The Figure Skating Club of Park City held its annual Holiday Extravaganza at the Park City Ice Arena on Saturday to welcome in winter as snow fell along the Wasatch Back. Now in its 19th year, the annual event is an opportunity for skaters to showcase what they have learned and what they are foc used on achieving. “Our Holiday Extravaganza is a moment where every skater — from our tiniest Snowplow Sam stars to our national competitors — gets to shine brightly,” said Erika Robers, director of the skating club. Founded in 2007, the club is committed to supporting skaters of all ages and levels across multiple disciplines, including freestyle, solo ice dance, pairs, and synchronized skating. The annual Holiday Extravaganza is one of the anchor events, and is meant to shine a light on the skaters individually, as pairs, and as a collective group. “This show is more of like an exhibition,” said Tiffany McNeil, director of the show and coach for the skating club. “It’s for the skaters to showcase and highlight what they’ve been working on all year. Everyone gets to pick the music they want to skate to and they get to showcase what they are really good at.” “The show is really fun for us because we get to choose what we want to skate to and we get to choose how we skate,” said Autumn Boyd, a 15 year old who has been skating with the club for 11 years. “Sometimes, in other shows, you get assigned to a role, and I think this is just so much more fun.” Boyd chose to partner for a duet to “The Gingerbread Man” with fellow club member Awstyn Knight featuring double- and triple-axel  jumps and flawlessly synchronized spins and glides. Across all age groups, the mood was festive and the costumes were impressive, featuring everything from The Grinch to a Santa Dolly Parton all bejeweled and shiny. This year’s event featured 47 numbers with over 100 skaters, ranging from as young as 18 months to college-aged skaters, according to McNeil. “We have several kids that flew home from college to be in the show that were previous members who trained here.” This year’s event featured 47 numbers with over 100 skaters, ranging from as young as 18 months to college-aged skaters. Credit: Jack Casebolt/Park Record It was a packed house for both showings, and even though it’s a paid admission event, it’s not meant to be a revenue driver for the figure skating club so much as an opportunity to showcase local talent and keep the blades sharpening for the club. “We don’t charge our skaters to be in the show,” said McNeil. “We do charge for tickets, and that will cover the cost of spring clinics for the year. So our skaters can have other opportunities to grow and develop their skills.”  Less than two decades old, the club is indeed growing. In its first year in 2007, the show featured 27 skaters. This year it nearly quadrupled in the number of skaters, and it also more than doubled in length. The club’s young skaters are also turning heads nationally as they progress in their skating, all of which was on display at the show. Longtime club skater Dash Williams is among them, as a four-time member of the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Team. He also holds the highest score in the country in the intermediate men’s division, added McNeil. The Figure Skating Club of Park City held its annual Holiday Extravaganza at the Park City Ice Arena on Saturday to welcome in winter as snow fell along the Wasatch Back. Credit: Jack Casebolt/Park Record Liz Williams, Dash’s mother and the club board president, was not shy in the pride she has in her son and all he has accomplished on the ice.  “It takes a lot of hard work, discipline, and grit — and sometimes a little pain,” said Williams. “It takes a lot of ability to overcome fears because it’s difficult to do these jumps.” This year, the club announced that three skaters were named to the National Development Team to join Williams and the other three club members already in the development funnel, bringing the club’s total representation to seven skaters. Boyd is one of them and was clear about her aspirations.  “I would love to go to the Olympics, of course,” she said. “But my short-term goals are to go to junior or senior nationals.” Credit: Jack Casebolt/Park RecordCredit: Jack Casebolt/Park RecordCredit: Jack Casebolt/Park Record The post Figure Skating Club of Park City kicks off winter with Holiday Extravaganza appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less