Category : Winter

Junior Hannah Green learns to ski at Mammoth mountain when she was only three years old.

Winter comes closer each day as students enjoy spending the occasional vacation in the mountains. Mammoth, a popular place for snowboarders and skiers, serves as more than a vacation spot for junior Hannah Green, who has been skiing competitively for three years.

Skiing since she was just three years old, Hannah Green drives up to Mammoth every other weekend to practice. The car ride is a fair amount of time to finish some schoolwork.

“Mammoth is my home away from home,” adds Green.

She explains her usual routine on the slopes which includes, “Slalom, GS, super GS, downhill gate training, timed runs and free skiing. The goal is to improve my overall skiing and achieve a faster time. A majority of my practice time is spent primarily working on slalom skiing and GS skiing.”

Slalom involves tall pole-like gates to practice tighter turns, and GS involves panels. GS consists of larger turns and occurs at a quicker speed. The drills work on edges, alignment, precision and speed.

Though skiing is largely an individual sport, Green still considers skiing to be a team sport since she travels and practices with her teammates.

Green further explains, “We watch each other ski so we also achieve a better understanding and improve on our technique. We can see what is being done right and what is working as well as areas of improvement.”

At Mammoth mountain, junior Hannah Green takes lessons with her ski instructors, later recommending her to join the competitive ski team.

“Our coaches also record us on video so that we can see how we ski. Visually seeing what needs to be improved is very helpful for me, because it allows me a better understanding of the feedback given by the coaches.”

Green competes in a team that consists of many locals of Mammoth mountain as well as others who travel up to the mountain like her. Most of her teammates have been participating and racing for over 10 years.

Being a Southern Californian, Hannah Green experiences winter chill far more than the average Titan, as she humbly comments, “Skiing is still just my extracurricular activity unlike most who are training for the Olympics.”