Young skier a hit in elite circles

Mitch Gilman, a skiing wunderkind from Whitefish recently named as one of the top 20 youth skiers in the world, took first place in the 12- to 15-year-old division of an extreme skiing event in Crested Butte, Colo.

The U.S. Extreme Skiing Championships at Crested Butte last represented the first “big mountain” competition this year for Gilman, who is 13 years old and weighs just 100 pounds.

The event puts skiers on a selected mountain face, leaving them free to pick a line of descent that is scored by judges for difficulty, control, fluidity, technique and aggression.

“There’s always a number of ways to get down, but in order to get a good score you need to take the harder lines,” explained his father, Jeff, who lives in Whitefish.

Gilman did two runs, one on a slope called Little Hourglass that required a 15- to 20-foot cliff drop. That run put him in first place in the 12- to 15-year-old division. The only skier to post a higher score out of 60 competitors was a 17-year-old.

“He took a very aggressive line in both of his runs,” Jeff Gilman said.

Gilman lives with his uncle in Colorado, where he attends the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy, and trains and competes with Ski and Snowboard Club Vail.

“He is living with my brother, which is what makes it possible,” Jeff Gilman said. “There are some kids who have host families, but that would be a really tough choice since he’s only 13.”

Gilman was featured in a recent article in Powder Magazine called “Sonic Youth” that named “The World’s Best 20 Skiers 18 Years Old and Under.”

“A 13-year-old who can throw 1260s in the pipe, Mitch Gilman could be the Tiger Woods prodigy of skiing,” the article said.

“After winning the U.S. Open Halfpipe Juniors, he entered the U.S. Open Halfpipe and was the youngest competitor to do so. Same with the Breckenridge Dew Tour. He has his eyes set on the 2014 Olympics. And with this kid’s skills as the growing standard for halfpipe skiing, the IOC should give skiers their due.”

Jeff Gilman said if the International Olympic Committee decides to open a half pipe event for skiers in four years, that would be his son’s ultimate goal.

Gilman mostly trains and competes in halfpipe and slopestyle events, so the win in a big mountain, extreme event was a good change, his dad said.

He  likely will compete in two more of those events this year.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com