Thousands of kids competed all over the country last ski season, with goals of trying to make it to Nationals. For my age group, only about 100 kids made it to Nationals, and only 20 made it to the finals. I was among them. 

Nationals are hosted at Copper Mountain in Colorado. I flew out there with my dad and met with the Killington Mountain School (KMS) when we arrived. Although I don't attend KMS, the coaches there always help me out at competitions.

I compete in freestyle skiing. That means I hit big jumps, fly through the air, and grind rails like a skateboarder. Rail Jam is my main event, which is a setup of about 5-8 rails and there is a 25 minute time to compete for qualifiers. 

Once qualifiers end, finals are shortly after and lasts for a 20 minute jam session. The objective is to hit as many rails, and land as many tricks as possible during that time, and you have to hike up the mountain in between each run.

We practice on the course for about 2-3 days before the competition. When it came to the day of the competition, I was filled with both nervousness and excitement. 

Standing at the top of the course, my coach talked to me about what tricks I would do during the qualifiers. We decided that I would keep it safe and stick to what I know I will land. I head down to the rail, jump on it sideways, do a 360 on the rail, and spin off of the rail and land backwards. The first trick was landed.

Qualifiers went very well and I was easily able to make it to the finals. While waiting for my finals to start, I stood with my friends watching the other events go on. 

Come finals time, it is now very dark and the course is under lights. Since it is now night time, it is colder and the snow is icy and hard like concrete. This makes it much more difficult to ski on, but I was still confident. My coach gives me a pep talk before I drop in for my run. I turn up my music, get in the right headspace, block out all the noises from the crowd, and lock into the course. 

I give my coach a fist bump and drop towards the first rail. I start with a bigger trick for finals because I know the competition is much better. I land it perfectly, and head back up to the top. My next few runs did not go as well, with me only landing 1 or 2 more good tricks.

Now it's time for awards. Being slightly disappointed in how I did, I was still sure that I placed relatively well. I got 5th place, which is not awful, but I know I could have done better. 

Currently I have to train harder for next year so I can improve. In the off season I use a trampoline to practice tricks and workout to keep my body healthy.

To get to Nationals, I have to train and compete throughout the season. I compete all over the East Coast and my main place of training is Killington Mountain. During winter, every weekend a few buddies and I ski together and push one another to improve our abilities. Coach Chuck Lewis (one of my close friends) is who I ski with a lot. He has the label of coach in front of his name because he helps so many people with tricks that they may struggle with.

My goal for this season is to place higher than 5th place.