Ryan Carey was three years old the first time his family took him skiing at a small, now-closed slope in Salisbury called Woody Glen. There, he learned to love the feel of the snow under his skis, the glide and swish of his body as he descended.
A small hill in his backyard eventually became a playground for trying new tricks. He started by sledding down it, but as he got a little older, Carey began packing the snow into mounds and creating ski jumps.
He had no idea then that his favorite activity would become his career, let alone a golden ticket to the Olympics in Italy this winter as a coach for the American freeski half-pipe team.
No matter how many peaks he’s skied, the mountains of New Hampshire provided his earliest inspiration, and he’s never forgotten it.
“There’s a passion for the outdoors here, and the ski community of New Hampshire and New England at large. The people who do it here, they really love it,” said Carey, who has lived in California for the past 17 years. “It’s not a casual pursuit. They’re really dedicated, and they’re out there when it’s minus 10, and they’re skiing in the rain, and they’re skiing ’till the bitter end, when there’s barely enough snow to slide down the mountain. It’s a spectacular thing. There’s no fair weather about it.”
Carey grew up in Belmont and Webster. He joined an elementary school winter sports program that helped shape his path. Rather than ice skating or sledding, he always opted to ski. By the time he graduated from Belmont High School, he was hitting the slopes five or six days a week as part of the ski race team.
Then, as an undergraduate student studying outdoor education at Plymouth State University, he discovered he could turn his passion into something more. While still a student, he began coaching at Loon Mountain and at The White Mountain School in Bethlehem, which has since closed.
“I was like, oh, I love this. I wonder if this could be a job, or at least I could do this in the winters for a while, and I could work another job in the summer,” he said. “And I was really lucky that that turned into a career.”
He moved to California and began a coaching job at Mammoth Mountain, where he stayed for 11 years. An opportunity opened up at the U.S. Ski Team, and he seized it, starting first as a development team coach before transitioning last year to coaching the Olympic Freeski team. Freeski includes a halfpipe where skiers are judged on an assortment of tricks.
“I’m really fortunate. I work with a great group of people. My team is full of really kind, hard-working athletes, and they definitely make it what it is, like the people make the job amazing, and I’m really happy to be with them,” he said.
He relishes coaching because it allows him to ski, to help others be the best versions of themselves and to watch them grow over the years.
Still, he acknowledges, it’s a competitive, dangerous sport. Sometimes people get hurt. Risk management is part of the role, as is navigating team dynamics. Yet there’s nothing else he’d rather be doing.
Heading to the Olympics in Italy was a whirlwind for Carey and his athletes. He barely had time to think about the magnitude of participating in the most prestigious sporting competition in the world because of the multiple rounds of qualifiers leading up to departure for training camp in Switzerland. But then, once the ceremonies began in Italy, the eyes of the world were on his team.
“You go to the Olympics, then all of a sudden, so many people are aware of the sport that you work at, every year, all year,” he said. “So I guess that’s kind of the big thing, like the scale is so much larger, so many people are more aware of what’s happening. And you know that it is only every four years — it’s a pretty unique experience.”
Still, he had a job to do: support his athletes and help them win. That occupied most of his focus. But occasionally, the thrill of where he found himself would seep in.
“Our athlete Alex Ferreira, winning gold, that’s unreal,” he said. “What else could you hope for? And they’re playing the national anthem. He’s getting his medal. That’s an unavoidable moment to not [think] that, Wow, we are here!”
He doesn’t take much time to dwell on the experience, though. As soon as the Olympics ended, it was time to get back to work.
“We’re four years away from the next one, and we have, again, a great team,” he said. “And I hope to be at the next one in France and see what the team is capable of.”
Although he now works with skiiers from all over the country, Carey remains connected to his Granite State roots. When people ask him where he’s from, he still says New Hampshire.
“I’m very grateful for the people I’ve had around me and team that I’m with, and I’m just happy to play my small part,” he said.
