BANNER ELK, N.C. – In the first installment of the "Meet the Ski & Snowboard Seniors" series, Head Skiing & Snowboarding Coach
Aaron Maas introduces
Lili Bauer, a senior alpine/freestyle snowboarder and Outdoor Recreation Management major from Boone, N.C.
"Lili has been a part of the snow sports community in the High Country her whole life," said Maas. "I first met her while I was an instructor at Sugar Mountain Resort over a decade ago. At that time she was just a kid running around Ski School having fun and trying to convince instructors to get on the chairlift with her. You could tell she had a passion for the sport back then, and it continues to this day."
From her first days on campus, Bauer has been an integral member of the team. Whether it's leading by example on off the snow, she has helped make the team what it is today.
Her list of accomplishments on the snow is extensive when you consider she has only competed for two years with the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association (USCSA). As a freshman she was a conference champion in both alpine and freestyle snowboard. During Regionals at Seven Springs Resort she won the alpine event and finished second in freestyle. Nationals was held in Jackson, WY, where she finished fifth overall in alpine and seventh in freestyle.
Even after missing half of her sophomore events last year she still managed to finish fourth in alpine and fifth in freestyle during the conference season. However, she decided snowboarding wasn't enough of a challenge and to the dismay of her competitors she entered the women's free ski competition. When the season was over, Bauer was on the podium in third place in the women's free ski standings. At regionals, she continued to impress in her new category finishing fifth in free ski.
In snowboarding, she was on the podium twice coming in second in freestyle and third in alpine. Unfortunately, the national competition was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Bauer took part in enough events to place third in alpine and fourth in freestyle. She also managed to sneak into the top ten for women's free ski.
Not only has she been stellar on the snow, but also the classroom. In her two years competing in the USCSA, she has been a Scholar All-American in both seasons. She also helps tutor local-area high school students and is the campus representative for Protect Our Winters (POW). This semester she has helped lead the charge in getting students registered to vote at Lees-McRae.
When she's not in class, Lili is often out in the woods exploring Mother Nature or, when the temperature drops, out on the snow making turns.
"It's comforting to know that I can still walk into the Sugar Mountain Ski School on weekends and find Lili," said Maas. "The difference is, now she's the instructor teaching a whole new generation that will hopefully follow the trail that she has so successfully blazed."
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