COMPETiTiVE SKiERS HiT THE SLOPES

BY NATALIE GYDE Sta Reporter

For most families, ski trips mean renting equipment, speeding down blue and green runs and drinking hot cocoa. But for a number of students at Burlingame who ski competitively, the sport demands intense travel, training and competition each year.

Junior Evan Kim, for instance, competes for the Kirkwood ski team in free-ride competitions — performed on natural, un-groomed terrain — and races every two or three weeks. To compete, he travels to South Lake Tahoe every weekend throughout the winter.

“I just want to go to the next level,” Kim said. “If you’re just skiing for fun, there’s, like, a maximum that you can reach but if you’re competing, everyone’s pushing each other to go further.”

Kim began skiing at age 4 because his father, an avid snowboarder, needed a valid excuse to go to Lake Tahoe’s slopes. He also followed in the footsteps of his older friends who participated in free-ride skiing.

Freshman Lila Edmondson is a competitive skier as well, participating in cross-ski events where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across relatively at terrain. Just like Kim, Edmondson and her family drive up to Tahoe every weekend.

“[Before I race] I’m crazy nervous. It’s a lot of adrenaline, just trying to focus my mind on the race and it’s di cult to focus on yourself rather than your competition,” Edmondson said.

On the rare day without trafc, it takes about three and a half hours to reach South Lake Tahoe from Burlingame. Edmondson and Kim typically make the trip twice in three days, driving up on Friday nights, spending the next two days on the slopes and returning late on Sundays.

“It’s a really big thing for my family that we stay together,” Edmondson said. “I commit all of my weekends [to skiing]. And for locals, it’s just easier to commit to it.” e constant travel takes a toll academically, as it is easy to lose studying time when driving or competing all weekend.

“I go to Nationals every year, so that’s like a week-long trip. Sometimes I have to miss school because you have training days leading up to it and then the race, and I’ll probably miss that Friday,” Edmondson said.

Edmondson is also a goalie for the girls’ varsity soccer team, and skiing can con ict with her team’s schedule.

“I do competitions out of state sometimes. So for soccer, I miss weekend games,” Edmondson said. “It’s di cult to make up all the work.”

When away from home all weekend, both Edmondson and Kim also nd themselves missing out on many social activities.

“[ e hardest part is] just leaving my friends. I feel so bad because I just feel le out since I’m not going to things, but it’s my choice to leave, obviously,” on ski teams make the journey and training all worth it. community in that, everyone’s working to make you better,” Edmonson said. ically demanding sport that re quires more than just braving the cold and plowing through powder. Edmondson also works out o the slopes in order to stay in optimal form.

Kim said.

“You have to stay in a di cult position for a really long time,” Edmondson said. “I go up every weekend to train and I do Woodward which is a trampoline park and do the pump track as well as weightli ing.”

While competitive skiing is not as popular as soccer, basketball, volleyball or other more accessible sports, it requires ad- ditional time, e ort and dedication. But for Kim, that hard work always pays o

“[Going through the powder] you just feel like you’re oating,” Kim said. “ ere are so many negatives that come with [skiing]. But just that feeling just takes it all away and it’s just amazing.”