Kaia Gjertson, a fifth grade student at Jamestown Elementary School, is the recipient of the 2022 YSL championship award for the female ski racer of the year. According to Gjertson, she received the award for finishing first in her events more times than any other racer this Colorado ski season.

“They give people awards for the most ‘first places’ over the season, and I got first!” she said. As she was sitting in the lodge at Loveland Basin for the final ski day of the year, she talked about the season and her award.

“I would compete against kids in my age group from other ski teams, like Vail, and Aspen, and other teams like that,” she said.

“The reward is… when I won a race, they track that, and at the end of the at one of my last races which was the Winter Park Championships,” she said, explaining the method used to declare that year’s champion, “they tally up all the races you won to see who won the most.”

To get a picture of how dominant she was in her field, she guessed that she had won around ten races this season. And she estimated that she had competed in approximately fifteen races this year. In other words, she had won two out of every three races she had competed in, against some of the best female skiers in her age group in Colorado.

Kaia’s older brother, Cole, 15, also skis for the Loveland ski team. He has been a witness to his sister’s accomplishments and is an accomplished skier himself. In fact, the entire Gjertson family is a dedicated ski family. “I’ve been actively skiing since I was eighteen months old,” he said as we sat with his younger sister and mother at Loveland, “and I’ve been skiing with Kaia since she was two.”

But could she keep up with him?

Without missing a beat, he replied, “if she tries hard enough.”

He continued, describing the feat she had accomplished this year. “Pretty damn amazing,” he said, “in that realm of ski racing it’s a big deal for anybody to have that. When you’re winning overall in the state of Colorado, where you see a lot of really good ski racers come out of, it’s a pretty big deal to get the overall… championship in that age group. She’s improved a lot in the last year, and it’s really amazing to see.”

Any successful person has a support system, and Kaia Gjertson is no different. Her parents have given much of their time and resources to ensure that they are able to support her in her aspirations.

Kaia’s season starts in November and runs until April. This means that she is required to make the trip to Loveland every Saturday and Sunday morning for the length of the season. Her mother, Jenn Baumber, spoke about the toll that their family pays to support their children’s activities. “We usually… I usually wake up at 4 a.m. packing up lunches and ski gear, and we’re out the door by 5, 5:30 in the morning to be here at Loveland by 7:30 a.m. at the latest so the kids can be on the snow by 8:15, 8:30 at the latest. And we’re here until 4 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.”

She paused, and then reflected on the award. “It feels really good, I’m really proud of her,” she said, “a lot of days up here at Loveland, training and skiing, lots of early mornings here at Loveland.”

They have been performing this ritual since Cole started the ski team seven years ago. When asked why she does it, she answered simply, “because I want to support my kids and what they love to do,” she said, “and skiing is what they love to do.”

Baumber did not grow up skiing, but her husband, Steve Gjertson, wanted their children to. “It was something my husband, Cole and Kaia’s father did. He was a ski racer at Fort Lewis College in Durango. So naturally he wanted his kids to learn how to ski correctly. He wasn’t concerned about them racing, but… racing is a bonus, so if they want to race, we’re going to support that.”

Steve explained more of his reasoning. “I always wanted to ski, growing up, but never really could. And then I started skiing when I went to college, and I absolutely loved it, and I went on after college to ski patrol… and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share it with my kids,” he said.

Kaia added a bit of history, “My dad skied in college, and when he met my mom, he taught my mom how to ski, and then they skied a little bit together,” she said, “and then my dad taught my brother how to ski, and when I was born, he taught me how to ski.”

Steve continued, “Well, they both just took to it,” he said, “Cole, he was eighteen months old when we started him, and Kaia… she was two.”

Kaia has been racing for Loveland since she was six. “I’ve been skiing for nine years and have been on the Loveland ski club for six,” she said, “my brother Cole was already on the Loveland ski club, and I was always following his group.”

Steve shared about when he realized she was different from other beginner skiers, “I remember one of the first days we had Kaia up at Loveland, a little more on her own, not just the plastic skis. She kept on falling but she didn’t want anybody to help her, she didn’t want anybody to pick her up. It was cold and miserable day, and she went to 4 p.m.,” he said, “she didn’t like the feeling of snowplowing… and she would do this weird thing with thumbs and her arms and moving her hips until where she was actually carving turns. And we would ask her if she wanted some hot chocolate, and she would just say, ‘leave me alone’.”

Kaia has no plans for her future in skiing other than to continue and have fun. “It’s really fun. I make a lot of friends when I ski and they’re really nice, and it’s really fun to train with them.”

Baumber agreed, “It’s up to her, it’s whatever she wants to do. If she wants to take it to another level we will support her, but it’s completely up to her,” she said, “as long as racing and skiing is fun then I’m sure she’ll race, she’ll continue. It’s a big commitment, a huge commitment, both financially and timewise. I work full-time, my husband works more than full-time.”

From a simple wish for their children to become competent skiers, to having a championship awarded skier, is a step their family didn’t anticipate, but they love to ski, and they support each other’s dreams, and as they will tell you, it’s worth the sacrifice.

According to their website, the Youth Ski League (YSL) “is the earliest developmental branch of U.S. Ski & Snowboard for aspiring Alpine ski racers. YSL introduces young ski racers to the competition experience, to learn, progress, and have fun.”

For more information on the Youth Ski League you can look at their website at https://www.coloradoinfo.com/events/ youth-ski-league-championships.