David Wise has a calling to be in the air. Growing up, this Reno native could be seen jumping off the roof with an umbrella and spending countless hours on the trampoline. He strapped on skis for the first time at the age of three when his parents enrolled him in the Sky Tavern Junior Ski Program. At age 11, David had found something that combined his love of being airborne and his passion for skiing—freestyle skiing.
After entering his first Halfpipe and Big Air competitions at age 12, there was no turning back. David won his first Junior Olympic title in both Big Air and Halfpipe at age 13 and has been turning heads ever since.
In 2008, David kicked off his professional skiing career with a host of podium and top five finishes capped off with a win in Superpipe at the 2009 World Skiing Invitational. That summer David made skiing history by being the first person to ever perform a double corked 1260 in the Halfpipe. Following an injured season in 2009-2010 David made his mark on the 2010-2011 season by ending up ranked 4th in the world in Halfpipe.
This past January, David was the 2012 Gold medalist in the Winter X Games 16 in the Men’s Superpipe. He showed off his new switch double flip trick at the X Games beating out two-time defending champion Kevin Rolland of France. David was the oldest man at the podium at the ripe age of 21. He is the first American to win the gold in Men’s Skiing Superpipe since 2008.
Asked what he told himself before dropping in to the Halfpipe, David said, “Just take a moment and refocus. Tell yourself it’s just another run. All the outside influences don’t matter. Every run is one run of you and the Halfpipe.”
Last Year, the International Olympic Committee announced that Skiing Halfpipe would be included in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Soon after this announcement, David was selected to be a part of the firs
t ever U.S. Freeskiing Team. David said this about his time on the U.S. Freeskiing team, “The whole experience has been pretty cool. Everyone’s there because they want to be the best in the world. And they’re all working hard.”
If all of this success isn’t enough David recently married Lexi and is the proud father of a baby girl, Nayeli, born October 5, 2011. He is the first “daddy” to win Skiing Superpipe gold.
When asked what was like growing up in Reno, David said, “There are only a couple cool cities in the world where you can have a bit of a city life, but then there are mountains and skiing nearby. Through my travels, I’ve learned to love Reno. I didn’t really love it growing up, but it’s great for me now.”
With the announcement that Skiing Halfpipe is going to be included in the 2014 Winter Olympics, David has set his sights and efforts towards being there representing the U.S. His fans are eagerly waiting to root him on.
