By CHRIS SULLIVAN
KIRO Radio

You can call him the "rocket" or the "machine" because Patrick Deneen was basically born on skis, and he's looking to bring home a gold medal.

There's nothing faster and smoother through moguls in the world right now than this 21-year-old Cle-Elum product of the Hyak ski area at the Summit at Snoqualmie.

"I did start skiing at 11-months-old. My dad took me down the under his arm, carrying me around. He grabbed the smallest boots, but they were still too big. He put a bunch of newspaper in the end of them just so my feet would fit in there. He put me on the slopes and he and my mom would stand on either side of me and call my name. That would be enough to make me turn," said Deneen.

He started out like any aspiring ski bum, hitting the slopes everyday, and racing down as fast as he could. Then something changed him.

"I saw these guys skiing the moguls. They were going really fast through the moguls, doing these really big airs. As a kid it looks like the most fun thing, so I tried it and I fell in love with it. Pretty soon, racing was a thing of the past and I was a freestyle mogul skier," said Deneen.

It took an outside perspective for Deneen to realize his greatness at the ripe old age of 12. "They were shooting video and I was like 'Oh wow, I look like a man skiing down these moguls, I'm actually skiing fast, and it actually looks good.'"

Nine years later, Deneen is the world freestyle champion with a signature run set for the Vancouver Olympics.

"I do a back jump off the first jump and then ski through the moguls going as fast as I can. Off the bottom jump I do a Cork 7, which is two rotations pretty much on your side and then bring it in for the landing and ski out the moguls," explained Deneen.

(Photo courtesy of patrickdeneen.com)

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