When native Calgarian Finnian Young was in local ski racing lessons as a youngster he kept getting into trouble for doing too many jumps, which annoyed his coach. Instead of scolding him for his high-flying ways, his mother switched him to freestyle skiing instead.
Now Young, 19, is the newest member of Canada’s NextGen freestyle halfpipe team and his goals in the sport soar as high as he does. “I want to go to the top,” he says. “Olympics, X-Games. I’ve wanted to be a pro-skier since I was four or five years old.”
Young’s beginnings in the sport were typical for the youngest child – mostly chasing his two older brothers down the slopes. “I remember always trying to do their jumps. At the time my parents wanted me to stop doing that,” he laughs.
