ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: APRIL 2007
ALEX SCHLOPY, NEW STAR OF FREERIDE
A few months ago, Alex won the Vermont Open, a freeride palooza of slopestyle and pipe for skiers and snowboarders. He won on slopestyle alone, because he doesn't do pipe. Then he went to the Aspen Open, held on the gnarly X-Games course. Big names were there: Colby West, who was third in the X-Games, won the comp. Alexis GodBout was second. And Alex Schlopy, a new face and the youngest competitor at 14 years old, came in fifth.
"It shocked a lot of people when I came in fifth, but I was more shocked than anyone," he said.
That's when sponsors came calling. Now the Park City skier is decked out like the biggest stars on the U. S. ski team, with Spyder outerwear, Dynastar skis, Lange boots and Level gloves. To get an idea of where this new kid on the block is at careerwise, he's currently trying to decide which goggle offer he will accept; Scott or Spy.
For an idea of where he's at talentwise, how's this: Schlopy actually made the halfpipe semis at Aspen with his huge airs, but withdrew from the finals because he has not yet trained in the pipe, or even skied it much.
"But I'm going to work on halfpipe. I like slopestyle. What I do is trick skiing, also known as new school. I don't really have any 'best' tricks, I have favorite tricks," Schlopy said.
His best fave is a switch 720 with different grabs, but he also likes a forward 540 and nines. He's a total pro at bios, which is a forward set cork, and also likes big mountain work.
Blond, good looking and laid back in a likable way, he has the potential to be the athlete that brings his sport into the mainstream, like Nadia Comaneci did for gymnastics or Lance Armstrong did for cycling.
Alex started skiing when he was two years old, brought to the slopes by an Olympian---his mother, Holly Flanders. She was the first American to win a World Cup downhill. But she is not the only elite skier in the family; cousin Erik Schlopy is a three-time Olympian, currently on the U. S. ski team and training for the 2010 Games.
Freeride, however, is still a questionmark, though Alex thinks it will be on the U. S. ski team someday. "It's an exciting sport and people like to watch it," he says. It is also the fastest growing segment of skiing.
Meanwhile, Alex doesn't have the USSA benefit of getting on-snow training in summer. He crosstrains at skateparks, and works out at the Olympic Park in Park City, going off the kickers and landing in the pool.
The trampoline in his back yard is done for, however. Years of jumping from the upstairs deck onto the tramp 20 feet down and 20 feet away; plus jumping from the tramp up to the edge of the fence and balancing there, evidently put too much strain on it. The springs are snapping and breaking.
Alex laughs, "I landed and one snapped and hit my leg. Usually the springs shoot off into the neighbor's yard, but this one hit me and my leg was bleeding pretty good. I thought it was kind of funny."
But there won't be too much fun time now for training; these are school days for Alex. He is going to the Winter School, where serious athletes attend class in spring and summer so they have fall and winter free to compete.
You can check Alex out to see why buzz is building about the boy; his videos are on YouTube, Brightcove.com, and Newschoolers.com. "Everyone should go to Newschoolers, it's sick," he says.
So is Schlopy's short film, which Adventuresportsweekly.com will be posting onsite soon.