On March 1, Kya Alderman, a freshman at Bonners Ferry High, placed first in the Doug E. Fresh Banked Slalom at Silver Mountain. With a time of 57.3 seconds, Alderman was the fastest woman in the overall competition, securing her an invite-only spot at a banked slalom event at Mount Bachelor in December. 

Previously, Alderman competed in the Sun Valley Baldy Banked Slalom on Jan. 25 and took third place with a time of 59.35 seconds. Sun Valley was only her second competition. 

The day after her win at Silver Mountain, Alderman broke her right hand while practicing, sidelining her from training for four weeks. She was cleared to ride the day before Schweitzer Mountain’s Snow Ghost Banked Slalom, which was held March 29 and 30 at Schweitzer, and returned to take second place on her home mountain with a time of 47.3 seconds. 

Alderman began snowboarding on her fourth birthday. Soon after, she spent nearly every weekend snowboarding on Fridays and skiing on Sundays. As she grew up, she began to focus exclusively on snowboarding. 

In the spring of 2024, she entered every competition in the Schweitzer Mountain banked slalom series, missing the podium by just one second. In August, she was honored with an invitation to join the Northwest Snowboarding Team. 

“She started competing and then people started referring to her as the dark horse that came out of nowhere,” Sherri Alderman, Kya Alderman’s mother said.