DEFYING GRAVITY
Young local skiers on national stage in Colorado
Remember sliding down a banister at home, a handrail at school or at the local playground?
Ever try to do it standing up? On a pair of skis or a snowboard? (A snowboard is a little wider and longer than the leaf placed in the dining room table when company comes.)
How about skiing or snowboarding up a steeply sloped wall of snow higher than a basketball hoop, turning in midair, sliding back down and remaining upright throughout?
A group of multi-talented local youngsters can navigate those onsnow feats — and many more. And that qualified 27 of them to compete at the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association National Championships at Copper Mountain in Colorado.
The competition, which runs through Wednesday, is the largest snowboarding and freeskiing event in the world and attracts top athletes from around the country to compete for the title of National Champion.
The local team, ages 8 to 18, are members of the Pennsylvania Freestyle Ski Association, also called PA Freestyle, a familyfriendly nonprofit based at Seven Springs Mountain Resort. The youngsters prepared for the nationals by training for four hours on Saturdays and Sundays and competing at regional events.
They rode sideways on narrow elevated metal rails, dismounting frontward or backward. They hopped up on boxes the size of a tall refrigerator, turned backward or all the way around and slid off. They twirled on the tops of large empty propane tanks and on corrugated steel pipe half-buried in the snow.
Those who specialize in moguls — bumps created by skiers turning in the same place — swiveled their skis back and forth as they proceeded down and around the thighhigh mounds of snow.
The goal is to accomplish all of these tasks with style and grace.
It’s a balancing act, and the learning process includes numerous reintroductions to gravity. The youngsters wear helmets and spine protection.
Head coach Jody Proudfit said the team members compete locally to earn points to qualify for the national championships. The winners receive invitations. The rest of the field is filled based on each member’s national ranking.
Mr. Proudfit, a professionally certified ski and snowboard
instructor who works with 24 other coaches from PA Freestyle, said the organization was formed to develop the next generation of skiers and snowboarders.
“We hope to produce an Olympian in the next few years … you don’t always need to live out West to become an Olympic-level skier or snowboarder.”
During a recent weekend at Seven Springs, Mr. Proudfit quietly coached a small group of freestyle skiers as they trained in the half-pipe. It’s a 250-foot-long U-shaped snow structure with walls that are 13 feet high.
At Copper Mountain, the walls of the half-pipe are 22 feet high.
The youngsters, on skis with curved tips and tails, dropped into the pipe, skied up and above one side of the wall, turned in mid-air, and headed toward the other side of the wall. After completing three wall climbs, they headed for the chairlift to catch a ride back to the top.
“My kids love the halfpipe,” said Susan Koeppen of Pittsburgh, mother of sons Baden and Declan, ages 11 and 8, and daughter Reagan, 10. “They’ve been dropping into the pipe since they were 3 years old.”
“In the half-pipe, you can get really high in the air and it feels like you are flying,” Baden said. His sister concurred. Ms. Koeppen and her husband, Jim O’Toole, are lifelong skiers and introduced their children to the sport when they were 2.
Hannah Shaffer, 12, of Stahlstown, placed third in the half-pipe in 2015 when she competed in the national championships at Copper Mountain. She has Type 1 diabetes and wears an insulin pump.
“I love my ski friends,” she said. “I like the coaches and how they encourage me to try things that I’m afraid to do. I love being able to say I’m part of such a great team.”
The Force brothers of Indiana County — Caden, 9, and Chace, 8 — are freestyle skiers who competed at the nationals last year.
“We made the trip to gain some experience,” said their father, Bryan Force. “It really helped them realize that they needed to step up their game to be able to compete against kids that are on the snow 300 days a year.”
Caden and Chace said they like skiing with their friends, learning something new every weekend and traveling with their parents to competitions at Peek’n Peak in New York and Wintergreen Resort in Virginia. Chace also enjoys doing better than his brother “sometimes.”
This year’s nationals will be the second for the Andrews sisters, Abby, 12, and Ella, 10, of Pittsburgh.
Ella placed second in the nation in her age group for rail jam, an event that involves a number of features, including rails and boxes. She likes rails because successfully riding them provides “a sense of accomplishment,” and she likes boxes because “you can do lots of fun tricks on them.”
Abby enjoys the skier cross course because she likes to go fast. She also likes skiing “the really steep stuff.”
In remarks echoed by the other parents, Chris Andrews said:
“The [PA Freestyle] program is an excellent opportunity for kids to advance their skiing while supported by a posse of friends and parents and under the direction of very accomplished coaches.”
Prospective members of PA Freestyle must be age 8 to 18, have a ski or snowboard background, and pass a tryout at the beginning of the season, Mr. Proudfit said. “We assist their overall ski/snowboard skills as well as their freestyle abilities,” he said.
An annual fee of $800 per youngster covers coaching at Seven Springs and regional and national competitions. Team members pay for a season pass at Seven Springs and their equipment and clothing. The program begins in early December and runs through February or early March.
“Seven Springs is a great partner for our program,” Mr. Proudfit said. “They provide us with great access to their facilities. They also work with us to build features that we need for training or competition. The items we put in really benefit the public as well as the team.”
Information: www.PAFreestyle.org and www.usasa.org.