Elm Relishes Snowboarding Opportunity

Ty Yewman, Staff Writer

Hobbies define who we are, and some hobbies relax us because we can express ourselves in a creative way. Notre Dame Academy has a man who can let nature and all the natural vibes of a snowy wintry mountain characterize what living freely is really all about.

Davis Elm, currently a junior at Notre Dame, has been shredding the slopes since 1998. He first started skiing when he was only three years old, and got up on the snowboard one year later when he was four.

Davis’ snowboarding hobby soon became a lifestyle when Davis started to compete. He entered his first snowboarding competition when he was only nine years old and took first place in his very first competition. “Ever since I took first in my very first competition I fell in love,” Elm said.

When Davis won his first competition, he began to travel more and started to do larger competitions.

“As I progressed into larger groups, and traveled more, I got to meet new kids which was cool, sharing something I love with other kids my age who feel the same way,” Elm said.

As a kid, he would ride every Tuesday and Thursday after school at a hill that was almost an hour and a half away from home “which would result in me leaving straight from school and getting home around 10:30 at night,” he said.

Having competitions every weekend all over the Midwest, living in hotels every weekend was a drag,  but I got to spend a lot of time with my friends,” he said.

Elm said he never saw snowboarding as a competitive sport but took it as just expressing himself in a creative way.

“Snowboarding is just something that relaxes me and allows me to get away from everything else in the world and express myself and my creativity in an unusual and exhilarating way,” he said.

Because Elm now takes snowboarding non-competitively, it allows him to make friends with kids who share the same interest. “I’ve been able to bond with many kids all over the country that I still talk to regularly,” Elm said.

“Overall I just love the sport itself and the vibes that people have when being on the hill,” he said.

Davis’ older brother Drew Elm who graduated from NDA last year is a well-known snowboarder and snowboards religiously. He goes to the University of Utah where he  snowboards almost everyday, Davis said.

“Snowboarding has really helped me meet kids with similar interests to mine and made college much easier on me,” he  said.

Davis said snowboarding might not be part of his college plans.  “I’ve always been Drew’s younger brother  instead of Davis, so I want to create my own destiny and follow a different path,” he said.

For Davis snowboarding is something he holds dearly close to him.  “Riding powder in the backcountry is extremely peaceful. It’s just you and your friends on the mountain having tons of fun doing freestyle stuff.”

Currently Davis is not competing and he likes to think of himself as “retired,” but there is still a possibility of competition again.

Davis rides at Granite Peak in Wausau and at Sunburst in West Bend. He said he plans on keeping his snowboarding passion living. “I would love to continue snowboarding  as long as my body allows me to.”