Jaeger wins gold at national skiing competition

COEUR d'ALENE - Broken bones heal. Ask JoJo Jaeger. The Holy Family Catholic School fourth-grader and slopeskier broke her arm last year on a nasty spill practicing jumps a week before the United States of America Snowboard Association National Championships. "I went off it too big," she said of the jump, and ended up crash landing and in a cast, causing her to miss the challenge the first year she had qualified to participate.

COEUR d'ALENE - Broken bones heal.

Ask JoJo Jaeger.

The Holy Family Catholic School fourth-grader and slopeskier broke her arm last year on a nasty spill practicing jumps a week before the United States of America Snowboard Association National Championships.

"I went off it too big," she said of the jump, and ended up crash landing and in a cast, causing her to miss the challenge the first year she had qualified to participate.

"My coach was even more sad because I'm the only girl on the team," the 10-year-old said.

But that arm mended and JoJo landed her first appearance - and gold medal - at the national championships April 3-10 in Colorado, the biggest amateur national snowboard and ski event.

"I was a little more careful this year," she said.

Her first-place finish came in slopestyle skiing, which is a downhill race where skiers land jumps and grind along rails toward the finish line.

When she got to the event, the Hayden girl met several other skiers who weren't modest about their racing resumes.

"I was just hoping to place," she said.

So taking gold was a shock.

She also finished eighth in skiercross.

"It was kind of crazy," she said of her first-place finish.

Both JoJo, who has been skiing since she was 2 and wants to turn professional, and her brother, Jacob, qualified for the National Championships by accumulating points at a number of USASA events throughout the Northwest.