Glenwood Springs skier Hartmann edges competition

Teen is speeding to success with Aspen Ski Club

By Jeff Caspersen
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
January 22, 2008

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Kevin Hartmann

• Glenwood Springs Middle School eighth-grader. • Trains with Aspen Ski Club. • Also plays basketball and soccer. • His favorite sport is a toss-up between skiing and soccer.

ASPEN — Kevin Hartmann’s been on skis since he was 2 years old. A frequenter of Sunlight Mountain, the Glenwood Springs Middle School eighth-grader got his competitive skiing start in the ski resort’s Buddy Werner program. He worked his way up through the ranks at Sunlight before deciding to train exclusively with the Aspen Ski Club this season.

Aspen Ski Club coach Pat Callahan is thrilled to have him. Hartmann’s J-3 gold and silver super-G finishes in the Sunday-Monday Wilder Dwight Memorial, a Junior Olympic qualifying race, only hammered home that point.

“He just nailed it yesterday,” Callahan said of Hartmann’s Sunday run at Buttermilk Mountain. “He skied aggressively, just attacked the course. It was a big victory.”

Coming off his Sunday run, Hartmann knew he’d be in contention for first.

“I knew I had a really good run,” he said, “but I knew there were still some really good skiers left. I knew I’d have to wait.”

Hartmann returned to Buttermilk on Monday and finished second behind one of the Rocky Mountain Region’s best — Summit County racer Conor McDonald. The big finishes, which came competing in a field of 102 boys, assure Hartmann of a spot at the March 9-15 J-3 Junior Olympics in Vail. McDonald finished second to Hartmann on Sunday.

While he’s no stranger to success, with plenty of past high finishes littering his competitive resume, Hartmann has upped his game of late.

“He’s improving constantly,” Callahan lauded. “He’s having an amazing year. A month ago he was skiing well, but certainly not enough to win a race. He’s just getting better every day. It was a strong field — more than a 100 boys — with kids from Steamboat, Vail, everywhere.”

Hartmann credits age and experience in putting it all together.

“Well, I’m at the top of my age group this year,” the youngster said. “I’m just having a really good year so far.”

He’s also been able to hit the slopes earlier in the season, a byproduct of his club switch.

“I’ve been doing more gates,” Hartmann, a young man of few words, noted. “That helps.”

Clearly, the 14-year-old would rather let his performance on the slopes speak for him. And, of late, that’s happening rather loudly.