Ross Powers, a 22-year-old who was on the 1998 U.S. Olympic snowboard team, is sharing a bi-weekly diary on his preparations for the Olympics.

I'm in Mammoth, Calif. I've been out here for a week.

ROSS POWERS

Powers Birthdate: Feb. 10, 1979 Hometown: South Londenderry, Vt. Sport: Snowboarder -- halfpipe Accomplishments: He became the first U.S. snowboarder to win an Olympic medal, a bronze, at Nagano. The ISF halfpipe world champion in 2000, he also captured gold in superpipe at the 2000 Gravity Games. He took first place at the 2000 Goodwill Games in halfpipe and at the 1999 U.S. Open. He won two gold medals at the Winter X-Games in 1998. Personal: Considered snowboarding's first child prodigy, he competed in his first U.S. Open while in the fourth grade. He learned to snowboard on Bromley Mountain, where his mother worked on weekends. Other interests include skateboarding, wakeboarding, mountain biking, soccer, surfing and moto-cross.

They only have a couple of trails open, but it's good to get on snow again. I've been going up the hill in the morning and getting settled in. I've been traveling a lot, so it's nice to be in one place for a while.

Snowboarding in a way is like skateboarding on snow, but you're strapped to the board. What I do is halfpipe, which is like a skateboard ramp, but it's longer going down the hill. In the halfpipe you get about seven different hits -- three to four on each wall. You do spins or airs (which is just going up in the air). You're judged on your landings and the difficulty of the trick.

A good thing about the halfpipe is instead of it being like you're training, it's like you're just hanging out with friends. Everyone just gets along and has fun. If someone does well in competition, we're like "Great air, man." Instead of being competitive against one another, we just push each other and have fun.

Right now there's not much snow -- one or two runs. I just try and put some time in on snow. Basically, you're trying to get your legs used to it again and get used to your board and your equipment.

When I'm not on the snow, I do bike intervals, lift weights or play racquetball.

Before, I was traveling a lot, so I spend time catching up on e-mail and paperwork. I hang out with some of the other guys and we play soccer, but now that it has snowed we watch movies.

I also went to nearby Yosemite for the first time. We were there for only one day, but you're walking five feet away from wildlife. The trees there are huge compared to back East, and they had cool artifacts. I'll be here until Dec. 3 riding and training. Then I'll leave for competition.