After taking the northern alpine ski region by storm his first few years on the hill, Sam Kent knew it was time to move on.

Winning three gold medals at the 2004 Arctic Winter Games, as well as numerous gold medals and the overall championship for his category during the North B.C./Yukon region season that same year, there wasn't much more for the Yukoner to accomplish here.

Kent spent the following season competing as a member of the Vancouver Ski Team, while remaining in Whitehorse for his training, and this past fall, he made the move to Calgary, skiing for the National Alpine Training Centre (NATC) and enrolling in the National Sports School.

NATC is a FIS(Federation Internationale de Ski)-level junior alpine ski racing club, based in Calgary, near the Kananaskis mountains. It offers top-level coaching in a no-compromise, year-round training and competition program.

The National Sports School is an elite high school for the top 100 up-and-coming athletes in Canada.

'It works with our training program, so you squeeze school in around skiing,' explained Kent, in an interview from Calgary. 'It's really flexible.'

Considering NATC raced every second weekend this past season, travelling all over Alberta and B.C., as well as Ontario, a flexible school is essential.

While balancing both elite athletics and homework can certainly be challenging and requires a lot of effort, Kent said it's definitely been worth it, even though he had to move away from his family and friends at age 16.

'I've made lots of improvements this year. I'm a way better skier than I was. I don't have too many results to show for it just yet, but everything is really coming together for me now.'

The results he's posted may not be the gold medals he's used to, but Kent was still impressive in his first season away from home. He took part in two points race series throughout the year, an entry-level series which he called 'good practice' and the Pontiac Cup series, which was much more difficult.

He chopped 60 points off his Slalom total and 110 off his Giant Slalom (GS), which is very good. And at the junior nationals last month in Ontario, he finished 20th out of 89 competitors in a GS race.

'It was pretty good,' he said about junior nationals. 'There was a few mistakes, I didn't finish one of the runs, but I did a good job overall.'

Kent feels like he's been fine-tuning his technical skiing skills, and that most of his problems now are mental. He doesn't know why, but on his way town the hill, he sometimes seems to forget the little details that he's been learning and doing so well in practice.

'So I make mistakes, lose a lot of speed and sometimes fall. I've been talking to some sports therapists and my coaches just kind of keep drilling it into my head.

'(But) I'm definitely getting stronger. I've started finishing more races and getting better results.'

Kent, who will be returning to the Yukon to complete his dryland training for the majority of the summer, plans to attend the school in Calgary again next year. He hopes to get his points totals even lower, which he acknowledged will be difficult because he made so much improvement this year in points.

'If I kept on the that same track, I would be set. But it will be harder now, because my points are starting to get so low. I have to change a few things in my skiing before I can do that.'

The Yukon athlete is also aiming to make the Alberta development team next season, which would provide him more opportunities and more exposure.

Kent, who is of aboriginal descent, has already been featured on an episode of Sharing Circle, which aired on Canada's City TV last month and is set to air three more times.

The episode is titled Ski Bums, and is directed by Jeff Newman.

The description reads:

'It is easy to understand the spiritual connection aboriginal people have shared with the land after experiencing western Canada's majestic mountain ranges.

'This relationship continues today, and for some, it has led to an involvement in Canada's competitive ski circuit.

'We follow three such people who are making their mark in the ski world in different ways.

'Sam Kent is a 16-year-old prodigy creating a stir as one Canada's top aboriginal skiers. Mark Gallup travels the globe as a world-class ski photographer, employed by the major elite ski magazines, and Wendy Lumby is a ski coach in Alberta who is breaking down barriers and stereotypes, as she prepares athletes for high level competition. 'We interweave their stories and demonstrate how their passion for the sport of skiing has drawn them closer to the land in a way that nothing else could.'

The espisode will air again May 8, 11 and 13 (check local listings).

Kent was also selected to lead the torch relay earlier this month for the 2007 Canada Winter Games, which he will compete in as a member of Team Yukon. He took a military transport plane from Yellowknife to Resolute and Alert, Nunavut, then on to Ward Hunt Island, the most northerly point of land in Canada.

He was joined by two athletes from the N.W.T. and Nunavut, as they all began the relay toward Whitehorse, where the Games will open on Feb. 24. The same three athletes will also carry torches into the opening ceremonies at the beginning of the Games.

'It's actually a really big honour for me,' said Kent. 'I'm kind of surprised I was even asked.

'It was cool and really interesting (travelling to Alert and Ward Hunt Island).'

Alert, he said, was pretty bare, with a bunch of ice and rock and just a few buildings. But the army barracks there had everything you could need, he pointed out, including a cafeteria, bars and a games room.

'You could live in there for so long, doing everything inside,' which was good considering the athletes and Games officials were stranded by a snowstorm on their way home.

'Apparently, they get less precipitation (in Alert) than the Sahara Desert, so we saw it all while we were there,' said Kent. 'I think that's pretty cool.'