Swish, swish, swish, swish.
That’s what Clarkston resident Corey Roberts heard in Colorado as the 14-year-old flew 40 feet through the air, off a 10-foot-high ski jump and spun 900 degrees. In the process of landing backward he shed a ski yet maintained his balance before drawing to a stop in front of a slack jawed crowd of hundreds.
As 1998 Olympic gold medalist Johnny Mosley handed Corey his ski and slapped him five the idea dawned on the Sashabaw Middle School eighth grader how ‘big? he had actually gone.
Most of the kids who competed in the Sports Illustrated for Kids Next Snow Search hailed from skiing havens in Vermont, Colorado, California and British Columbia. Roberts? skills are forged in his back yard, Pine Knob Ski Resort, which in the end may have been his secret weapon.
‘At Pine Knob you have to spin real fast to get around, out there you don’t. So when you get out there, the jump might be more intimidating but, it’s easier to do your trick and make it look good,? said Roberts. ‘They told us before our jumps that if we didn’t make the lip, (forty feet down the hill), we probably wouldn’t walk away.?
The Next Snow search is a competition designed to recognize young skiing talent, featuring contests popularized by the X games and also found in the Winter Olympics,
Roberts? trick launched him into fourth place in the big air competition and on to national television. Having heard that NBC would be broadcasting highlights of the ‘Next Snow Search? on March 5, the Roberts? family tuned in not only see Corey’s 900, but also catch footage of Mosley’s exuberant praise and an interview with a NBC correspondent.
‘I was going to do a 720, but then I saw that everyone was going so big, so I went for the nine. I’m just glad I landed,? said Roberts. ‘It was really cool (meeting Mosley). When I was younger I used to look up to him, back when he did the X games.?
Having started skiing Pine Knob at the age of four, Corey began competing locally at the age of 11. When he was twelve he burst onto the national scene at the USASA nationals.
‘I’d love to ski all year round. The longer the winter the better,? said Roberts.
‘You have to practice a lot to be good at what he does. The tricks he can do are very high up, even Johnny Mosley told the kids ‘When I won my competition, I did a 360 grab.? These kids now are doing 720’s without batting an eye, doing 900’s and now are getting to the point where they are doing 1080’s,? added Carl Roberts, Corey’s father.
Corey finished 40th overall out of a field of 162 entrants. Aside from the big air event, the competition also featured a big mountain top run, slalom race and a slope style course. Corey had the highest score on the slope style course in the preliminaries, but a fall slowed him in the finals.
Since he began competing seriously, Corey has picked up two sponsors, Oakley and Solomon, to help with travel expenses. Currently, he is looking for further sponsorship and has had a 10-minute DVD made of his highlights both from the ‘Next Snow Search? and from Pine Knob Ski Resort.
Anyone interested in sponsoring or contacting Corey Roberts about skiing can reach him at csscc@aol.com.