Ross Scatchard
BICP Level 3 Certified
USA Cycling Level 3 Coach
PMBIA Level 1 Certified
Wilderness First Aid Certified
Safe Sport Certified
Ross caught the mountain biking bug at the age of 12 after a season of watching his older brother, Brooke, compete in the classic New England cross country races. Ross was fortunate to join the Earl's Cyclery Junior Team and then Bliss Racing with a great group of riders and their father figure coach, Hans Jenny. This close knit group cultivated the fun and passion for riding, training, trail building, and racing. During his time on Bliss Racing, Ross claimed multiple Junior and Elite State Champion titles, podiums at NORBA National races, as well as many regional ECCC collegiate wins and podiums at national championships. Not only did Ross have a great time racing all disciplines in the collegiate races, but he also started the Allegheny College Cycling Club to help get more students in on the fun.
After several years of working in the Nordic ski community and helping run Bliss Racing, Ross moved to Stowe to live closer to the (arguably) best trails and mountains around. With the help of some dedicated cycling community members, Ross started as Head Coach and Program Director of Stowe Mountain Bike Academy. In the span of one year, Ross completed his Level 1, 2, and 3 BICP Instructor Certifications and was the first person under BICP to take, and pass, a level 2 and 3 course back to back. To further develop his coaching progression, in 2021, Ross completed a PMBI Level 1 certification and is also a USA Cycling Level 3 coach and Wilderness First Aid Certified.
Ross was also a founding Board member of Vermont Youth Cycling (VTYC) and served as the Vermont liaison to the New England Youth Cycling racing league.
Now, he enjoys sharing what he has learned in his cycling career with riders of all ages.
Questions about your rider, our programs or lessons? Please email Ross at ross@stowemtb.com.
Shannon Walton
MS Counseling
Shannon is the owner of Ultimate Mental Edge, a mental skills training practice that works with athletes of all ages and skill levels.
Her interest in the area of sport psychology developed out of a passion for both athletics and the mind. An athlete, starting with soccer at age 4, Shannon has played multiple sports throughout her life. When she discovered it was possible to combine sport and training the mind, she knew she had found her career path. Shannon pursued a degree in Exercise Science and a minor in Psychology at Ithaca College and then went on to earn a Master's of Counseling from the University of Rochester.
During her time at the U of R I, Shannon completed an internship at the University Counseling Center where she worked with college students as well as practicing mental skills training with various athletes and teams. Shannon’s mental skills training focus is performance enhancement which is designed to do just as it says, enhance an athlete’s performance through mental skills and techniques. She also specializes in working with injured athletes to assist them in dealing with their injury and return to their sport.
Shannon supports Stowe Mountain Bike Academy athletes by providing a supportive relationship that is focused on improving the athlete as a whole. This is achieved by creating a partnership to find what best suites the athlete to achieve their performance goals.
When not meeting with athletes and coaches, Shannon helps families enroll in our programs and is a point of contact for all general questions.
Questions about SMBA enrollment or lessons, email Shannon at shannon@stowemtb.com.
Sammy HedlunD
PMBIA Level 1 Certified
First Aid & CPR Certified
Sammy grew up in Minnesota and started racing mountain bikes in high school. He traveled east to attend the University of Vermont, where he served as the president of the cycling team. There, he raced road, cyclocross, XC, and downhill, leading the team to two national titles. He continues to race all disciplines, but excels at enduro, where he is ranked in the top 300 riders globally.
Prior to joining the Stowe Mountain Bike Academy, Sammy served as UVM's Mountain Bike Coach, was founder of Take Out shorts, an apparel brand based around handmade outdoor shorts, and was an event manager for a Burlington based marking firm.
While at SMBA, Sammy has helped to revision the race program to provided dedicated and progressive race instruction in endurance and gravity disciplines.
In fall 2024, Sammy begins work on his Master’s of Science degree in Counseling at UVM.
For questions about the SMBA Development Race Program, please email Sammy at sammy@stowemtb.com.
Isaac AllairE
First Aid Certified
Isaac Allaire is a professional mountain bike racer known for his skill and precision on the trails. From Morrisville, Vermont, Isaac grew up riding bikes as a kid and turned into racing at age 16.
Isaac races for Transition Bikes and has been to over 150 races with more than 20 Pro event wins in Down Hill and Enduro Racing. Transition recently caught up with Isaac to learn more about his background and favorite place to ride -
“At 28 years old, Isaac's passion for riding and racing came from Hank, the owner of Chuck's Bikes in Morrisville, VT. While getting support from the shop he started following the race circuit around the East and first road a Covert back in 2013. After racing for a handful of years in the east, as well as around the country, he loves the East Coast riding scene and everything it has to offer.”
When not competing or coaching at SMBA, Isaac is a bike mechanic at Chuck’s Bikes in Morrisville - a community driven bike shop striving to deliver everyone the same good service, sales of bikes, and all the accessories customers may need at the lowest possible price.
