"Golden" opportunity: Local snowboarders hit the slopes to train with Olympian Justin Reiter



KEWASKUM -- Training and practice in any sport can be an uphill challenge at times, but some snowboarders who race downhill recently got some help from Justin Reiter -- an Olympian!



"I was brought out here by Dana and Brian Wilson who run the Midwest Best Series for USASA. They have a bunch of kids and a club, a snowboard team that they represent and they reached out to me to see if I'd come out and work with some of their young riders," Reiter said.

Justin Reiter



For three days, Reiter was at the Sunburst Ski Area in Kewaskum -- passing on some of his knowledge as a world-class snowboard racer -- as well as some tips.

"As far as technique, we work on each individual and what they are doing and how to make them a better rider overall," Reiter said.

Reiter's experience had young racers like Lexi Bullis and Cole Rummel listening intently to every word he shared.

"Some of the pointers are riding your edges a lot more, getting low, getting forward, to keep up your speed and really stay in control over board," Bullis said.



"Justin's a really good coach and I've just been learning a lot of stuff. I learned how to turn better and how to get on my edge more and he just really helped out getting faster," Rummel said.

Cole Rummel



The lessons weren't just about advising the racers as to how to make a good run down a hill.

"I'm a firm believer that the biggest lesson any kid can learn from any coach or mentor is passion. It's my goal to come out here and to share my passion with these kids and hopefully that's contagious," Reiter said.

Based on the reaction, the racers caught the passion and let it flourish.

"He tells us about his experience racing at the Olympics and how what he does to help him do better so we take that to the snow and that really helps us out too," Rummel said.



"It's been a lot of fun and I've learned from it, from Justin and I feel that the past few days I've really progressed my snowboarding skills and I've gotten a lot better," Bullis said.

Lexi Bullis



But the experience wasn't only a benefit to the kids. It also helped their teacher.

"This fuels my tank. The position of an athlete, especially an elite athlete we're so demanding of ourselves and we expect a lot from ourselves day in and day out that it becomes very egocentric and you are really just focusing on yourself the whole time and it's not a very healthy place to live all the time. For me to come out to a place that's away from my home, meet new kids, share in my passion, my love for snowboarding with them and to see them light up reminds me of how lucky I am," Reiter said.



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