Lake in the Hills snowboard athlete lives to catch air on the Half Pipe

Lake in the Hills resident Kyle Kelley is in no hurry to see the green of the grass.

"That's for sure," he laughed. "I don't like looking at grass until the summertime."

The 13-year-old Kelley, a seventh-grader at Marlowe Middle School in Lake in the Hills, prefers the wintry conditions so he can snowboard, a favorite pastime that's blossomed into a sport for which he's nationally known.

Kelley is ranked fifth in the country in the Half Pipe in the Breaker Boys (12-13) division by the USA Snowboarding Association (USASA).

The Half Pipe, a U-shaped trench in the snow for competitors to ride up the sides of and do maneuvers in, is one of four events Kelley typically participates in at local USASA events held at Raging Buffalo Snowboard Park on Illinois 31 in Algonquin.

Kelley is slated to compete in the Half Pipe at the U.S. Open in Vermont March 23, and will also head to the USASA nationals in Copper Mountain, Colo., March 28-April 5.

"I've been snowboarding for about six or seven years," said Kelley, who has been nationally ranked in each of the last two seasons and will be going to nationals for the fourth time.

"My big brother, Sean, started snowboarding before me and got me into it. Snowboarding is awesome. It's a really cool sport. It's fun to fly in the air and do tricks and compete. It's all fun."

Kelley is a frequent visitor to Raging Buffalo in Algonquin.

"I'm there every day after school," said Kelley, who also plays baseball for the Lake in the Hills Thunder traveling team. "I've only missed a couple of days. That's my home hill."

Kelley's mother, Sherri, has burned a trail to and from Raging Buffalo the last few years.

"Every day after school he's like, 'Come on, Mom. Let's go,'" said Sherri Kelley.

"He gets home at 8:30 or 9 at night and does his schoolwork and does the same thing over the next day. He's very dedicated to it. He can't wait for the snow every year.

"He starts talking about it in August and September until the snow finally falls."

Sherri Kelley said the availability of a facility like Raging Buffalo gives area snowboarders who are serious about the sport an upper hand.

"Other kids who live in places like Colorado and Vermont and California, they live near the bigger mountains," said Sherri Kelly. "But they don't get to practice as much as our kids here do. It's a 15-minute drive for us."

In terms of his favorite events, Kelley gives the Half Pipe the nod.

"I'm better at Slopestyle (doing tricks over jumps and rails in a freestyle use of the terrain), but the Half Pipe is my favorite. It's harder to learn new tricks," said Kelley.

"Slopestyle is a lot easier to get the tricks down. Half Pipe, you go up 18- to 20-foot walls and you get 5 feet in the air. Trying to stick is hard, but it's fun."

Sherri Kelley is thrilled to see her son's passion poured into the sport.

"I enjoy every minute of it," said Sherri Kelley. "It makes standing out in the cold well worth it, watching him go down the hill and do his tricks and jumps. It's a sport he really loves, and we will support him and do what we can for it.

"It's great watching your kids do what they love to do. What he does is amazing."

Kelley currently uses a Forum snowboard, but hopes to garner a sponsorship from a board company down the road. Talk of sponsorship prospects in any sport generally means the athlete's skill and commitment level is great.

Not surprisingly, Kelley has big plans for his future.

"I basically want to be a pro snowboarder," said Kelley. "Hopefully, I can go to the X-Games and to the Olympics."