Sammamish High School - Thunderbird Yearbook (Bellevue, WA)

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'Q o 3. A qw, ' vvi V it X sa Q g ii gk x i M 3 T iii S S .li E i A.,-4 'M P+,-auf,-3 'iigfii' in 111' S I SU PER SKIER Dan Zunterstein looks over hlzi' trophies. 17

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IT,S A BIRD... IT'S A PLANE

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It's a bird. lt's a plane. It's super skier. Sam- mamish's super skier is Dan Zunterstein who has been skiing since he was old enough to stand on two feet. Dan is now the school's top ski racer. The long racing season begins early in Decem- ber with cross country runs, while teams await the first snows of the season. The snow natural- ly draws thern to the mountains where the ac- tive training with weekend ski trips plus night skiing begins. Members of the Washington Athletic Club teams include Ken Christensen, Sue Donelson, Vicki Pavloff, and Jim Piper. Chuck Hammer races for Ski Professional, Inc., and Pat Petesch for Bellevue Ski Team. Tom Classen and Bob Reeves race unattached to any team. Most of the local races are held at Crystal Mountain, Stevens Pass, or Sno- qualmie Summit. The racing events include downhill, slalom, and giant slalom. All the pre-season prepara- tion. extensive physical training and endless waiting culminates on race day. The mental pressure on the racer is tremendous, but not on Dan Zunterstein. Dan began ski racing in the fourth grade as a Pacific Northwest Ski Association novice or beginner. He moved to the next racing class. intermediate, at age eleven, and by seventh grade Zunterstein was an expert. His train- ing consisted of a few jump rope sessions, an occasional jog through the Arboretum with his ski racing team: the Crystal Mountain Athletic Cliib QCMACJ and night skiing. Dur- ing the summer, he runs stations on the snow fields of Mt. Rainier. For Zunterstein the skiing season never ends: he can be found skiing throughout the year's four seasons. The only time Dan took time out from his skiing was to allow injuries to heal. After eight years of racing, Dan is at present shooting for a berth on the Junior National Ski Championships, representing PNSA. His ultimate goal is winning a skiing scholarship at an established university. Racing in all three types of events, downhill slalom and giant slalom, Dan has been suc- cessful in his years of racing. His success may be measured by his two shelves full of trophies. This year, Dan's CMAC team has toured the PNSA circuit with races at Bachelor Butte in Bend, Oregon, Breendage Mountain. McCall Idaho, the Silver Skiis, a race in which fifteen selectjuniors were hand-picked to race against many of U.S. and Canada's top ski racers, and also at Mt. Spokane, Spokane, Washington. Dan Zunterstein, a fifteen year veteran of the ski slopes-some say he was born on skiis-can now be called, Sammamish's super skiier. 18 F ULLOW