- Skier – Age: 5
- Home mountain: 49˚ North.
- Favorite run: Hobbit Forest
- Learned to ski at age 1.5: Parent-taught. First day on skis at 1½ years old; first ski full season at age 2, going 1-2 times a week throughout the season. “We don’t have our kids in lessons [yet], because we both have a deep history in ski education,” says Oliver’s dad, Nate, who formerly worked as assistant director of 49’s ski school and director of training for Stevens Pass. (Ollie’s 2-year-old sister started skiing last season.) Ollie’s mom, Carrie, was a ski instructor at 49. “I think going forward we’ll get Ollie involved with instruction from other people.”
- Enjoys skiing because: “It’s on snow and I like it. I like going through the forest.”
- Ski buddies: Uncle Reuben and friends Takoda, Maddi and Fiona, Mason, Caleb, and his sister, Maple.
- Greatest accomplishment: “Going down from the top of the mountain,” says Oliver. Dad says, “I’m really proud of how he’s very methodical. He takes risks but he’s very calculated…as he makes his way down the mountain. [Last spring] he just started skiing by himself (without support), top to bottom, on all green runs. And he can handle some blue runs.”
- Most memorable ski day for Dad last spring: “Ollie had taken a big fall and was pretty rattled. But he [got up and] skied the run, which was a little out of his comfort zone, and then he kept going after it again, after another lift ride. He had determination even though it was hard—and probably above his skill level—rising to the challenge and learning on the slope, applying what he knew to skiing on more difficult terrain.”
- Other recreation: Swimming, climbing, bike-riding, hiking, exploring nature.
- Future ambition: “I want to go off very, very big jumps!”
Photos courtesy Nate Peck.
