Sisters skier makes Deaf Olympics team

Nicolas Yopp on the slopes.

Nicolas Yopp of Sisters qualified for the U.S. Deaf Olympics Team in races at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, last month.

Yopp will travel to Europe to ski with the team to compete in the Deaf Olympics in February 2003.

The event will be held in Sudsvall, Sweden.

According to Sisters Outlaws ski coach Todd Williver, Yopp came back from a fall in the slalom race to post his qualifying times.

"He fell in the slalom, then came back and won in both the Super G and Giant Slalom and finished second in the head-to-head dual slalom," Williver said.

The combination of times put Yopp on the team.

Williver said he "suspected Nick would ski well," but he had never competed in these trials before, so no one was sure how his results would stack up.

"It's a major accomplishment," Williver said.

Yopp was on the Sisters Outlaws Ski team that traveled to state competition this season. He is a junior at Sisters High School. He has been legally deaf since early childhood.