Meet Dylan Roussel. He’s a 15 year old Freshman at Rutland High School in Vermont and he’s the feature of our Ski Racer spotlight this month. Dylan races USSA as a U16 for the Pico Ski Club Alpine Race Team and also for the Rutland High School Ski Team.

USSA racing

This season Dylan had some good USSA results. He qualified for USSA U16 East Championships at Stowe. The Eastern Championships bring the top performers from each of the eight USSA Eastern divisions to compete head to head, hoping to advance to events such as the U16 National Championships. Dylan was one of two athletes to qualify for Easterns from the Pico Ski Club Team, which speaks volumes for such a small team. This Pico ski racer is no stranger to upper level competitions though, two years ago as a U14 he also made it to Easterns and CanAms.

photo credit: Mike Roussel (Facebook)

High School racing

He and the boys from the Rutland High School Team compete in the VPA sanctioned high school series of ski races. This year the boys took 2nd place at Southern District Finals in Slalom and GS. Dylan posted top 10 individual results for both disciplines. Consequently, the team also took 2nd overall at Vermont State Championships at the Middlebury Snow Bowl. Most noteworthy, Dylan and his older brother Austin got to take the podium together there (Dylan 3rd, Austin 1st).

Training

Dylan started ski racing at 6 years old.  He races because he loves to go fast and his favorite event is Giant Slalom. In fall and winter he trains with the Pico Ski Club. During the summer he cross trains, runs and rides his road and mountain bikes. In the past he has been to summer ski camp at Mt Hood with Killington Mountain School and has attended Stowe Dryland Ski Camp.

In addition to ski racing, Dylan runs cross country and plays tennis for Rutland High School and rides bikes for fun. Dylan is also part of Team X , a group of “sendy and inspired” ski racers from the heart of Vermont with a penchant for posting their adventures on Instagram.

What he has learned from ski racing

Dylan has learned many things from ski racing. Mostly, he says, “that it’s time consuming”. It has taught him how to balance (and sometimes juggle!) many things and manage his time wisely. He says it has also enabled him to stay very active in the winter and make a lot of friends.

What does Dylan like most about ski racing? He likes the adventure of traveling to new places, meeting new people and making new ski racing friends. We could not agree more, Dylan Roussel! Keep up the good work.

Editors note: Ski racing photo credit – Tom Martin, Pico Ski Club.