BILLINGS — At 5 feet, 2 inches tall — maybe 5 feet, 3 inches if you catch her on skis — Reese Harman doesn’t let her stature hold her back in the demanding world of skiing. The Rocky Mountain College sophomore has faced some gnarly conditions, especially under heavy snowfall.
“Ruts up to your hips sometimes, which can be super deep, like this big," Harman noted, raising a hand above her waist. "Holes, bumps, there’s all sorts of stuff you can go through."
Ski teams at Rocky recently wrapped up their seasons, once again claiming both men's and women's national championships. Though Harman can make slalom racing look easy, she excels at freestyle, placing sixth in the nation last year and eighth this year in the women’s Rail Jam, also known as park.
“That’s like hitting boxes and rails and doing tricks,” she explained.
Harman claimed she’s learned to “chill out” since her freshman year. She embraces the laid-back vibe of the slopes, echoing a sentiment that captures her essence: “Sicky sicky gnar gnar, dude.”
For the uninitiated, that colorful expression encapsulates everything "sick, dope, gnarly and awesome."
“It’s a little more surfer than ski bum, but they're pretty similar,” she said with a grin.
After taking a gap year out of high school, choosing to ski at Rocky was a quick decision for her, determined within just a couple weeks, she said. The Utah native hopes to eventually return home pursuing a law degree and a voice for the environment.
“I’ve been pretty interested in both environmental and property law, which are both very big in Utah," she said. "Water rights are a big issue in the west.”
But skiing remains an equally significant part of her life.
“I’ve skied a lot of the West Coast, which is an advantage for racing. But I really want to travel around more — like, to Japan and Europe would be really cool,” Harman said.
Sicky sicky gnar gnar, dude.
