Page 121 - Flathead Living // Spring 2015

Student-athletes at RIDGE Mountain Academy train at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Resort or local shops.
Their days are regimented and structured, with in-class
and outdoor sessions that are designed to prepare young men and women of all abilities, from beginner to elite, to enjoy lifelong adventures.
“For that age group, it’s perfect. It’s a good fundamental basis,” Danley said. “They’re real impressionable. It’s right at that step where you can tell if you either like something or you really want to refine it and go further with it. It really sets the tone for what you do in life.”
Quinlan Conroy is the youngest student in the inaugural
class. The 16-year-old from Boulder, Colorado, is O’Donnell’s cousin and enrolled for the winter while taking online high school courses. His goal was to expand his knowledge of the outdoors and become a better skier. Less than a month into the training, results were clearly emerging.
“I really like it. I’m on the way to being a more well- rounded skier,” he said. “It’s been really good. Each coach is their own skier, and they’re not all trying to get you to do the same things.”
Conroy has also learned a lot about nutrition and wilder- ness safety, skills he didn’t expect to pick up but appreciates now that he has.
“I’ve learned a lot about nutrition and the way it makes you perform,” he said. “They can really give you the facts about it.”
That’s the type of discovery that O’Donnell hopes to see.
The academy has an advisory board with several high-pro- file experts, including Brad Ludden, the founder of First Descents. There is also a fully devoted academic coordinator and administrative manager who both help with outreach and student registry. The goal is to grow the academy to over 20 students in the winter and fall semesters.
“For me, it’s beyond or better than I could’ve ever expected with how things are going,” he said, adding, “I’ve been learn- ing a lot about how do we tailor all of this into a cool progres- sive gap-year format.”
For more information about the RIDGE Mountain Academy, visit www.ridgeacademy.com. FL
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SPRING 2015 | FLATHEAD LIVING 119