Board Chairwoman Lake City Grad Wins National Snowboarding Title

Mica Fish took to snowboarding like … well, a fish out of water.

Four years ago, she rented a snowboard and suffered through the typical beginner’s blunders. “I was bruised from head to toe,” said Fish, a 1994 graduate of Lake City High School. “Even my fingertips were bruised. But I linked one turn and everything was all right.”

She came home and told her dad to sell her skis.

“He just laughed at me and said, ‘Give it a couple more tries and we’ll see,”’ Fish recalled.

A couple of thousand snowboard rides later, Fish is a national champion. She won the girls freestyle overall, ages 17-18, at the United States Amateur Snowboard Association championships last week at Mount Snow in Vermont.

She took first place in the half-pipe (picture a half-cylinder on which snowboarders perform tricks) and slope-style (a snowboard-specific course on which competitors execute jumps and aerials). Her scores in those two disciplines were combined for the overall title.

To the winner goes the spoils - two gold medals and a plaque. Then there was a bitter competitor from California who stuck out her tongue at Fish. “She was whining to her coach and she wanted the judges to change their scores or something,” said Fish, a freshman at Central Oregon Community College in Bend, Ore.

Fish just shrugged and turned away. The Californian’s jealousy had little chance of staining Fish’s fondness for boarding.

“It’s freedom,” Fish said. “I love to be outside, and it’s really serene and you can just go with the flow of it.”

Her mother, Jonny, can vouch for that.

“She loves the sport and she keeps in top physical condition,” said Jonny, owner of a Coeur d’Alene antique shop. The family moved to Coeur d’Alene when Mica was in seventh grade. “Everything she does all summer is dedicated to getting herself ready for winter.”

Attending Central Oregon allows Fish to continue training at Mount Bachelor. “It’s 21 miles away,” said Fish, who earned a 3.5 grade-point average and also worked at the mountain’s snowboard shop to offset the costs of competition.

About a month ago, she landed a sponsorship from Burton, which supplies her with equipment and clothing. “They’re known as ‘The Firm’ in the business,” she said.

Fish’s success is all the more impressive considering she has no coach and she hasn’t attended snowboard academies. Many of her opponents have those amenities.

Fish took a few lessons four years ago to learn the basics. Since, she has learned by trial and error.

Fish hopes to advance to the professional snowboard circuit. Snowboarding will make its initial appearance as an Olympic Sport in 1998, but Fish is looking forward to making a run at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

“The ‘98 team is pretty much already picked,” the 18-year old said. “I have so much to learn. I never get bored with it.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo