Last year was the best ski season I have had. I skied and trained all winter and finished my season competing at USASA Nationals in Colorado. My local ski hill opened the week before Thanksgiving and the terrain parks were set up and ready to go. My Dad had made plans for us to go hunting the week before Thanksgiving. My brother and I were so excited to start skiing that we asked him if we could pass on the hunting and go skiing instead. He agreed so we headed for Great Divide with our skis.
This year was different because my brother Konnor moved to Truckee, California where he lived with my Aunt and skied on the Squaw Valley Freeski team. It was hard because Konnor and I had always skied together and had coached each other in the park. This year I had to be my own coach and figure out where I could improve.
Over Christmas we drove down to visit Konnor in Truckee. While we were there we went to Mammoth Mountain and competed in a Slopestyle and a Rail Jam competition. The mountain was huge and the park was really good. I took 2nd in the Slopestyle and won the Rail Jam. I met some really nice skiers from Mammoth and we all skied together.
My parents are series directors for USASA. We started having Slopestyle competitions and Rail Jams in late January. We traveled all over the northwest where I was able to compete. I did really well and it was super fun. I enjoyed skiing and competing with friends from the different ski hills.
I was able to qualify for USASA Nationals in both Slopestyle and Rail Jam so in April we drove down to Copper Mountain. I was excited to be there again and wanted to improve on my performance. I did Rail Jam first and placed 24th. I was happy but want to make the top 12 next year so I can go into the finals. The Slopestyle event was tough because the weather was really warm and the course was slow. My first run went great though and I ended up falling on my second run. I placed 18th which I’m really stoked about. Next year I plan to improve and want to make the top 10.
I had a great year even without my brother. This year we hope that we can ski together again. We both need the coaching and hope that we can figure out something. In the meantime, we’re working on ski edits, training on the trampoline and we’ll head for Windells in July.