Murrysville teen competes at regional ski championships in Vermont

During the recent rash of t-shirt weather, Becket Pottinger has been seeking snow anywhere he can find it. Pottinger, 15, of Murrysville, recently qualified for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s U16 Eastern Championships, taking place this week in Burke, Vt.

Pottinger is one of six teens in Pennsylvania to earn an opportunity and compete against some of the best under-16 skiers on the East Coast. The winners will move on to national competition and could earn a spot on the U.S. Ski Team.

Pottinger spoke with TribLive about this year’s competition, his training an seeking out snowy slopes when Western Pennsylvania is having 70-degree days in February.

This interview has been edited for length.

Q: When we talked last, you’d qualified for the Eastern Championships in the U14 division and were also headed to Vermont — how did that go and what are you able to take away from that experience to help you this time around?

A: The eastern champs were awesome, it was a great thing to be a part of. The level of competition I had up there was more than I have ever experienced but it was a sight to take in. The biggest thing that I would say I took away from that trip was the realization that there is a whole other side to ski racing that I didn’t even know about — it’s awesome.

Q: We recently reported that the warmest winter on record caused some local slopes to close up shop early this season — how has that affected your ability to prepare for Vermont?

A: Luckily for me I was able to get a lot of training in during the early parts of the ski season when we still had a decent amount of snow. It absolutely helped me in the long run because I was able to bring back my skill-set and improve it even more from last year. The unfortunate side to the slopes closing down is obviously that I don’t have as much to train on and I’m not able to put in the time necessary to keep improving, although my (local) ski resort, Boyce Park, came in handy for the end-of-season Tuesday night gates.

Q: You were recently invited to join PARA’s Super G Project — what is it, and what part of it are you most looking forward to?

A: The PARA Super G Project was a training camp held at Okemo Mountain in Vermont, it was four days long with two races on the last day. The biggest thing that I was looking forward to was either meeting the six Olympians that coached the camp or really feeling the speed and skill it takes to ski a clean Super G run. Overall, the camp was a really fun and great experience and I hope to be able to do something similar again.

Q: For kids interested in skiing, what motivated you to start doing it competitively?

A: The biggest thing that had an effect on my decision was the fact that I wanted more than just skiing down runs for fun, I wanted to bring back the excitement and the thrill that I got when I first started skiing. And let me tell you, it did just that!

Q: What do you anticipate as the biggest challenge of this year’s Eastern Championships for you?

A: I think the biggest challenge this year will definitely be the increased terrain difficulty and the level of competition. Most of the kids that are coming to the championships are from academies that focus on ski racing and have it as part of their school days. I think it will be very interesting to see how all of these kids perform compared to us from Pennsylvania.