Racing Smith Brothers Ski The Fast Track

If there’s one thing Steve Smith and his sons have in common, it’s a love of going fast.

“We are a family of racers,” Smith says. “Cars, autocross, go-carts … they’re pretty used to speed.”

Cody Smith, a sophomore at North Central High School, was true to that family tradition when he placed second overall in the giant slalom at Schweitzer Mountain Resort’s Northwest Cup last month.

Ski racing certainly fits the family bill. At a downhill race last year, he was clocked at 67 mph.

“You definitely have to get used to the speed,” Cody Smith says. “It’s not slow at all.”

Steve Smith, a longtime autoracing enthusiast, started his two sons competing with go-carts.

Ten years ago, the boys were introduced by a friend to ski racing. By the time the oldest, Casey, was 14, he was ranked No. 1 in his age group in the nation for the downhill.

Now, five years later, he still races.

Casey Smith finished second in his age group at the Northwest Cup.

Last year, Cody Smith was ranked eighth nationally in his age group in the downhill and ninth in the supergiant slalom.

If this year’s Northwest Cup results are any indication, those rankings will improve.

Most of the skiers at the midDecember race were older than Cody, who is 16.

“For his age, that’s a fantastic result. In fact, the guy that won the race is a college racer in his 20s and a former U.S. ski team member,” says Mark Burandt, a Spokane Ski Racing Association coach.

“That will probably qualify (Cody) for the Junior Olympics, and it will really update his ranking.”

While Cody has been racing for the SSRA, he has been to the Junior Olympics three times.

“He’s always been gifted for his age,” Burandt says.

Cody is busy for his age, too. His racing schedule means he is out of town much of the winter.

The travel can make keeping up with homework a little tricky. Nonetheless, last term he managed to get an A in all but one course.

When he’s not skiing, Cody is playing soccer for the Spokane Skyhawks club in the fall and for North Central in the spring.

Cody says many of his friends at school and in soccer don’t really “get it” when he talks about his passion for skiing.

“Most people just don’t understand,” he says. “They always say they have friends that are probably as good, and they want to race me.”

Because of scheduling conflicts, Cody misses a little bit of the spring soccer season. His dad says the coach doesn’t mind.

“The coach knows he’s not sitting on the sofa during the winter, so it works out pretty well,” Steve says.

If Cody has his way, he’ll never be sitting on that sofa. He says skiing, for him, isn’t an adventure; it’s a job.

“It’s a career, in a way,” Cody says. “It turns out to be an opportunity.”

He hopes to join the U.S. ski team in his early 20s.

Making the national team wouldn’t appear to be an unrealistic goal for Cody. He already has two major sponsors, Volkl skis and Technica Boots.

When he and his brother were in grade school, they were sponsored locally by Northwest Ski Center.

Family support is also important to Cody’s success. The many out-oftown road trips and the 12 to 20 hours of practice per week would be impossible otherwise.

With results like the ones his boys have produced, Steve Smith says he doesn’t regret a minute of it.

“I never thought they would have come this far,” he says.

Just because skiing is No. 1 doesn’t mean there isn’t room for another propulsion rush in Cody’s life. Now that he’s 16 and can drive something bigger than a go-cart, his dad may soon have some competition when autocross season rolls around.

“I think I’ll have to start racing against him,” Cody says.