Brianna Zimmer doesn’t mind the heavy snowfall that has blanketed the area this winter.
It’s no wonder. Zimmer is a talented junior skiing for the Mount Pleasant athletic program. She has been skiing overall for four seasons and in high school for three.
Zimmer went to the state meet as a sophomore. In her first two seasons, she’s had strong performances at various meets.
“This year, I think I’ve taken another giant step in becoming an all-around skier,” she said, adding that her conference meet was a strong performance, while she struggled somewhat in the regional.
This season, she won the slalom event at the Cadillac Invitational. She also took the slalom at the conference championship meet, which qualified her for the Division state finals in that event. In meet at Harbor Springs, Zimmer took 17th place in the giant slalom.
“She’s had a stellar season,” said coach Charlie Zeiter. “She’s one of the best female ski racers I’ve ever had, and this is my 47th year of doing this. She’s the complete package. She knows how to get ready for race day, she knows how to train. She’s always working hard.
“She’s a scholar-athlete in the truest sense of the word,” Zeiter said. “I got a hold of her in about eighth grade and she got hooked on ski racing. She’s the kind of athlete that is the coach’s dream. She’s so coachable. You tell her how to take a certain part of the course, or a combination or whatever, and it’s a done deal.”
“Coach always tells me I usually have a pretty good line in GS,” Zimmer said. “I’ve always been good at that. The slalom, it’s my competitiveness, I guess.”
Two teammates from the boys’ team qualified for the slalom event at state finals.
“Skiing isn’t really a big sport at my school,” Zimmer said. “We don’t have a big amount of girls for the team This year’s team had five girls. You usually want six on a team. Our guys’ team had a fair amount of boys. It’s growing.”
Zimmer got interested in the ski team through her brother. “He is three years older than me,” she said. “In his junior year, he was on the ski team. The coach asked me to be a manager. So I would go up to Snow Snake with the team. Then I started doing it from then on.”
Snow Snake Ski and Golf in Harrison is the team’s home course.
Zimmer, like other skiers, benefitted from the onslaught of snow that started falling in late November and continued all season.
“Usually we never get to go to the hill before Christmas break,” Zimmer said. “Usually Christmas is the first time we get to go. This year we got to go to Snow Snake a few days before Christmas break. It gave us a better chance to start training.”
Zimmer also takes advantage of her chances to ski when the high school season is done. “I’ve been to Utah a couple of times, and I’ve been to Canada,” she said.
At Mount Pleasant, Zimmer also plays volleyball and soccer. Her favorite sport is a tossup between volleyball and skiing.
“The atmosphere in skiing is laid back, and it’s a lot of fun,” Zimmer said.