DJ Young doesn’t know what it means to stay grounded. He’s a sophomore who prefers to keep his head – and his entire body- in the clouds.

“It’s hard to describe sometimes because you just have so much adrenaline going through you that it’s hard to remember what just happened” the sophomore ski jumper said. “You can’t really hear anything because the wind is rushing past your ears, and all you see is the ground coming at you. But since you’re on a hill, the hill kind of cushions your fall. It’s crazy. You see the ground and you’re flying above it for two seconds and then you just start falling.”

He attributes his mom and a bit of chance to the reason why he got started in such an exhilarating sport.

“My mom was like ‘hey DJ, I always pass this ski jump’ when I was little, so she asked me if I wanted to try ski jumping and I said I’d give it a try.  And then I just kind of went from there. I showed up one day for a practice and tried it out and went with it.” Young said.

After his first experience at a practice, Young already found that ski jumping was something he wanted to pursue, especially after catching sight of the more experienced ski jumpers going through their practice.

“You see the other ski jumpers going down the hill and jumping like hundreds of feet, and here you are, thinking, ‘I want to do that. And that’s the motivation you get to keep going” Young said. “They just looked so cool, I was like ‘I want to go hundreds of feet in the air.’”

Though Young ended his ski jumping career this year in order to save time for school sports, ski jumping will always hold a special place in his heart.

“There’s really nothing like it.” Young said. “I miss it. I’d definitely do it again I’d go back maybe just one more, time. I’d love to be able to do it one more time. If I had the time, I’d definitely start up again.”