Sponsors supporting Isaac this season include:
@transitionbikes, @stansnotubes, @ridefoxbike, @renthal_cycling, @schwalbetires, @fasthouse_bike
@motorex_bikelineusa, @htcomponents, @7protection, @ride100percent, @stowe_mtn_bike_academy
@chucksbikes
For questions about the SMBA Gravity Race Program, please email Issac at isaac@stowemtb.com.
Jonathan Page
BICP Level 1 Certified
Wilderness First Aid Certified
Jonathan was born and raised in Tilton, NH where he got his start riding bikes with his best friend. When he was 14, he entered a local time trial on a bike with homemade time trial bars and was hooked on racing forever. Throughout the next 26 years, Jonathan traveled the world on the US National road and cyclocross teams as well as many amateur and professional teams, including an Italian cyclocross team, a professional Polish mtb team, a professional American mountain bike team, and a professional Belgian cyclocross team.
Jonathan lived in Germany and Switzerland for a year each, learning to race European cyclocross, before making a decision to move to Belgium to race against the best of the best. He moved to Belgium in 2002, promising his new wife "just one year". Instead, the newlyweds bought a house and started a family while Jonathan raced against the best in the world in cyclocross as well as road and mountain biking in the off season. More than 13 years later, they moved back to the States, first to Utah and now to Vermont.
Jonathan's top results include: 9 total National Championships between road and cyclocross, 2nd at Elite Cyclocross World Championships, several top 10s in World Cups, the first ever UCI European win for an American in cyclocross, top 15 U23 Paris Roubaix, and many UCI wins on American soil. Jonathan got to see a lot of the world from the seats of his bicycles. He is so thankful for the opportunity to pass some of his knowledge of and love for racing bikes to the next generation of cyclists.
Jonathan coaches Endurance and CX race programs.
Nate Gardner
PMBIA Level 1 Certified
Wilderness First Aid Certified
PSIA-E Tech Team & Examiner,
IFSA Level 100 Coach
Safe Sport Certified
Nate Gardner grew up in Stowe and started riding mountain bikes back when fully rigid 26ers completed all the mountain bike offerings! In addition to coaching youth programs at SMBA, Nate offers guided rides and private lessons. As SMBA’s longest Stowe resident, Nate knows ALL the mtb trails in our area - even those not showing up on Trailforks!
Nate enjoys all disciplines of cycling, from road to cross-country to enduro and, along with his wife, introducing his two boys to the joys of two-wheel travel. Nate is also passionate about fishing and skiing.
During the winter months Nate is a full-time ski instructor at Stowe Mountain Resort and an Examiner with Professional Ski Instructors of America.
Questions about Guided Rides? Please email Nate, at nateg@stowemtb.com
MEGHAN KELSEY
PMBIA Level 1 Certified
First Aid Certified
PSIA-E education staff
A lifelong outdoor enthusiast, Meghan started mountain biking as a way to pass the time between ski seasons while living in Colorado. The challenge, flow, and similarity to skiing, hooked her immediately.
Meghan earned her PMBIA certification in 2022 while running a small mountain bike lesson program in New Hampshire. Meghan has a passion for growing a rider’s confidence on their bike and enjoys working with students of all ages and abilities either one-on-one or in a group setting.
Outside mountain biking, Meghan has over 10 years of ski industry experience. In the winter, Meghan is a supervisor and trainer for the Ski and Ride School at Stowe Mountain Resort and is a member of the PSIA-E education staff.
Questions about clinics or private lessons? Meghan would love to help design a custom lesson program for you or your team! Please email Meghan at meghan@stowemtb.com.
nate Hazen
PMBIA Level 1 Certified
First Aid Certified
Nate grew up in the hills of Western Mass. He learned to ride and love mountain bikes while attending the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield Massachusetts. Nate has spent just about every summer of his life in Vermont on the shores of Lake Champlain and now considers it to be his home state. Earlier in his riding career, he honed his skills on the trails of Cady Hill before learning of the expanse of trails in Chittenden and Lamoille County. For many years Nate raced Enduro on the Eastern States Cup circuit but has since found other ways to itch his competitiveness though he will not shy away from going all out in a local grassroots Enduro race.
Nate loves to use the trail to its fullest extent, often looking for the most creative of lines when he rides. Nate attended Proctor Academy in Andover New Hampshire where he was able to expose himself to the endurance side of mountain biking through the Northern New England High School Mountain Bike Race Series. Some of Nate’s favorite places to ride include Cochran’s, Perry Hill, Thunder Mountain, and Mt Abram.
When not on his bike Nate is a dedicated ski racer at Castleton University, a decent golfer, and a lover of everything the outdoors has to offer.
SMBA was privileged to have Nate as our first Administrative Intern in 2024 where Nate helped expand our marketing and events efforts among other duties.
High school and college mountain bike enthusiast interested in internship positions, please feel free to reach out to Nate to learn about his experience! Nateh@stowemtb.com
Kim Quinlan
PMBIA Level 1 Certified
BICP Level 1 Certified
Wilderness First Aid
PSIA-E education staff
Kim is a native Vermonter, and currently lives in Winooski, VT. Kim works full time for the Catamount Trails Association and is also a skilled graphic designer and potter.
