At just 20 years old, Matt Crosby looks like any other young skier or snowboarder as he makes his way down Mount Sima.

Then he hits a jump and it becomes clear that Crosby certainly stands out from the hundreds of other young athletes on the hill. After all, the member of the B.C. freestyle ski team has already collected three bronze medals on the international NORAM tour this season.

Crosby, who hails from Penticton, B.C., has been involved in freestyle skiing since he was 12 years old, when he joined the jumps and bumps program at his local hill, Apex Mountain Resort.

'I love the jumping and the moguls,' he said in an interview Saturday, after a full day of skiing at Sima. 'Just the whole attitude around freestyle, it's really relaxed.

'And it's not just one thing you're being judged on a bunch of things, which is good.'

Crosby trains full-time during the fall, winter and spring, competing in about 15 events per season, about half of which are high-calibre. He's on the hill five days a week and in the gym six days a week. In the summer, he works for the B.C. forest ministry.

Apex is perhaps best known for it's early-season skiing, with members of the Canadian ski team and hundreds of others across the country taking advantage of the early snow at the resort, so Crosby doesn't have to travel far at all for training.

But the young athlete does spend a lot of time travelling around North America for NORAM competitions as well. Most of the events are in Colorado or Utah, but he has also competed in Virginia and Newfoundland, which he said is probably the farthest he's ever travelled, even though it's in Canada.

And while he's taken part in numerous international events, one competition that he remembers fondly is the 2003 Canada Games in Bathurst-Campbellton, N.B.

'It's nothing but fun at the Canada Games,' he smiled. 'It's all what you make it.

'You get to hang out with a bunch of different athletes and see different sports. It feels like a mini-Olympics for people that age for sure.'

It was the Canada Games that brought Crosby to Whitehorse over the weekend, where he held a clinic for local athletes. The 2007 Games will feature a freestyle competition, as well as aerials, and the Yukon is hoping to field a team in the sport. Sport Yukon was also hoping to generate interest in the sport for the future as well.

'I just want to get people interested (in freestyle skiing) and let them know what's out there,' said Crosby.'

For local freestyle coach Colin Nickerson, the weekend's clinic was a chance to assess the talent.

Nickerson, along with coaches Mike Ward and Mark Boulerice, is running a jumps and bumps program for kids for the first time at Mount Sima this season. The kids in jumps and bumps are too young for the 2007 Games, but several other local athletes who are at the right age attended the clinic.

Nickerson said he hadn't had a chance to watch the older kids before, but both he and Crosby were impressed with what they saw.

'There was maybe three or four that would be good candidates (for the Games),' said Nickerson. 'As long as we can keep their interest up, we might have some people for Canada Games from this workshop.

'It was great to see the older kids. They were pulling some pretty big tricks too.'

The first day of the clinic was fairly relaxed, as Crosby got to know the kids and they hit some jumps in the terrain park.

The second day, Crosby got into the specifics, teaching the participants balance, stance and proper takeoff and landing when jumping. Unfortunately, there are currently no moguls on Mount Sima, although they will be put in before 2007, so Crosby couldn't instruct the kids on his favourite part of freestyle.

The group did get in some time at the Polarettes Gymnastics Club while Crosby was here, where they practiced landing, air control and jumping on the trampoline.

One of the kids was injured the first day of the clinic, but made it back for day two after some first aid. Crosby said like any sport, injuries are part of freestyle skiing he was out for a month and a half last season after a partial tear to his rotator cuff. But it's been his dedication and work ethic that has kept him in the running every competition.

'A lot of people have talent, but if you don't have the work ethic to make it there, you're not going to make it,' he said.

While the local athletes may not get to travel as often as those in the provinces, since the Yukon is so isolated, Crosby said if they just keep doing what they have been and get some moguls built, they'll have a chance in 2007 and beyond.

'They've got great coaches, so if they just keep having fun, I'm sure it will work out for them. They just need to push each other and be competitive with each other.'

The B.C. resident added Sima is a great hill with 'awesome' facilities. And with a little more snow, he said, the new freestyle area will be perfect.

As for his own future, Crosby hopes to make the national team next season and eventually, represent Canada at the 2010 Olympics. And if this season is any indication, it's very likely you could be seeing him on the podium in Vancouver.

'If I keep working hard, maintaining and improving my skills, and just stay healthy, I think I can do it,' he said.

Editor's Note: A big thanks goes out to the staff at Mount Sima who set me up with equipment and a ski pass for the afternoon to do this story.