Although sports are a large part of Central’s ambitions, some don’t receive recognition at school. These are, namely, winter sports. Snowboarders and skiers alike possess many athletic qualities that rarely see the light of day at Central, but they are worthwhile sights in the winter.

Junior Alex Coates, a skier, believes there’s a different mindset between skiing and other sports.

“Aside from skiing, I also play football,” Coates said. “And [skiing]’s a very individual sport that is pretty much all dependent on you instead of the entire team.”

Coates has been skiing for about 12 years and enjoys competing for the race team at Four Lakes in Lisle. He usually skis throughout most of winter and recommends that newcomers go to Four Lakes because of its convenience and proximity.

According to the Kansas City Sports Commission, there are many forms of skiing, including free style, Nordic, military and alpine.

Although people can explore the variety skiing provides as well as “free ski” at local training parks, Coates prefers the thrill alpine racing gives him. Specifically, Coates participates in giant slalom and slalom. Both of the events involve skiing between poles, or gates, but giant slalom positions the gates at greater distances from one another than slalom does.

“Anyone can learn how to ski recreationally and just as a pastime,” Coates said. “Getting into the competitive aspect of skiing, however, takes years to learn how to do.”

Coates plans to continue skiing well beyond his years at Central.

Sophomore Brendan Wagner feels similar thrills when flying down snow-covered hills as a snowboarder.

“Snowboarding’s different from other sports because it’s only you doing it,” Wagner said. “It’s not a team endeavor, but at the same time it’s a hobby you can do with friends, and there are always different things to learn.”

Wagner goes to either Four Lakes or Cascade Mountain in Wisconsin Dells every few weeks to snowboard. Although he only goes snowboarding recreationally, he’s been doing it for about four years.

Because he also played the offensive position on Central’s junior varsity lacrosse team his freshman year, Wagner believes snowboarding is a nice way to relax after dealing with a high-intensity sport like lacrosse.

“The biggest difference is that snowboarding’s just a hobby whereas lacrosse is my sport,” Wagner said. “When I go into a game I’m serious and ready to play hard, but with snowboarding I embody a chill attitude.”

Wagner advises those interested in learning how to snowboard to be persistent because there’s quite a bit of a learning curve.

“If you want to get into snowboarding, you just have to go at it without worrying about being the worst,” Wagner said. “[Remember], there’s no shame in falling or not landing because everyone starts somewhere.”