Junior aerialist takes flight
By Jason S. Rufner
A year ago, Ashley Caldwell had never competed in freestyle skiing.
Now, 14-year-old silver medalist is days away from competing for the national championship.
She's only getting started.
Caldwell took the silver in aerials in an 18-and-under competition March 8, finishing first among 13- and 14-year-olds at the 2008 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association (USSA) Freestyle Junior Olympics in Steamboat Springs, Colo.
On March 28, she will be in Park City, Utah, home of the U.S. Ski Team, competing in the U.S. National Championships.
“I'm very excited,” Caldwell said. “Doing aerials is a ton of fun.”
The Hamilton resident winters in the mountains of central New Hampshire to train with coach Wes Preston, a former aerialist on the U.S. World Cup team.
She is also a lifelong gymnast who has competed in that sport's Junior Olympics, having trained at Leesburg's APEX Gymnastics.
It was her parents, of course, who unwittingly set her on a path down the slope.
Caldwell first skied at the age of three, often skiing recreationally during family outings, exhibiting athletic prowess on the slopes.
About a year ago, on a whim, her mother Leslie did a Web search for 'freestyle aerial skiing.' She found Freestyle America, an exclusive training program run by Preston's father, Nick, coach of 1998 Olympic gold medalist Nikki Stone.
The family contacted the Prestons, who invited Ashley to their Waterville Valley, N.H., facility. Preston worked Caldwell out on trampolines and water ramps, and evaluated her aerial abilities. He accepted her into his program.
“My parents have been really influential,” Caldwell said. “My mom really helps me with the emotional side of things, dealing with school and training. My dad helps me with the sports side of things.”
Her dad, Mark Caldwell, spoke of his daughter's potential in aerial skiing.
“It should be a matter of a couple of years that she is competing as part of the U.S. National Team,” he said.
Mr. Caldwell does not speak merely out of parental pride. In addition to the silver medal, Ashley Caldwell is currently the seventh-best aerialist in the country, of any age, and the third-ranked aerialist in the under-18 junior classification, according to the USSA.
She has worked out with the U.S. Ski Team, a select group of six female skiers representing the country's best in each event. She reports that she has a realistic chance of receiving an invite to compete for a spot on that exclusive roster next year.
Beyond, participating in the 2010 Winter Olympics is a definite possibility.
“It's a relaxed sport,” Caldwell said. “There's competition, but you're just trying to beat your personal best."
Accelerating down a snow-covered slope with a wooden lip that hurls a skier airborne 50 feet so she can flip and twist, hopefully landing ski-first, might not be fun or relaxing to most. Having become accustomed to the sensation, Caldwell now enjoys the ride.
“When you're doing back-fulls, you can see the whole ground below you while you're twisting in the air.”
Though Freestyle America does provide for the educational needs of its pupils, Caldwell's schooling is done online in order to be recognized by Loudoun's public school system.
“I really do miss the whole school environment, the kids, the classrooms and everything,” the former Harmony Intermediate School student remarked.
Being far from home at a formative age is somewhat assuaged by the similar circumstances of her fellow trainees at the New Hampshire facility.
“Everyone is really supportive of each other up here,” she reported.
Caldwell had initially thought along the lines of winning a gymnastics scholarship for college. The travel demands on a freestyle aerialist would make attending most colleges logistically difficult.
For now, she is focusing on winning the national championship in a sport in which she has only recently begun earnest competition.
“I feel really good,” she said. “I'm in my first year of doing aerials, and people have told me I'm doing really well.”