Grade: 9
Sport: Freestyle Skiing

“Ever since he was little, every time we went skiing he’d always end up wandering off into the trees to find jumps he could go off of,” Richard Thomas’ sister, Emma, recalls.

Richard Thomas is a Freshman at Orono High School and a man of few words, but in no means a man of few tricks. Richard slopestyle skis which involves skiing down a hill and hitting a series of jumps and metal rails. The judges not only grade you on your ability to do the tricks but how difficult the tricks off of these jumps and rails are.

Some kids are sitting with toys in their mouths at three years old, but Thomas has been skiing since then. He joined a ski racing team in kindergarten and there’s no sign of stopping.
“I think that the best way to get better in this sport, is to ski as many days as possible during the ski season, and to work hard during practice. I try to ski five or six days per week during the season, and I do trampoline training three to four days per week in the off season,” Thomas said.

Richard said, “I immediately loved Freeskiing, but it was very challenging making lots of practices, because I was also playing hockey. I did both winter sports for many years, then when I was in 6th grade I decided that I wanted to focus on skiing for my winter sport.”

He hit the ground running and worked hard to get better. When he ski raced his practices were at Hyland Hills in Bloomington. Thomas said, “I always wanted to get to practice early, and stay late after practice, so that I could ski the jumps and rails in the terrain park.”

“After 2 years of being on the racing team, I found out that there was a team at Hyland Hills, Nybora Freeskiing, that all they did was ski the terrain park. I knew this is what I wanted to do, and I asked my Dad to sign me up for that team when I was in 2nd grade,” Thomas said.

Second grade introduces kids to commas, reading a clock, and skiing off of slopes and rails? Maybe not, but dedication is a powerful thing and even a second grader can know what they want.

Participating in a sport that the United States Ski Team Website refers to as a, “Dynamic sport featuring some of the most innovative events and highest-flying tricks in the world,” would require some practice. Advancing in slopestyle skiing requires an extreme amount of discipline and practicing six days out of the week, traveling around the country, and being invited to practice at the Olympic Development Camp during the summer is just that.

Thomas is the last to tell you about his skiing and the first to make you laugh. Emma Thomas said, “I’m so proud of Richard because he always sees the best in things. Even though his freestyle skiing causes him a great deal of stress by missing a lot of school and the pressure to learn new and complicated tricks, he is by far and away the happiest kid I know. He never fails to put a smile on my face.”

Passion is infectious and Richard’s sister got incredibly excited when talking about her brother skiing. Emma said, “I can’t imagine a time in Richard’s life where he won’t be skiing,” She has high hopes for Richard and could not express how proud she is of how hard he works.

With Thomas’ love for skiing becoming an intense year round season, he does face some issues. “One of the biggest challenges that I now have with skiing, is that a lot of my competitions and training are out of town in mountain states. A lot of the kids that I compete against live in mountain towns, or go to ski academies, where their school program is set up around their ski training and competition schedule.”

Traveling has made it harder to find a balance, but Thomas was quick to bring up how big of a help Orono has been. Thomas said, “Orono school has been great to me, in helping me stay in school at Orono while having so much travel out of town for competitions and training, but it is very challenging for me to miss so much school. Many people have told my parents and I, that it’s time for me to move out of state to pursue my skiing, but I’m trying to become a professional skier, while still being able to graduate from Orono High School.”

Richard may have to work harder at finding a balance but he does have some practice facing obstacles. He continues to go to school and hang out with his friends but has not lost sight of what he is working so hard for.

Thomas has won his age group for the last two seasons in the U.S. Ski Association National Junior Championships for Slopestyle skiing. In January, at The Rev Tour’s Slopestyle event, which is the minor leagues for professional Freeskiing, Richard finished in 3rd place. These accomplishments are huge for Thomas and he has goals of professional skiing and maybe going to the Olympics, but is aware of how hard that really is.

Richard’s parents are extremely supportive of Richard. “Richard’s Mom and I have been very supportive of him pursuing Freeskiing, because we know how much he loves it, and how good he is at it, but it is very challenging as a parent. It is potentially a very dangerous sport,” Thomas’ dad said, “Watching your kid hit 80 foot jumps while doing multiple flips and twists in the air, is super intense.”

Richard’s parents, Pete and Nicole Thomas, make sure Richard is doing everything with a good head on his shoulders and being smart about what he’s doing. They emphasize Richard doing safe tricks and doing what he is trained for. Mr. Thomas expressed how important it is to keep Richard healthy, but continue to support Richard doing the difficult tricks he loves, effortlessly.

Mr. Thomas recalls, “The time that I was most proud of Richard in skiing is probably when one of the Olympic coaches told me that they really liked Richard because he was such a great skier, but also a quiet and humble kid.”

Grade: 12
Sport: Alpine Skiing

Rosie Hust is a senior who is seldom seen in the hallways considering the amount of school she misses for her wild ski racing schedule. Competing at a high level, against women from all over North America, she proves her skill and talent by winning and placing in many of these races.

Coming from a family of ski instructors, Rosie was put on skis from the very beginning of her life. She began skiing NASTAR races with her older brother when she was just four years old. From there her skiing career began to grow and become more competitive. At age 6, she joined the Sports Hut team and began racing against girls from different clubs. Now, Hust calls the small ski area of Buck Hill home, practicing there almost every night during the winter.

“As a teammate, Rosie is a friendly competitor, and we can work hard at practices and push each other, but still be very good friends and not take it too seriously,” Buck Hill teammate Nellie Ide said.

As part of the Buck Hill team, Hust is able to compete in NorAm races; these are races that individuals must qualify for by having a low number of points compared to the other competitors. The points system in ski racing is based on results from races and their competitors; the best ski racers have the lowest number of points. NorAms include some of the fastest women from all over North America. This year, Hust competed in a NorAm at the Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont and placed an outstanding 18th place.

She also has many FIS wins this year including the Atmore Memorial race at Spirit Mountain in Duluth and the Steamboat Holiday Classic in Colorado. FIS is a circuit of ski racing that includes many fast ski racers and difficult competition. These races include fierce competitors, and it is a prodigious accomplishment to win one of these races.

Hust has had many successes throughout her years on the high school team as well. She has won the section meet five out of six times, and placed in the top five at state five years in a row; she has had three second place finishes, one third place and one fifth place.

“In the starting gate I am nervous, but when I kick out of the gate everything slows in my mind. I become really aware of what my body is doing and I focus on trying to get the most out of every turn,” Hust said, “then I cross the finish line and black out on the whole thing.”

Since the ski runs are not very long, especially in Minnesota, every hundredth of a second counts. The hours spent at practice pay off when the race results come down to a mere fraction of a second.

“I have taken away many valuable lessons from Rosie, the most important one being the value of hard work,” junior teammate Jane Guidera said.

Ski racing can also bring many challenges. It takes constant practice to be able to make the skis go even a little bit faster down the hill. Hust has proven that practice and determination will pay off in the end, as she is one of the fastest ski racers in the state.

“It’s a complicated sport,” Hust said, “you have to put a lot of effort in to get speed out of your turn and not many people understand that.”

Even though the snow is here for only a few months throughout the year, Hust continues to train on and off the ski hill during the entire year.

“In the offseason, I like to slack line and mountain bike because they help with endurance and balance. I also play lacrosse for cross training,” Hust said.

Hust’s ski career will not stop after high school. She will continue ski racing at Colby College. The small liberal arts college in Maine that has one of the best Division 1 ski racing programs in the country, and Rosie will be one of the top slalom skiers on the women’s team.

“My major goal is to smile and have fun everyday that I am on skis,” Hust said.