The US Snowboard and Freeski Project Gold Camp took place this year at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in California, and Timberline Lodge and Ski Area on Mount Hood, Oregon from June 6 to 15.

Project Gold, which started in 2006, selects athletes from the biggest junior tours in the country, including the Revolution Tour, Hole Shot, Race to the Cup and USASA Nationals.

It is designed to bridge the gap between regional competitors and Olympic-level programmes, and to give some of the best young talent access to national team coaches at official training sites.

US Ski and Snowboard’s head freeski and snowboard coach Mike Jankowski said: “Project Gold provides an opportunity for future US Olympians to ski and ride for a week with the full national team staff.

“It’s a great opportunity for the coaches and athletes to start making connections that will last throughout their careers.”

US snowboardcross head coach Peter Foley added: “Project Gold is a great chance for myself and the other World Cup coaches to get to know and work with the next generation of rippers. 

“It’s cool to see the next generation’s enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge.

"In addition, it’s amazing to watch them improve from one day to the next."

Arielle Gold, who won bronze in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic snowboard halfpipe, is a Project Gold graduate and said she had benefitted not only from working with Olympic-calibre coaches, but also riding with her peers.

She said: “The biggest opportunity that Project Gold created for me was a place to not only ride with some of the best developing snowboarders in the country but to also be coached by arguably the best coaches in the world.

 “At the time, many of the younger female snowboarders who I absolutely loved to ride with lived in different parts of the country, so I rarely saw them during the competitive season.

"Project Gold gave us an opportunity to come together and ride as a group, catering to a level of progression – and fun – that was unparalleled when I was that age.”

Gold also touched on the quality of training venues available to her at such a young age.

“Many athletes at the developmental level in competitive snowboarding have limited access to adequate training venues, if they have access to any whatsoever,” she said.

"Every year that I attended, Project Gold created an incredible venue for all of us to ride together, allowing us to learn tricks and progress in a way that likely would not have been possible otherwise.

"I can still remember how excited I got every year when I had the opportunity to ride in front of the US coaches.

"It felt like it was my chance to prove myself as a potential candidate for the future, which pushed me to work harder than I ever had before."