Ski racer enjoys speed of flying downhill

Melanie DeVries can travel more than 50 miles per hour at a place where there are no speed limits. It is a place where faster is better and where fear is left in a plume of powder.

“If someone asked me what ski racing has taught me over the years, I would have to say that it has brought me more confidence than ever before,” she said. “It taught me that if I believe in myself, I can get past the fear of going straight down at 50 mph, and if I want to beat someone, I can.”

DeVries, 12, has been skiing since she was 6. She is a member of the Spokane Ski Racing Association (Mount Spokane Ski Racing Club), and for the past two years, she has been on the Mount Spokane Buddy Werner Championship Team. She has put in many hours of training, competed in numerous races and won some awards.

DeVries is a fifth-grader at Horizon Middle School, where she earns A’s and B’s. She also is involved in High 5, a drug- and alcohol-free club. She likes science and mystery novels and plays intramural volleyball.

While DeVries’ future in ski racing is uncertain, she says she will continue to “bomb down the hills.”

“Even though there might not be a future in ski racing for me, there is definitely a future in skiing with the people I love, the people who also motivate me to do my best,” she said.

Her goals for the near future are to ski, play volleyball and just have fun because regardless of what you do, do it because it’s fun and because you love it. It’s also important, she said, to do your best and keep going no matter what.

As she writes in a poem: “… Practicing, training, laughing. The course is long, the snow is thick, but I keep going. Growling at the sight of competition …”