Thomas Ian Goes Skiin'

Fourteen-year-old Thomas Ian Nicholas has only gone snow skiing about eight times, but he absolutely loves it. Maybe it's the sensation of the wind in his hair and the ground whizzing underneath. Whatever the reason, now that winter is upon us, you can bet Thomas and his mom, Marla, will be making the 120-mile drive from Los Angeles to Big Bear Lake, a local resort where Thom first learned to ski. [Big Bear is also the hometown of BOP's Cathee, who once worked there selling tickets. In fact, Thom has discovered that Cath quite possibly sold him the ticket to his very first ski lesson. Small world, huh? But anyway, back to our story.]
Thomas first tried his beloved sport back in 1990, when he was 10. Marla knew how to ski but apparently had little desire to be back on the white stuff again. So she was less than thrilled when her son asked her to take him to the slopes. Well okay, he didn't exactly ask. "I told my mom I wanted to do this," Thom remembers.
Figuring her son would try the difficult sport once, hate it and never want to go again, Marla said she'd take him. Well, if she had been a gambler, Marla would have lost big. As soon as Thomas took a lesson, he found he was a natural. Unlike some of the others in his class!
"We had, like, three kids in the back," Thomas says. "These small girls. They just kept falling and falling, and the ski instructor would have to go back up the hill and pick them up and go down another 10 feet and they would fall again." Thomas, on the other hand, learned to handle a pair of skis quickly. By the end of the day, he was racing the other kids and leaving his mom behind in the slush.
As far as why he picked up the sport so easily, Thom just figures it's quick learning. These days, even after skiing just a few times, Thom is able to go off small ski jumps with ease.
Well, usually.
Once, Thomas was going over a jump when a daredevil snowboarder suddenly crossed directly in front of him. Thomas tried to dodge, but he ended up eating snow. But that won't stop him from heading to the slopes this year if he can find the time. He's getting better and better and still loves to ski. The crashing part, of course, is another story.