Nicolas Belissent – Profile

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, skiing wasn’t the most accessible of sports. Luckily, my parents were avid mountain lovers, so we often made the three hour drive to Lake Tahoe. I learned how to ski at Tahoe Donner, a tiny ski hill outside of Truckee, and then moved on Sugar Bowl as I grew older. At the age of 8, I graduated to Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley. But the skiing I did before the age of ten consisted mostly of pizza turns and French fry parallels. Living by the sea, wasn’t the best place to become an amazing skier! Fortunately, in 2010, I moved the Chamonix Valley in the French Alps. Loving the fresh mountain air, my integration in the skiing community was relatively easy. After two years of alpine skiing, I switched to telemark. I learned quickly and was eager to compete on a national level. In 2014, I joined the Mont Blanc regional team as a partner and placed in many French Cups. Two years ago, my coach Seb Mansart, contacted the U.S. team to ask if I could try out. After getting their approval, I raced my first World Cup at the WC Finals in Muerren, Switzerland. The next year, I raced in 4 different venues across Europe and enjoyed every moment, from the speedy turns to the high doses of adrenaline. A highlight of this past season was my trip to Norway for World Juniors. I had a blast !

This coming year I will be studying in the UK so skiing will become more complicated. My main goal would be to race as many World Cups I can and attend the Junior World Championships.