Senior Ryan Bozeman and freshman Skyler Maihles have been snowboarding since elementary school and have decided to make it a little bit more than a hobby.  Both students are members of the Wintergreen Free Ride Team and travel to Wintergreen close to every weekend to hit the slopes with their private coaches.

With tons of hard work and training, they recently geared up to compete for the #1 spot in the country at the United States of America Snowboarding Association National Championship (USASA). Although competitions are usually held every few weekends, the USASA National Championship only comes once a year. This year, the competition was held in Copper Mountain, Colorado.

“My biggest success in the snowboarding world so far is making it to nationals,” Maihles said.

According to Bozeman and Maihles, the competition was intense.

Bozeman, however, was able to pull a 9th place distinction in a field of 60 snowboarders in the Slope-style category.