Meet Andre Moreno Hamm, an elite skier who aims to represent Costa Rica at the 2018 South Korea Winter Olympics.

A Costa Rican skier?

That’s right. This 20-year-old slope style skier for the Costa Rican Olympic Committee will embark on the World Cup circuit in January to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Raised in Boulder, Colorado, Andre divides his time between studying computer science and math part-time at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah; training for competitions; and saving money for his upcoming Olympic training.

When he can find the time, he loves visiting his mother’s side of the family in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, hiking, and hanging out with friends and family in Colorado.

The Costa Rica Star News spoke with Andre via Skype while he enjoyed a hot summer evening on his family’s back porch in Boulder, Colorado.

Wendy Anders, Costa Rica Star News: Tell me about your first time skiing:

Andre Moreno Hamm: Well, I don’t remember it. They tell me when I was four they took me to the local hill and put me on some skis.

Soon after that we started skiing as a family at Breckenridge (Colorado). And then my parents got together with some friends and they got a place to rent at Winter Park (Colorado), so we could go every weekend.

Winter Park is where I started competing when I was 14. My first coach, Jeremy Livingston, taught me the fundamentals and traveled with me to my first events.

My parents were big ultimate frisbee players, and I think I got my competitiveness from them.

W: So, what is slope style skiing? 

A: The discipline consists of a course of jumps and rails.

There is no regulation course. But each run has to have three rail features on handrails and tubes you slide on and do tricks on and off; and three jumps which are off of 60 to 80 foot tables.

You are judged on overall flow and impression. Style is important and so is the difficulty of the tricks. But fluidity is the most important, the way it looks.

What is important are the grabs in the jumps, grabbing your skis — there are different types of grabs, and this is what makes the run technically difficult. Scores are given immediately after each run, with judges deliberating along themselves for about 20-30 seconds.

Slope style skiing is all about looking cool.

W: What are the courses like?

A: They are not terribly steep. Just enough so you can get the speed you need. They use lots of snow to shape the jumps.  A course is between 200 and 500 meters, you can see the whole thing right in front of you when you are watching.

W: And what about the competitions? Do you prepare a set routine, or can you change at the last minute?

In the first heats, everyone gets two runs, and they take your best score. The top five from each heat are selected for another round.

In some qualifying heats you can get up to three runs, but no more.

I don’t change at last minute. I stick to my routine as this gives me the highest probability of landing.

The only exception is if I land a good score on my first run, and I want to try to improve it — I will change it up or do a harder trick.

Every feature and trick is independent, and you can do something completely different every time, on each run.

W: What sport can you compare it to? How would you try to explain it to a Costa Rican who has never seen snow?

A: The culture is like surfing, but I think it compares closest to gymnastics with the flipping, and because it’s a style-oriented discipline. You can’t be rigid; it’s all about fluidity. You might compare it to diving, and it is somewhat like biking in some regards.

W: So, how does it feel that you might represent Costa Rica at the Olympic Games?

A: I have been going to Costa Rica all my life, ever since I was a baby. It’s part of who I am — my family and my love for them and the way of life. That’s had a big impact on me.

For me it’s an opportunity to showcase the Costa Rican attitude, and also to get people excited about an athlete in a high intensity sport. It’s unusual for Costa Ricans to have an athlete compete in a winter sport that attracts a lot of viewers.

I hope that — my mom was pretty poor when she grew up, she worked really hard as a student, and that has extended through to me, her hard work has gone somewhere — that in impoverished places with little opportunities, I hope that people can see that it is possible to escape and do what you want to do.

I love the country and love spending time there. This is a way I can give back.

I’m really excited about slope because it is a viewer sport, a spectator sport, and it has a lot of potential for excitement.

W: How do you train and stay prepared in the summer months?

A: Basically everything I do is in some way related to my decision to try for the Olympics.

In the summer I run, bike, hike, do yoga —  for the mental aspect and flexibility. I go to the gym few times a week to work specific muscle groups. There is an advantage to staying in shape in that it helps you prevent injuries. Skiing you have lots of falls with a lot of impact. Being flexible and strong helps you not get injured during falls. I’ve never been injured, luckily, but have taken a lot of falls.

Slope style is less physically demanding than racing or cross country skiing; it’s technical and mental.

I love being back in Colorado with friends and family, but I am really focused on saving money for all the upcoming World Cup trips.

W: So, how does one qualify for the Olympics in skiing in Costa Rica?

A: Well, since there is no Costa Rican ski team, the Costa Rican Olympic Committee sponsors me and they register me for all my qualifying competitions. They are really focused on the summer games right now, of course, but we are in touch by email.

Basically, I needed to get enough points in high level competitions for the International Ski Federation to invite me to the World Cup circuit. I did this around March. They don’t send out invitations to the World Cup until around November though.

There are ten World Cup competitions before the Olympic Games; those start in January (2017). I need to be in the top 30-40 in the World Cup Competitions to qualify for the Olympics.

I’ve competed on the Mammoth, California World Cup course before, but not the others. It’s not the size of the course, it’s the quality of it that matters. The World Cup courses are really well built to maximize performance conditions. The jumps are really well designed.

W: What makes a good Slope Stye Skier? Does it have to do with a certain physique or physical condition?

A: It’s really all about air awareness.

There are some skiers who are 5 feet tall, and some over 6 feet. I’m 5’7”, and not extremely skinny.

It has to do with coordination; how you control your body.

I did gymnastics for eight years before I started skiing, and this really helped my body awareness. The flipping, and learning about controlling my body. Trampolining is also really good for air awareness.

W: What is your best trick?

