The Patriot’s Athlete of the Week normally features a student involved in activities offered by the school however this choice excludes individuals committed to activities that don’t display the Mendham name across the chest of a uniform. For this week’s feature, Olivia Hyde, active skiing enthusiast and instructor, speaks of her own growth alongside the sport since first beginning at 3 years old.

Hyde is an active member of Killington Mountain Resort & Spa in Vermont; coined as “Beast of the East,” Killington is the largest ski area in the Northeast with the largest vertical drop of 3,050 ft in the New England region. In an interview, Hyde recounts how “in the beginning, I [she] was held back by reins that served as protection” but when freed, “there was a moment of fear, which quickly transformed into a moment of complete release and exhilaration.” This moment of freedom has since then propelled her to seek the “bigger and better” courses- searching desperately for the same feeling from that first independent run. She admits that it is in those few moments alone that she feels most like herself. When skiing, she embodies the fearlessness of the sport and finds release in the notion that one is fully in control.

Hyde prophetically labeled her personal moments skiing as experiences that were “out-of-body.” She strives to give people the opportunity to feel that same connection and attraction. Whether it be through taking her friends from Mendham to Vermont for a weekend or become a ski instructor for Killington Mountain Resort & Spa, she persists in opening people’s hearts and eyes to the beauty of the sport. Admitting that “each year, my [Hyde’s] love and appreciation grow deeper” forcing her now to “share my [her] of skiing with as many people as I can.”

Despite Hyde’s prodigious manner in skiing, she confessed to The Patriot that she has tried practically every sport including but limited to gymnastics, football, soccer, lacrosse, and basketball. Although Hyde committed to a few other sports throughout her middle and high school career, skiing remains unparalleled for “with skiing, I [Hyde] have been willing to take risks and push myself to be better. I’ve done races, taught children, teenagers, adults, and skiing through 70 degrees and -45 degree days. I cannot imagine myself ever losing the feeling I get every time I snap into my bindings.”

At the conclusion of the interview, Hyde described skiing as a piece of herself- the tangible activities and the intangible feelings constructing a part of her identity. Although it is a cliche, she fully believes that she wouldn’t be the same person if not for the influence of this sport.