The Winter Olympics are kicking off this week, and one Hoosier is heading back to the world stage in Italy. Southern Indiana native Nick Goepper has qualified for his fourth career Winter Olympics.
Goepper already holds three Olympic medals from slopestyle competition and secured his place on Team USA earlier this month by winning the freeski halfpipe World Cup in Calgary.
LPM's Ayisha Jaffer spoke with Goepper about how growing up skiing in Indiana shaped his career, what pulled him out of retirement, and why he made the rare switch to freeski halfpipe.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Ayisha Jaffer: Can you start by explaining what the freeski halfpipe is?
Nick Goepper: It's the thing that Tony Hawk does, but we do it on skis. The halfpipe is a facility like you might find in a skate park. It's got two vertical quarter pipes on each side, and you ski down the slope, go up one side, come down, and then go up the other side and come down. And then you perform aerial tricks and try to compose a run that is impressive to the judges.
AJ: We were just talking before that you have been to the Louisville skate park. Is the halfpipe something you could ever practice there?
NG: It's funny you asked that, because I have actually skied in the Louisville skate park after the 2014 Olympics. It snowed a bunch, and we went down there and dropped into the quarter pipes on skis which was very fun.
You could practice it. You just have to do it on rollerblades or a skateboard or a BMX bike because the transitions and ramps in skate parks are very similar to the ones that we have on snow, terrain parks and also in the halfpipes.
AJ: You retired a few years ago from the Games after Beijing. What was it that made you want to come back?
NG: I love a challenge, and I love another mountain to climb, but it has to be something I love, and I think I can win at. And halfpipe was similar, but different than slopestyle — the discipline I competed in for the last 10 years.
And also I just got bored. I'll be completely honest, I feel like I reached the end of the road with my former discipline, but I still loved something about this, and I wanted to just keep doing it. And halfpipe was that answer.
AJ: You mentioned the halfpipe reminded you of where you got your start at Perfect North Slopes in Lawrenceburg, where you grew up. This, of course, is different from the more mountainous terrains of some of your competitors. How did these slopes and growing up skiing in Southern Indiana shape your path?
NG: A competitive halfpipe is roughly the size of where I learned how to ski at Perfect North Slopes. If you get a fast lap back at the top, then you can do so many laps on this small area, all in one day, learning how to ski in Indiana.
It's a very intimate hometown, neighborhood experience. And also, we ski at night. In Indiana, the hills are so small that you can add flood lights. So from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. you can get a 12-hour day in if you really wanted to. And if you do that for a 12-week winter, that's a lot of repetition and a lot of vertical feet, and that just adds up over time.
From age five, when I learned to 15, when eventually I moved out, I got a lot of practice.
AJ: Looking toward Milan, you've hinted at a new trick — the switch double misty 1260 — that's never been done in the halfpipe. What can you tell us about this trick?
NG: It's one of those tricks that's been done in slopestyle on the jumps, but it's never been done in the halfpipe. I currently do just a single flip version of it, so I do a 900, but this one would be a double flip, so it'd be two flips, and it'd be one more so 1260.
We're always trying to progress these tricks — do things that have never been done, and show something new to the world. Ultimately put your stamp on it and leave a legacy. So I really want to do that.
AJ: What are you most excited about heading into this next chapter?
NG: At these contests, knowing that I can give my family and friends a reason to come together and have a good time and have camaraderie is really special.
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