Preps: Local teen masters the slopes

Spencer Patterson

Friday, March 27, 1998 | 10:53 a.m.

Ryan Myers is used to getting strange looks when he tells people he's an alpine ski racer from Las Vegas.

"I get that at all the races I go to," said Myers, a 17-year-old junior at The Meadows. "They say, 'Where do you guys ski?' or they ask, 'Is there really skiing in Las Vegas?'"

So Myers took matters into his own hands, showing the rest of the country that there is, indeed, top-notch skiing in Southern Nevada by earning a trip to this year's Western Regional Junior Olympics, held earlier this month in Mt. Bachelor, Ore.

Myers went up against the top 100 skiers in his age group from all states west of the Mississippi (excluding Colorado) in four events: downhill, slalom, giant slalom and super G.

"The competition was tough, but the snow was really nice for racing," said Myers, who posted his best result -- a 35th-place finish -- in the slalom. "And it was good to meet everyone else from around the country."

Myers, who has been skiing as long as he can remember, got involved in the racing aspect of the sport during the many weekends spent at his family's cabin near Mt. Charleston's Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort.

For the past seven years, Myers has traveled to ski areas throughout Nevada and California as a member of the Las Vegas Ski Foundation Race Team, a squad founded by his father, Richard.

And according to Richard, Ryan's accomplishments are even more extraordinary considering his limited skiing schedule.

"In the mountain communities, those kids train five or six days a week," Richard Myers said. "Our kids practice only on Saturdays and Sundays."

Nevertheless, Myers met the Junior Olympic Committee's two criterion to qualify for the race, placing well at a qualifying race at Alpine Meadows and earning a high regional ranking from the United States Ski Association (USSA).

"It's been my goal to qualify for a while," Myers said. "I hope to go back next year, and hopefully I'll finish in a better position."

Ryan also manages to maintain an outstanding 3.87 GPA at his college prep high school.

"Racing and academics both require simple hard work and concentration," he said. "For me, these disciplines go hand in hand."