his USSS level 100 Nordic Coaching license and been to many coaching clinics taught by US Nordic ski team coaches. He has been part of the coaching team for the High Plains Division for the past five years as a wax tech. When he is is not skiing he is on the river as a whitewater guide.
406.425.3739
silverrunnordic@gmail.com
Ginger Shenefelt – Assistant Nordic Coach
Ginger joined the Nordic staff in 2019 and brings her passion for having fun in the great outdoors! Ginger has been Nordic coaching in Red Lodge for three years now and has coaching experience as an assistant in the Laramie middle school program and the head coach for the Medicine Bow Nordic association. She now lives in Red Lodge and is a buyer for Sylvan Peak. This winter she will assist head coach Eric, and lead the Powder Seekers team practices. In the summer you can find Ginger guiding on the river. USSS Level 100 Certified.
307.749.2878
silverrunnordic@gmail.com
Marci Dye – Head Penguin League Coach
Marci is our Head Penguin League Coach. She has been organizing the kids’ ski programs in Red Lodge, for the last 20 years, teaching kids through games and play is the best, most fun way to learn to ski! Marci teaches many beginner lessons and has taken many coaching clinics and classes over the years. Marci’s favorite thing to teach during Penguin league is that it’s fun to be outside in the wintertime. “When the kids turn around and teach their parents that’s, pretty cool!” Marci Says.
marcidye@gmail.com
406.425.3065
Noah Dye – Assistant Coach
Noah grew up in Red Lodge, Skiing before he could walk he learned to ski with his family. Noah is currently an athlete on the OG Team and a coach for the Powder Seekers and Penguin League. Noah’s favorite thing about skiing is being able to share the skiing experience with others and improving his ability to ski and coach. He has raced many races, but his favorite is the West Yellowstone rendezvous race where he skis the 25K. Noah has his USSS Level 100 Coaching Certification.
silverrunnordic@gmail.com
Snowboard Team Coaches
Audra Bintz- Head Coach
Audra Bintz discovered the joys of snowboarding at age 10. After a brief stint at Massage School, she was called back to the hills of Montana to start a lifelong career in teaching people how to have fun and stay safe in the mountains. She has worked at Red Lodge Mountain, Big Sky, Park City, Utah, and even in Germany for a couple of seasons. She competed casually in Freeride, banked slaloms, and slopestyle in her younger years. She is a Level 3 AASI-certified coach. Watching kids grow in love for the outdoors and the sports that facilitate appreciation for life are rewards enough for her. She is excited about the new branch of Silver Run!
406.679.0879
abintz@hotmail.com
Program Director
Vanessa Selby – Program Director
Vanessa grew up skiing at Red Lodge Mountain. She started a lifelong career in the ski business in 1978, working at various retail ski shops in Billings. In 1983 she became a ski instructor at Red Lodge Mountain, where she worked for 29 years. She was instrumental in building the Alpine Training Team into a successful youth ski program. In 2007 she joined her husband Mark, and three sons, and became part of Silver Run as a board of directors member. In 2008 she was hired as an assistant to the Program Director and moved on to the program director position in 2011. She is a certified Level 2 PSIA instructor, a certified children’s instructor, and also a Level 100 USSA coach. Her tireless enthusiasm and dedication to the Silver Run Team are apparent both on and off the hill.
406.208.1875
silverrunski@gmail.com
