He has on a coat that drops almost down to his knees.  Accompanying this are baggy pants that drop below his waist.  A bandana is wrapped around the man’s face, just below the eyes.  At first thought one would think it’s a gang member, but it’s none other than sophomore Buster Burns, sporting his attire for his day on the mountain.  

On a typical Saturday morning, an average teenager would be sleeping in, dizzy from the night before.  Burns is not typical, though.  On his Saturday morning, he wakes up as early as six to catch a ride to Snoqualmie Pass.

In just four years, Burns has mastered the art of skiing, being able to pull tricks so ridiculous that most kids wouldn’t even know the name of them.  
Skiing is known as a high octane sport, with more injuries per person than almost any other activity.  Although very expensive, it attracts all types of people from all around the world to the slopes.  It requires two skis and other equipment to keep a skier safe, such as a helmet, gloves, a jacket, and thick waterproof pants.  Burns is attracted to skiing because it is “the fastest human powered sport.”  

People have been able to exceed 90 miles per hour in the Olympics, but racing and speed are only one aspect of the sport.   Along with racing, a person can enjoy back country skiing where there are less people, and the powder is sure to be plentiful.  The most extreme aspect is park skiing though, the realm that Buster Burns enjoys the most.  

Burns is joined by childhood bromance friend Sean Gallagher every weekend, where they head up to The Pass, homebase for these two and their skiing clique, known as “the Wolfpack.”  The Wolfpack consists of several Garfield students, most notably the Killory brothers, Ryan and Peter, Sam Johnston, and Ed Clem.  The Wolfpack is so well known around the skiing world that they now have skier groupies, like Ryan Potter, who according to Burns doesn’t quite make the cut.  

“With skiing comes a reputation, something that you have to live up to,” claims wingman Gallagher. 

The Wolfpack’s favorite part of the mountain is the terrain park at Snoqualmie, which includes rails, boxes, and jumps for starters, but also table tops, propane tanks, tires, and the halfpipe.  Peter Killory favors the park because “not many people man up to do park skiing.”
Burns is the most extreme, known for landing “legit” tricks that can include as many as two and a half spins on a 40 foot jump landing backwards.  After landing his favorite trick called the Rodeo 540 (side flip with half a turn and landing backwards) he does his quick afterbang to show off to his friends. Phrases quickly slide off the tongue like “filthy” and “dawg your killin’ it today” from Gallagher and Johnston.

On a special weekend, the group will travel up to Steven’s, a treat they always look forward to.  The Steven’s terrain park is twice the size as the one at Snoqualmie, with bigger jumps and crazier obstacles to conquer.  Burns looks forward to it because that’s where he can pull his most insane stunts.  
“Yeah, the biggest trick I’ve done was probably a 1080, where I landed backwards, but that was on accident,” claims Burns. Accident or not, this guy can fly.

Having friends support each other is a big part of park skiing.

Senior Ryan Killory states, “skiing is mainly an independent sport, but when your friends challenge you to push your boundaries of comfort when you do tricks, it becomes a team sport.”

The group often ventures up to The Pass with fellow sophomore Abe Krieger, who’s known for his overly expensive camera.  They regularly film their stunts and put them up on Facebook to show their skiing supremacy. Once even I was the subject of a video, where they went and did their ski stunts while yelling “Carl sucks.”  The video, unbelievably, was called “Carl Sucks.”

The ultimate place to view ski videos is Newschoolers, a website full of clips from pros, as well as chat rooms debating apparently hilarious random topics.

“Honestly, I get all my funny jokes from newschoolers,” claims Burns, finally admitting to not being as clever as one might think.

The ski season may be over, with all the lifts shutting down for the year, but that doesn’t mean these dedicated men are done.  Over the summer, the most popular destination for Burns is Mt. Hood in Oregon, where he can enjoy three hours of skiing before the snow turns to slush.  Why you would drive four hours for three hours of skiing makes no sense to me, but to Burns it’s all about commitment to his sport, even if it means more hours in the car than on the slopes.