FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — When you’re hitting top speeds before you can even drive, it means sliding on your favorite mode of mountain transportation as soon as you can walk, just like snowboarder Colin Hunter.
“I started snowboarding when I was 3," Hunter said. "That was like the first time I ever went snowboarding.”
Hunter is part of the Flagstaff Ski and Snowboard Team, which trains at Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort, just hours away from the Valley desert.
Some team members are still mastering reading, while flying down the mountain at speeds faster than most high school graduates. And while sharing momentum, this team also shares one dream.
Some hope to make it all of the way to the Olympics someday.
It’s an inherited love for sport from the top down, with coaches like Charlie Boyer, the alpine director with the team
“A lot of the coaches I coach with now, they grew up on the team with me and they’re still skiing and we’re all still involved with this program," Boyer said. "That’s a really cool thing to see and be a part of.”
There are nearly 200 athletes on the team, who are fierce competitors never frozen by fear. And there are as many abilities in this group as their six to 18 age range.
The athletes fly through different races as one, many of them hoping this team leads them to the worldwide stage.
There are competitions for skiers and snowboarders throughout February and March at Arizona Snowbowl.
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