Not a case of board vs. education

SUGARLOAF, Maine -- Like luck itself, timing can work both ways.

Just ask Bryana Mitchell from Norwood, Mass., who, entering her senior year of high school, made her way into Carrabassett Valley Academy -- one of the top hardcore ski/snowboard academies in the Northeast. Her mother, Anne, a single mom who works, cares for her aging parents by day and attends law school at night, sold her house so that Bryana could attend CVA.

"A school she fell in love with," said Anne.

That's the good luck/good timing part. Having watched an interview with Lindsey Jacobellis during the Turin Olympics last year, Bryana Mitchell said she was "dumbfounded" to learn that there were schools in which young athletes could get an education while they pursued the sports they were passionate about. Jacobellis went to Stratton Mountain School in Vermont.

"I remember thinking 'There's no way [ski schools] exist,' " says Mitchell. "But then I did my own research and found CVA. I was so happy to get here."

A good student and ardent snowboarder, Mitchell entered CVA in September with hopes of competing and improving her skills this season, and then matriculating at the University of Colorado in Boulder next year. But just as her life was schussing along in that direction, Mitchell broke her foot in a training accident on a trampoline in January.

But it's just a temporary setback. After her competitive season came to an end, she found her way to the Sugarloaf TV station and began working as an intern. She hopes to be back on her board next month.

"Being here at CVA, even when you're not getting out on a board, is just so helpful in other ways," she said. "The teachers and kids are just so close, you always have people to help you."

CVA, home to around 90 teenagers with 50 staff members in a campus at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain in central Maine, may be best known for the World Cup medals, Olympic hardware, the world and national titles won by its famous graduates -- Bode Miller, Seth Wescott, Kirsten Clark, and Emily Cook, to name a few -- but if that's what has put the school in the spotlight, most students describe a life on campus that is intense, purposeful, sometimes headspinning, and just loads of fun.

For all the big-time names in skiing and snowboarding that have come through the academy, there are many more, like Mitchell, who are far lesser known. When both headmaster John Ritzo and his wife, Patti, an academic assistant, came to visit her in the hospital after her accident, that gesture spoke volumes for Bryana and Anne.

And it reiterated why the family sacrificed to send her to an expensive private school.

"Bryana just got herself to the right place," said Anne, who found it perfectly natural to sell the house to help pay the $33,000 tab, and then college for both her daughters. Sure, it may seem an extreme move, but, "We truly believe that you have to take chances in life."

To many of the kids -- some from close to home, some from across the continent -- CVA may not be a guarantee of success, but in the words of freshman Craig Marshall, "Being here puts you in a position to succeed."

Marshall, 14, who grew up in the Carrabassett Valley, is a day student whose greatest concern at the moment, aside from history and math, is having to ski slalom courses that are too flat for his relatively light weight. A first-seed skier in the state, Marshall says the Competition Hill course at Sugarloaf/USA is steep, just right for his quick turning ability.

But get him on a flatter course, which is more common at the competition venues, and, "Everyone else is bigger, and right now I don't carry enough freight," he said.

Typical of CVA students, Marshall is well aware of the big names who have come through the school, but realizes that his reaching the highest levels of the sport is not very realistic. "Not many people make the US Ski Team," said Marshall, whose father, Jay, helps volunteer in the racing program at school. "It's not impossible, but I think more about skiing for a Division 1 [college]."

John Ritzo agrees with the realistic approach, but points to examples of athletes who had low expectations but made it to the top. For every Miller and Clark, who came to CVA marked for big futures, there are others who came out of nowhere.

"Seth [Wescott, gold medal snowboarder at the Turin Games] really came out of the pack, and we have a couple of other kids who get to the medals or into the X Games," said Ritzo. "We really didn't see them coming on the way they did, so there are surprises."

Life at CVA can be a whirl of activity. After students attend classes all day Monday, the rest of the week is spent doing classwork, engaging in snowsports or dryland training at the Antigravity Complex, or planning for weekend trips. The shortest of these are competitions in state, but in any given year, CVA kids may be competing all over the country and abroad. One group in the Alps program -- an outdoor adventure course that prepares students for wilderness and big-mountain skiing -- recently spent time at a session in the French Alps.

When away from campus, students take packets of academic material designed to let them progress on their own, then work with teachers upon their return. Groups of students are constantly in transition, and as with any of the school's activities, the responsibility rests with the students.

Todd Karol, a 17-year-old junior from South Boston who has spent three years at CVA, describes a close tie between faculty and students.

"It's very laid-back here," he explained. "Everything is about self-discipline. I travel a lot and the teachers are OK with it as long as I get my work done. If I don't understand something, that's one thing -- I can learn it when I get back. But that's really different from just slacking on work. But because of the self-discipline, you tend to learn as much in less time than at other schools."

Scheduling and space are two of the great challenges at CVA. Though the student body is relatively small, the old campus bursts at the seams. But next fall, said Ritzo, the first building of the new campus will open, a $5 million dorm that will house 86 full-time students with six faculty apartments. But even when both phases of the new campus are in place, the formula will remain as it always was. And that may help explain why 11 of the 50 staff members are alumni.

"Even if a student achieves a very high competitive level, that's not what they came to CVA for," said Ritzo, who already has his eye on students he envisions as the next Olympians. "What they always mention is the other things -- the relationships they make, the shared experiences, and the self-confidence they gained here. Those have always been our important values."

Tony Chamberlain can be reached at chamberlain@globe.com.