Joel Hedrick likes the bumps.

The 20-year-old Fort Collins native is in Winter Park right now, training for the 2017-18 International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup Series, hoping to punch his ticket to the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February.

“It’s always been in the back of my mind,” said Hedrick. “That’s the goal of everything. It’s something that I’ve worked for my whole life, and to see that pay off to get to the highest event they hold would be tremendous. It would be amazing to me.”

Hedrick grew up in Fort Collins, but skied Winter Park Resort from a very young age. His parents were both skiers, and his father, Dan, still works at the resort as a ski patroller. He said his family would leave Fort Collins on Friday nights for Winter Park where they stayed in a trailer before heading back down Sunday nights, skiing whenever possible in between.

“I look back on it now and I think it was just crazy that my parents did that every weekend,” said Hedrick. “It was just insane, but I’m so grateful that my parents did that for me. I got so connected to this sport and I feel like it’s done a lot of good things for me. It’s allowed me now to travel the world.”

In his younger days, Hedrick participated in alpine skiing, but preferred freestyle mogul skiing, finding it more fun and challenging. While he knew that he wanted to be a skier, it wasn’t until he was 14 when the realization that he could be the best.

Like most, Hedrick came up doing regional competitions in Colorado, competing against other local skiers and trying to make a name for himself. It wasn’t long until he started to do so. He was named to the U.S. Developmental Ski Team for the 2014-15 season, and began recording his first big finishes.

He finished fourth in dual moguls at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Valmalenco, Italy in 2014. Later that season he went on to win the Val St. Come Nor-Am Cup in Québec, as well as a Nor-Am Cup win in Killington, Vt. At the end of the 2014-15 season, Hedrick was named to the U.S. Pro Ski Team.

“It was definitely overwhelming at first, just knowing that the hard work actually paid off,” he said.

Since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, Hedrick has tallied five North American Cup wins, took third at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships and finished 3rd overall on the Grand-Prix Tour. Despite the success, Hedrick said he isn’t thrilled with his performances on the world’s biggest stages.

“On the biggest stage I haven’t done as well as I’ve wanted to, but I feel like I’m on track to do a lot of good stuff. Australian Nationals last year there was probably the top ten skiers in the World Cup Circuit there, and I ended up placing second. So that was a huge eye opener for me after my first world cup season. To see that I could be right up there with those guys was awesome.”

At the end of last season Hedrick placed third at the U.S. National Championships in Steamboat, solidifying his place as one of the nation’s best mogul skiers.

He spends his offseason training, and preparing to make his Olympic push during the World Cup Circuit this year. Hedrick said he spends five days a week in the gym strengthening his core and quadriceps. He also travels around to Australia, Canada and Switzerland to train on the slopes.

In December, Hedrick will travel to Ruka, Finland, to compete in the season’s first Olympic qualifier. After that he heads to Thaiwoo, China; Calgary, Canada and Deer Valley, Utah.

“I try my best not to think about it,” said Hedrick, referring to making the Olympic team. “I don’t want to get too wrapped up in results and things like that. But these world cup starts are definitely a good headway into that. So I’m really stoked.”

Today Hedrick lives in Park City, Utah, where he trains with the rest of the U.S. National Ski Team. Though he still considers Winter Park Resort his home mountain, training there occasionally and maintaining a close relationship with the competition center.

In his free time Hedrick enjoys fishing, hunting, mountain biking and anything that allows him to explore the outdoors.

“Winter Park has always backed me through everything, and it’s been a great experience so far,” emphasized Hedrick. “I have the greatest loyalty for the Winter Park Competition Center, which is why I love coming back here, training and seeing all the people.”

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Svea Irving isn’t a typical 15-year-old girl.

The Winter Park native only goes to school for half days and spends her time competing and training everywhere from California to Switzerland. All so she can fight for her chance to become an Olympian.

Irving, the younger sister of U.S. halfpipe pro team member, Birk Irving, is the youngest member of the U.S. Rookie Ski Team and will be competing over the next few months to try and earn her way to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Irving grew up in a skiing family, starting herself when she was just two years old. By the time she had turned 10 years old, she developed a strong interest in the sport, following in her brother’s footsteps.

“My dad’s a ski patroller and my mom’s a teacher, but she was an alpine racer when she grew up,” said Irving. “I think that’s what got me into it is that everyone skis. I first started because of my brother. I used to go and watch his competitions, and one time I told my mom that I wanted to start skiing too. She signed me up with the park and pipe team and that’s when I got started.”

Irving has been skiing competitively for a few years now, while maintaining a busy lifestyle. She’s currently a sophomore at Middle Park High School, but said that she attends school half days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays while also taking classes online.

In the summer she trains at Mount Hood and Mammoth in California, and practices on water ramps in Park City, Utah. In the winter she returns to Colorado where she primarily trains on the halfpipe at Copper Mountain.

All that training is paying off.

Earlier this year Irving took second-place in the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in the halfpipe in Switzerland.

“That was such an amazing experience,” she said. “Last year was the year when I qualified for bigger comps, which got me to compete against harder competition which pushed me a lot. Going to that event was an eye opener. This year I qualified for platinum events like the Dew Tour and the Olympic qualifiers. So I’ll get to compete against those girls in even higher events.”

Irving said that she enjoys traveling to different competitions and getting to be the youngest member of the U.S. Rookie pipe team, but her favorite part of the sport is the thrill.

“I think it’s the scare factor in it,” she said. “It’s really thrilling going off jumps or going through the half pipe throwing these trucks. It just makes you want to do more of it.”

When she’s not skiing Irving said she plays soccer, and enjoys studying science in school. While she’s only 15, Irving said she intends to go to college after she graduates from Middle Park, though skiing will always remain part of the plan.

“I definitely want to go to college, but I’m not sure where I want to be at,” she said. “But I think skiing will always be a big part of my life. Hopefully making the Olympics or the X-Games someday.”

Perhaps things will work out sooner rather than later for Irving.

She begins Olympic qualifiers in December, starting with the Copper Grand Prix, before the Breckenridge Dew Tour, the Aspen Grand Prix and the Mammoth Grand Prix.

Irving will likely need to finish top three in at least two events to make the Olympic team.

“Those are the deciding factors in getting into the Olympics,” she said. “That would be amazing. Those girls are really good and there’s a lot of talent there. But there’s definitely a chance for me to go.”

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