Without the bottomless powder at Snowbird, Jared Goldberg would not be a member of the U.S. Ski Team. "Well, I certainly wouldn't be a ski racer, that's for sure," he says. But by age 14 he was invested, and it didn't take long for that to turn into racing at the elite level.

A warm-up year, the 2013 season brought glimpses of what could be a very successful career. Goldberg scored World Cup points in only the second big race start of his career, finishing 30th in the Audi Birds of Prey super G at Beaver Creek. The result prompted coaches to give him a few more starts throughout the season, including the famed Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, where he barely missed the top 30.

He also won the Nature Valley U.S. Championships downhill title at the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper Mountain, the NorAm overall title and did a bit of pre-Olympic training in Sochi. Check it all out on Twitter and Instagram.

JARED SAYS
The NorAm overall was one of my objectives of the season, and it's very rewarding to have met my biggest goal. The title guarantees me a World Cup spot in every event next year. I also won the U.S. downhill title and was second in the super G.

On top of that, I was able to train in Sochi. Russia is the most bizarre place I've ever been. The town we stayed in was brand new. Imagine a big canyon of absolutely nothing, at most a few houses. Two years later there are high-rise hotels and stadiums. The Sochi Olympics will probably go down as one of the largest projects ever built in just a few years.

The actual mountain is probably among the coolest places I have ever been. It rivals Snowbird and Jackson Hole terrain, and that's something I never thought I would say. It's pillow heaven. It’s steep. It has spines everywhere and there is some amazing tree skiing. The downhill track is also world class with big jumps and huge drawn out turns that scream fun.

FIRST TRACKS
Born in "Bean Town," Goldberg learned to ski at Killington, VT before his family moved to Utah when he was four. From then on, it was all about freesking at Snowbird. "I started racing when I was six," he said, "but we had so much snow that year, I mostly skied powder all winter." At 17 he joined Team Flow and started dialing the gates, eventually earning his first run on the U.S. Ski Team in 2010 with a berth on the U.S. Development Team.

OFF THE SNOW
Goldberg plays a ton of different instruments, mostly stringed, but he doesn't mind banging a few drums. He loves trying new instruments too, most notably his cigar box guitar. "They used to make them in the 20's because no one could afford a guitar," he said. "It's got a deep, Dirty South sound. I love it." He travels all season with a ukulele and harmonica, and hopes to add a banjo and sitar to his collection. Also a big fan of surfing, Goldberg's favorite break is Trestles in SoCal.