- Age: 10
- Home mountain: Mt. Spokane; dual season passholder at Schweitzer and Mt. Spokane, 2018-2020.
- Favorite runs at Mt. Spokane: Jump Hill, Big 200, Gates Park, Smuggler’s Notch.
- Learned to ski at age 2: Parent-taught, no ski school.
- Loves skiing because: “It’s fun to get out onto the mountain. I like the thrill and adrenaline of going fast. I like skiing in the trees because there’s often lots of powder there. People typically go on the same paths, but Daddy and I go where people haven’t skied and we sometimes find a foot of powder.”
- Ski Buddy: “My favorite person to ski with is my dad because he taught me how to ski and he’s a really good skier. I was 5 years old when he first took me down Whiplash, a double-black diamond run at Schweitzer. I’ve gone down almost all the double-blacks now at Schweitzer.”
- On being the son of a ski patroller: “It’s fun to help out by ‘doing sweep’ with my dad at closing time (at Mt. Spokane), and my family gets to hang out in the patrol lodge.”
- Greatest accomplishment: “Jumping off a big rock, 8 feet, into powder on Siberia at Schweitzer. The second time I went much further, about 12 feet, and did a somersault into the snow and lost both my skis.”
- Why he free skies and doesn’t race: “I enjoy free skiing because I can go on all the runs I like, can go wherever I want on the mountain, and ski with Dad on the weekends. When I ski, I like to relax and not worry about anything.”
- Other recreation: Fly-fishing, soccer, biking, and camping.
- Downtime during winter: Building motorized chairlifts with LEGOS.
- Future ambition: “Get better at jumping off big rocks and go skiing at other big mountains.”
Amy McCaffree is Out There Kids columnist and has been writing for OTO long before motherhood. She learned to ski with her junior high Ski Club, in western Washington. She married a ski patroller and committed to a lifetime of skiing as much as possible, and loves being a Ski Family with their two children.
Photos: (left) Landon at Mt. Spokane with his cousin Matthew Richey. // Photo: Amy McCaffree; (top) Jumping off a rock cliff last ski season. // Photo: Judd McCaffree; (bottom) Landon with his Ski Patrol Dad at the summit of Mt. Spokane during a Friday night sunset. // Photo: Amy McCaffree
Read stories about other Little Rippers from the Inland Northwest.
