Harry Bashaw is a humble, polite, respectable young man. He’s quiet, reserved – at least when he’s not on the slopes, blasting through the powder on his twin-tips – the kind of guy you want to hang out with, just because. He’s pleasant, likable. He’s a smart guy, too; he does well in school and has a plan for the future. And, yes, that plan involves skiing.
If there’s a moment when Bashaw is not enjoying the scenic view from atop the ski slope, it’s either because he’s got too much powder in his face to see it, or he’s in the middle of working on a killer new trick. “I’ve skied everywhere in the northwest,” he says with some pleasure. He’s skied resorts as far east as Colorado, and even managed to take a trip to Whistler, BC. You’ll find Harry on the slopes and terrain parks of Schweitzer, and Silver Mountain some 50 odd days a year. But that was not always the case.
“When I got interested in skiing, I started watching videos,” Bashaw explains. “I really wanted to try it, but I didn’t actually go until the last day of the season. And it just clicked; I could just do it, somehow.” Amazing, right? What’s more impressive is that that was only 4 years ago. He smiles and laughs at the thought. “Yeah, I haven’t been skiing very long.” He’s a Senior in high school this year with tentative plans for college in Colorado, where he’ll also try to break into the ski scene, hopeful that he’ll land a few sponsors. With his talent, this shouldn’t be a problem.
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Last year – during his fourth year of skiing – Bashaw decided he’d enter the competitive scene, locally. He surprised himself and others with a 2nd and 3rd place podium in a couple Rail Jams, and keeping in the top 5 at 3 other venues. He’s modest about his ability, though. Although it comes pretty easy to him, he’s quite aware that he’s only got a few years under his belt. “I didn’t do very well in the slope style comps,” he says. Something about linking the jumps got to him, but he looks forward with eagerness at all he has to learn; that’ll take many more days on the slopes.
Like all successful athletes, passion is a huge part of his success. For Harry, this passion is not so much about competition as it is about the lifestyle and companionship found on the slopes among likeminded powder junkies. It’s about working hard and pulling off new tricks. “My goal every time I’m learning a trick at the terrain park,” he says, “is to be able to do it when I’m out just skiing around.” Bashaw gestures out the window, taking in the world. “Everything I look at makes me think about skiing,” he says, “like, if I look at a rail, or if I look at a mountain as I’m driving down the road, I think ‘Hey, I bet I could ski that.’ It makes you willing to work all summer so you can ski all winter.”
Harry doesn’t use the words ‘Pro Athlete’ or ‘Olympian.’ He’s too modest for that. But he’s certainly got the character, passion, and talent to accomplish whatever he chooses. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when we see his name, one day, and we say to the person next to us, “Hey, I know that guy.”
By Toby Reynolds
As Featured In: Winter/Spring 2015