Curtis Wheeler, an up and coming East Coast racer takes time to talk with us about his ski racing journey. We learned that Curtis isn't just racing on snow in the Northeast Kingdom, but also competing in enduro races. 

Q: So where did you grow up skiing?

A: I grew up skiing many places in New England; Burke, Cannon, Saddleback, Sugarloaf and Sunday River... In fact at the Bear Den, in the mid-burke lodge the pole in the middle is my height chart since I was 3.

Q: What is your favorite discipline and why?

A: I don’t really have a favorite discipline, but if I had to choose it probably would be SL but I enjoy them all.

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?

A: I know people say that you should plan you future out and they may be right or maybe not but I like to go day by day and focus on the now and not stress your self out or overthink the future, so I’m not sure where I’ll be I just live day by day.

Q: What is one fun fact that many friends, teammates, and coaches don't know about you?

A: I grew up on a cranberry farm in Plymouth County Massachusetts. I lived there until I was 8 years old. In those years I learned what hard work was. I would help with the harvest ever fall.

Q: If you could give yourself one piece of advice when you first started racing what would it be?

A: I would probably have said that the best coach is yourself and after every run think about what you can focus on and think about it before any run you do... then think if you worked on what you were trying to execute.

Q: If you were not a ski racer what sport do you think you would pursue instead?

A: In the summer I love to mountain bike, I do some enduro races, I’m on a bike team called IdeRide it’s a local bike team in East Burke and we all love to bike and just have a fun time either we go out for a nighty ride or at a race it’s always a good time.

Q: Which World Cup race would you want to start in the most?

A: I’d like to race a Kitzbuhel SL. It’s a very legendary race trail and it would be crazy to do a SL down it.

Q: Can you walk us through your pre-race routine and describe how you mentally prepare?

A: I like to listen to music and stretch, and do some drills before my race run and try to think about the race too much just focus on good skiing.

 

April 21, 2020

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