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Prep Notebook Pep has some rep as mogul skiing star By GREG STILES Pep Fujas grew up skiing Mount Ashland. Today, the 17-year-old Fujas is hopping, bopping and flying over mogul hills throughout the West. Fujas enters his third winter season among the top 20 percent of junior mogul skiers. Within a few weeks, he may find himself flying through the air 16 feet off the snow with the U.S. Nor-Am group in international competition. Home is southeast Medford, but Fujas' heart has taken him to the Rockies. He attends Lowell Whiteman Preparatory School just outside Steamboat Springs, Colo. -- 2 hours northwest of Denver and about the same distance southwest of Cheyenne, Wyo. For a youngster inclined to fly above it all, there might not be a better place to study and train. "The people and environment are great here," Fujas says. He goes to school, then hits the slopes for three-plus hours with 45 other freestyle skiers -- some of whom are on the U.S. Ski Team -- at Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. "It's pretty rigorous," says Fujas, who was 23rd in last year's national qualifier competition in Utah. "There are no breaks, so you get pretty tired." When there's no snow on the ground, training includes pliometrics, hill sprints, intervals, stairs and weights to improve conditioning. "Pep is the best athlete on my team, when I'm looking at all my athletes, including the ones on the U.S. team," says Bobby Aldighieri, who spent seven years on the national team and competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. "He has a really good work ethic," Aldighieri says. "He's able to suffer more than a lot of the other athletes in training. It doesn't seem to bother him as much as some of the others. Athletes that complain are less likely to make it. It's painful for Pep, too. But he has a little more spirit and drive. He knows that he's going to have this if he's going to make his goals." Travis Mayer and Willy Boyle are members of the national team. Fujas tends to analyze their performance rather than cower. "I see their techniques, compare the good and bad things. Then take the best and throw out the other stuff." The immersion into his sport couldn't be duplicated back home. "Even if I did have a coach, it would be one-on-one and it wouldn't be the same," Fujas says. "There wouldn't be other parts, just his knowledge. I need a more diverse community to achieve what I want." First on the list this winter is the U.S. Ski Championships, scheduled for Dec. 8-17 at Squaw Valley, Calif. (Lack of snow could put the races in Vermont or Colorado.) The top 20 finishers will fill spots ranging from World Cup slots to Nor-Am. The three Nor-Am stops in February are in Le Relais, Quebec; Calgary, Alberta; and Bogus Basin, outside Boise, Idaho. "It will take two fairly decent runs," Fujas says. "But if I qualify for the second run, I'm basically in the Nor-Am group." Attending an elite boarding school and training at Colorado's top club may sound spendy. Freestyle skiers of Fujas' ability pay roughly $3,500 to train year-round. But skiing also is one of the sports that has a way of paying back its top performers early on. We're not talking cash cow, but Fujas already has sponsors that provide him with equipment. He's already reached an echelon that allows him to ski free throughout Colorado. Fujas is quick to rattle off his sponsors: Volkl/Technica, a German manufacturer, provides skis. Oakley is in its second season providing sunglasses, goggles, hats and shirts. Goode Ski Technologies kicks in poles and gloves. Kaotic Clothing of Australia has provided pants and jackets for two years. "They want to support your skill and talent," Fujas says. "They want to promote you. It gives you incentive to see what you can drive for and achieve." His area of endeavor is in a relatively new field. Mogul skiing emerged in the 1970s. "People skiing on a hill will create a mogul hill if you don't groom it," says Damien Wells, who oversees the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club's freestyle program. "After a while, a style was developed and people wanted to see how this person compared to another. Events started, and it became apparent that it was an issue that needed to be judged." The course is roughly 200 meters, mixing slalom, bumps, ruts and aerial elements. "Speed is only 25 percent of the score," Wells says. "It's scored more like gymnastics." Nine components -- ranging from economy of motion to pumping of the legs along with pole and hand position -- are factored in to arrive at 50 percent of the score. "Ideally, you have a nice, quiet upper body with rhythm side to side," Wells says. The final 25 percent is scored on two jumps in which a maneuver's degree of difficulty is factored in. The U.S. team is made up of eight skiers. The Nor-Am group Fujas is shooting for is a notch lower, waiting in the wings. "By the time Pep is ready, two or three of the guys on the team will be ending their careers -- especially after the 2002 Olympics," Aldighieri says. "Pep will be in that next generation of hot mogul skiers." The Olympic team is drawn from the U.S. team. By the time Fujas is in his mid-20s he could be an Olympian. "I see him in contention for a world championship and to be an Olympic medalist," Aldighieri says. "That's not my expectation, but his expectation. When we sit down and do goal-setting, he's a confident enough kid to say those things without being scared of trying to fulfill them." And Aldighieri has seen enough top skiers to judge talent. "When someone has Pep's good work ethic and talent, you feel sorry for the rest of the group," the coach says. "That's what has made him move along so quickly, he really has both. (Greg Stiles is a Mail Tribune sports writer. He can be reached at 776-4483 or [email protected]) Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.