CAZENOVIA — On Sunday, March 12, Charlie Prior, a sophomore at Cazenovia High School, placed first in the U18 New York State Ski Racing Association (NYSSRA) Giant Slalom Championship race at Bristol Mountain.
Racing for the Labrador Mountain ski team against around 35 other girls, Prior was named champion after two disappointing days of competition.
On Friday, she decided to opt out of the super giant slalom (Super G) because she experienced an injury in the “super speed” event a few years ago.
During Saturday’s slalom event, she was unable to finish either of her runs.
Upset with herself for what she viewed as a lack of ability or giving up, Prior used her anger to propel her into Sunday’s success.
“Conditions on Friday and Saturday were really difficult racing conditions that required a lot of skill and energy to just make it down the run without falling, so when Sunday’s warmer temperatures rolled around, and we had a hard fresh track to ski down, it felt like a perfect day to really lay down your best skiing,” she said. “Usually, if I think too hard about results and winning during my runs, I get really tense, and in a sport where you have to be able to make adjustments in a split second going 40 miles per hour, being tense can slow you down or, in extreme cases, injure you.”
Prior recalled that her mindset going into the first run of the day was to “go as fast as humanly possible.”
“I saw the course set for us and just thought how much fun I would have if I was skiing as fast as I could without holding back at all,” she said.
After winning the first run, she struggled to not put pressure on herself to have a good second run.
Prior said that after speaking with her coach, Tyler Travis, she figured out the only way she could hold it together was to relax and have fun.
“I’m someone that loves the feeling of hurting muscles and being out of breath, so putting in as much effort as possible was the best way to spend the minute on that course that I had,” she said.
Now 16 years old, Prior started skiing at Toggenburg Mountain in Fabius at age eight following a failed snowboarding attempt the year prior.
“[I] learned everything I know at Toggenburg before its closing two years ago,” she said. “I started racing at 11, which is generally considered pretty late for this sport, but I loved it so much I don’t think the late start hindered me after a few years of hard work.”
According to Prior, her relative inexperience in ski racing contributed to her sense of shock at her victory in the giant slalom championship.
“Since I started the sport late, I was so used to being beaten by girls with years of experience on me no matter how hard I worked,” she said. “. . . Between coming in fifth at states last year and top 25 at Eastern Regionals, and [then] winning states this year, I think I was just really grateful for the work that I’ve put in over the years and the joy that came with that appreciation.”
Prior also expressed her appreciation for her teammates who come from other area school districts to practice at Labrador Mountain and race all over the state on weekends.
“It’s really nice having a group of people with no affiliation to your school to spend time with every day and have a change [of] scenery of faces,” she said.
Outside of skiing, the athlete also plays lacrosse year-round, participating on her high school’s varsity team and the Salt City Snipers club team.
“Being an athlete is part of my life, and I’m really grateful for the coaches and teams I have access to,” she said.