A: My best trick right now is left double cork 1260. It is a jump trick, it is an off-axis, 1260-degree spin with two flips.

W: Whoa! And, what is the hardest part of your discipline for you?

A: The hardest part for me is the mental aspect.

If you are doing a lot of harder tricks, travelling 80 feet in the air, and doing multiple flips and spins — it’s kind of crazy and scary. You have to be confident with your abilities and get past your fears.

Sometimes the weather is horrible and you can hardly see and can barely get over jumps. You have to push yourself to your best without getting injured. You need a strong mental attitude, and to know yourself and your limits.

W: Have you ever come to your limit?

A: I have had some competitions where I have struggled mentally and don’t want to be there, and want the day to be over. That was one thing I worked on this past season: my mental attitude. And it showed in my skiing. It was amazing to me how much I could achieve with a positive and calm mindset, and by telling myself I could do it.

A few years ago when I started big competitions, I fell before one run and kneed my face. I was terrified before my run. The conditions were really bad, icy, you couldn’t see. I wasn’t ready to go.

At the first big competitions I got to see what the competitive field was like. I just threw myself in there.

W: Do you think there is a way to be coached through this initiation of starting big competitions, or is it a rite of passage you just have to go through?

A: It’s a rite of passage. Anyone at any given level will be scared and unprepared at one point in their career. You have to hit these jumps. You have to find how you like to compete. You have to learn how you do your routine during a competition. It comes with experience.

At each course, before a competition you have a day or two to train, and a lot of the times you do the tricks that best flow with the course. The day before I lay in three or four runs. Then I stop to rest. I don’t want to over exert or get hurt before I compete.

On the day of, you usually get three or four runs before you compete. There are a lot of approaches to competing. Some people are really nervous, some are joking and light hearted.

Slope style is friendly sport. At most competitions people are supportive and there is a lot of camaraderie. People are happy if someone has a good run. It can be stressful but only if you make it stressful.

There are usually 25 people in a heat and there is a person getting you in line before the run. Sometimes that waiting period can throw off my concentration. I take time to myself to breathe and center. I do talk to friends a little, but try to stay focused. I try to be concentrated, but not nervous; light-hearted and in the moment, not overly worried about the result. You perform better if you don’t feel under stress, and are concentrated on your own performance.

W: When did you decide to go for the Olympics?

A: I watched (on TV) the last winter olympics, in Sochi, Russia, that was the first time slope style was an Olympic event. I knew a guy who was on the US half pipe team (it’s related to slope style), and also a guy on the slope style team who I used to hang out with and who’s from Boulder. There was also a girl, Julia Marino, from Paraguay doing slope style and that parked an idea in my head. I had always sort of joked around about it. But that’s when I really started thinking about it. It was when I was watching the opening ceremonies. I thought, hey I could do that, I could be there.

It was a gradual thing. I started thinking about it and dabbling with the idea. I was finishing high school. I graduated early from high school in 2014, and spent the entire winter competing in Winter Park.

I was looking at schools in Salt Lake City, and talked to the coach of Team Park City United, Chris Havlock, we call him Hatch. He’s a former olympic skier with lots of experience. He helped send Julia Marino and was familiar with the whole process. He helped me out a lot; with switching over to Costa Rica, and the logistics and training.

Salt Lake City gave me great opportunities, and availability to training in off season. There’s a facility to practice skiing off a ramp into water.

Since I started college here and training, since then everything I do is somehow related to skiing.

In the summer I try to make money to support my career. I’ve missed out on a few family vacations because I’ve been saving money or skiing. Last year I went to Costa Rica by myself for the first time; I had to speak to the Olympic committee. I’ve had to make some sacrifices. But I’ve never regretted my decision. I’m grateful for this incredible opportunity. It is a little surreal, actually.

W: Tell me about your team and coaches:

A: Salt Lake City is a great atmosphere to train in. I am on Team Park City United which is a huge program. There are about 10 of us elite athletes; we’re from several different countries – there is one from Chile, another from Ireland, and others from the U.S. I have a few coaches: Hatch helped with the big stuff, he’s been great, and there are two others who are great too, Dave Euler and Ryan Wyble.

W: So, you have a big year coming up with ten World Cup competitions.

A: Yea. You know, lately I really feel I am blossoming into a better skier. I am putting together my tricks and feel I can truly compete at the level I need to to get to the Olympics. I started late, and a lot of people who were better than me have stopped skiing. I stuck with it, and have worked hard and that has paid off.

My parents and sister are giving me lots of support, and my family in Costa Rica is also very supportive, and very, very excited. They say, “You’re crazy! This is dangerous!”

So, get ready, folks, for some exciting viewing starting in January when the qualifying competitions for the Winter Games take place.

Andre will compete in slope style competitions at the beginning of January in France, and in Italy later that month. In February, Andre will be at the Slope Style World Cup Competitions in Mammoth, California, and then in Quebec, Canada. Switzerland hosts the World Cup Competitions in March, followed by the World Ski Championships in Spain’s Sierra Nevada. With more to follow.

In the meantime, Andre will be doing yard work in Colorado until he goes back to school and training in Utah in August, and some online jobs to save for all his upcoming travels. If between family support, fundraising, and his own savings he doesn’t have enough, he says he’ll take out a loan to get to the Olympics, and, “Then I’ll pay it back when I get a real job!”

Best of luck to you, Andre!

Costa Rica will be cheering you down all the rails, through all your flips and tricks, and over all the jumps as you make your way in the world of competitive slope skiing.

You can follow Andre’s slope style career on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram:

Facebook: Andre Hamm – CRCFreeSkier

Twitter: @AndreHamm

Instagram:AndreHamm