Slalom skier of the month

Allie Nicholson

WJ - How old were you when you started skiing?

AN - I started skiing somewhat reluctantly at the age of 6 I started to enjoy it when I started getting more involved with the fun of events and getting to go to ski school!

WJ - Where do you ski now?

AN - I ski primarily at Jack Travers’ Sunset Lakes The Travers family has welcomed me with open arms for many years I started skiing there while studying at Florida Southern College In recent years, I have come to think of Jack’s as my home site I love getting to train daily with my friends and HO teammates Surrounding myself with other high-level skiers has pushed me to train harder and has helped my personal growth as a skier

WJ - How many set per week?

AN - Typically, I would say that I do between 5-10 sets per week I enjoy taking 2 sets per day most days with 1-2 rest days per week I typically take the Monday off following an event and sometimes one more day later in the week if needed. I am not one for many days off

WJ - Do you have a favorite course?

AN - I have been to so many amazing lakes during my career This year, I had the pleasure of going to Sci Nautico Trento to ski with Thomas Degasperi The site was absolutely beautiful! For training purposes, Jack’s is by far my favorite!

WJ - Best waterski memory?

AN - The best memory is somewhat hard to narrow down One of my best memories is definitely when I won U21 Worlds in 2017 in Dnipro, Ukraine I would also say running 10 75m (39off) for the first time in Greece would be among my favorite memories

WJ - Favorite tournament ?

AN - My favorite tournament is Kaiafas Battle in Greece! Giorgos Hatzis truly goes above and beyond to make the event amazing for all of the athletes It is the most fun event I have ever been a part of

WJ - Worse memory? You can choose, funny or serious hah!

AN - I have been very fortunate to not have many negative memories from skiing I try not to dwell much on the bad days, which may be why nothing comes to mind immediately If I had to pick something, I would maybe say breaking my ski in an unfortunate crash at San Gervasio last year I had to switch skis mid-tournament I was able to overcome the adversity and still managed to place second in the event That experience reminded me that I am stronger and more adaptable than I had previously thought

WJ - Favorite training partner?

AN - My favorite training partner is my brother and coach, Zane Nicholson. When we ski together, we have a daily competition to see who can get the best practice score Over the years, the handicaps have changed several times, but the rules have remained the same: the second skier has to beat the first skier (no ties), each skier gets one mulligan (free second attempt), the loser has to buy lunch/dinner This friendly competition has kept us pushing each other during our training sets.

WJ - Your ultimate goal?

AN - The obvious answer is to be an Open World Champion/to be the best in the world Beyond that, I want to be an inspiration for all of the young skiers, especially the young girls. I still fall in love with the sport more and more every season, and I hope that I can impart my love for this sport to all of the younger generations

WJ - What is your objectif for this season ?

AN - My goal for this season was to finally complete the 10 75m pass in a tournament I was able to achieve this goal at the 2023 Kaiafas Battle This has been my goal for a while now I ran 4@10 75 for the first time in 2020 and have been pushing to complete the pass every tournament since Now that I have accomplished the goal of running 10 75 for the first time in competition, my goal is to become more consistent with running it in future events.