Kim’s been riding mountain bikes since 2007, and started racing in 2011 with an Eastern States Cup downhill event at Killington. She jumped into the early east coast Enduro scene after that, and fell further in love with the sport and the supportive community. Since then she’s raced in Elite UCI local and national cross-country races, dabbled in stage racing with the Pisgah and Trans-sylvania 5-day events, and earned the women’s overall title for the 2019 ESC Enduro series.
Kim competed with the Outdoor Gear Exchange racing team, and is sponsored by Shimano, Julbo Eyewear, Vittoria Tires, and NEXT Cycling.
She enjoys helping with local mountain bike club rides, leading bike tours, mentoring kids on bikes, and supporting more women on bikes!
Jake Whitlock
First Aid Certified
Hailing from Nahant Massachusetts, Coach Jake grew up riding BMX and later found mountain biking just before attending the University of Vermont.
In college Jake raced downhill, enduro, dual slalom, and short track XC. Jake still enjoys racing enduro and finding creative freeride lines. When not coaching for SMBA, serving as our ultimate ambassador or digital stoke creator, Jake works full time for Ski the East as their digital marketing manager.
Libby Greeley
First Aid Certified
Libby brings high energy and passion for riding to her role as a. second-year coach at SMBA. From a young age, she has been tearing up trails, racing cross-country mountain bikes and cyclocross. Currently, Libby attends Green Mountain Valley School (GMVS), where she's an Alpine Racer. Libby’s approach at SMBA blends skill-building with a huge dose of fun. As she guides young riders through the local trails, Libby's love for the outdoors and cycling comes to life with every pedal stroke.
She's laser-focused on not just teaching techniques but also making sure it’s about having an awesome time on two wheels, and she instills this sense of playful adventure in every single camper she coaches.
Whether it's ripping through singletrack, working on skills on the rec path or sending it down a rock and rooty descent, you can be sure. Libby will have her riders grinning from ear to ear.
When she's not at SMBA, you can find Libby on the trail network locally and across the state with her family and friends.
KALEI FOLEY-RUTHERFORD
First Aid Certified
Kalei was born and raised in Vermont’s North East Kingdom, mountain biking the Kingdom Trails since she was 7 and is now a current student at UVM. She found her passion for MTB through downhill and park riding (because who doesn't love lift access?!). In high school Kalei joined a MTB team and grew to love racing enduro.
She has been working with kids to share her love for the outdoors, skiing, and mountain biking since freshman year of high school. Although she hasn't continued a serious race career in college, she focuses her energy on sharing this amazing sport with others.
Elle Anderson
First Aid Certified
Elle grew up in Stowe, Vermont where she began her athletic life as a ski racer before a series of injuries led her to cycling while studying at Dartmouth College.
Elle discovered cyclocross during her days as a collegiate racer, and raced at the international elite level from 2013 to 2018. The sport brought her all over Europe and North America competing in international cyclocross races as well as road bike and XC mountain bike events.
During her career at the top of the sport, Elle competed in five cyclocross world championship events, placed 2nd at the US National Championships, won the overall U.S. Pro CX series, and placed 8th at the 2018 Cyclocross World Championships, among several other international podiums and top 20 World Cup finishes.
Now raising a family, Elle cannot wait for her two young kids to fall in love with bikes and someday join SMBA!
Kenzie Brunner
BICP Level 2 Certified
Wilderness First Aid Certified
Kenzie Brunner is originally from southern Michigan, where gravel is king, but found her passion for mountain biking at a young age through trips out west. Kenzie began her coaching working with Nordic skiers and runners but has been coaching women's and children's mountain biking for the last five years.
By day, Kenzie is the Marketing and Communications Manager for Vermont Mountain Bike Association, the statewide mountain bike advocacy organization. After hours you'll see her riding some of her favorite trails with her husband and dogs in Adam's Camp, Perry Hill, and Cochran's.
Kenzie is also an active member of the trail volunteer community and leads women's trail nights in Adam's Camp during the summer months.
XAVI VIOLETTE
First Aid Certified
Xavi is a senior at Stowe High School and has a passion for freeride mountain biking.
Prior to coaching at SMBA, Xavi was a member to SMBA’s inaugural race team, then known as Stowe Youth Cycling where he raced xc, enduro and downhill. Xavi’s completed numerous camps with Highland Mountain Bike Park’s Ayr Academy.
Xavi is a Ranch Camp junior ambassador and in 2024, was selected as an ambassador for the Vermont Mountain Bike Association.
Thomas DiPietro
First Aid Certified
Thomas DiPietro is originally from Massachusetts and began riding competitively as a member of his high school cross country team. Thomas moved to Vermont to attend UVM and really fell in love with mountain biking! He is currently pursuing his masters degree in Environmental Engineering and while he’s not in class or conducting research, he rides bikes and coaches at SMBA.
Thomas is a board member with Richmond Mountain Trails and aside from internships in his field of study, he’s also worked as a bike mechanic and volunteer for the Appalachian Mountain Club.