BIOGRAPHY:
Moguls skier Patrick Deneen got a break growing up in Washington - his father was part owner and general manager of a ski resort, so young Deneen was on skis before he was a year old. He started as an alpine racer, but kept watching freestyle skiers, and eventually made the change to running bumps. The last four seasons have seen Deneen go from 2008 FIS World Cup Rookie of the Year, to 2009 World Champion, to riding a win at the Olympic Trials all the way to the Winter Games in Vancouver (19th). Deneen captured his career first World Cup victory in 2011 and added two more podiums before taking his first national title to close the season.
PATRICK SAYS
I have about 16 starts per year. I average about 22 seconds per run. That is about six minutes of competition per year. I train daily, ten months out of the year to be at the top of my game. I better love it and I do. Freestyle is allowing me to ski the world with some of the best people out there. I am taking time to enjoy the trip. This summer, while training in Australia, I took five days to travel from Sydney down the southeastern coast exploring the beaches, rocks, bays and small towns of Australia on the way to the Perisher Ski Resort to train in winter snow. Freestyle skiing has opened the world up to me.
FIRST TRACKS:
Deneen, who was walking at nine months, was 11 months and two days old when his dad - co-owner and General Manager at Hayak Ski Area (now Snoqualmie) - put him on skis for the first time. He started alpine racing and was a top J4 and J5 "but then he started staring at freestylers, and he liked that idea," his father said. "One weekend, he won both a downhill race and a moguls contest." Home-schooled, Deneen had plenty of opportunity to ski - up to 190 days a year; he also was a competitive horseback rider, but gave it up when he was 15 so he could focus on skiing. He was 16 in December 2004 when he did well enough at U.S. Selections to earn a World Cup starting spot.
OFF THE SNOW:
When Deneen isn't not traveling around the world chasing snow he likes to stay at home. He lives on a small horse ranch located in the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountains, about 78 miles east of Seattle. His nearest neighbor is about a mile away so there is no one around to bother him. When he's at home he rides his horse, Spud, everyday and helps around the ranch riding, training and working with some of our other horses.
We have three Border Collies that go everywhere with us and help to round up the horses on the ranch. I have great fly fishing just five minutes from my house and in the winter, when I am home, I can ride snowmobiles out my back door as we get about five feet of snow at my house in most good winters.
