Some grandparents enjoy bragging about the achievements of their grandchildren, but how many teenagers can say that they have a former Olympic team member for a grandfather? Junior Lizzy Burhenne grew up in a family with a strong skiing tradition that began when Lizzy’s grandfather, Hans Joachim Burhenne, made the German ski team for the 1940 Winter Olympics, which was canceled due to the onset of World War II.

Despite this setback, Hans Joachim has published a book, Sierra Spring Ski-Touring, on one-day tours of 28 different ski peaks. A ski run on Mt. Walt in Yosemite National Park was also named in his honor.

According to Lizzy, her entire family inherited her grandfather’s love of skiing. The Burhenne family skied at Lake Tahoe every weekend while Burhenne attended elementary school. She competed in slalom skiing, in which skiers swerve around bright orange flags.

Her older sister Catharine enjoyed powder skiing, while her younger sister Marie participated in mogul skiing, in which skiers pass between bumps called moguls. Catharine, a 20-year-old junior at Scripps College, taught kids how to ski at Alpine Meadows as part of the ski patrol during high school.

Burhenne first started skiing at age four, and began practicing with the Alpine Meadows ski team at age seven. She started at bronze level, but at age eight she raced at silver level just a few seconds away from gold, and the following year, she reached gold.

Burhenne participated in races every Easter and Christmas, and also paid to enter other race throughout the year. She won first place in a Christmas race at age nine and she placed her fastest time in an Easter race when she was 13 years old.

As Burhenne grew older, she gradually lost interest in skiing after discovering soccer and lacrosse in middle school, and quit skiing competitively in her freshman year. However, she still skis with her family for fun.

Burhenne said the most enjoyable aspect of skiing is the speed that she can reach while skiing. “It’s really fun,” she said. “You can attain speeds that are only otherwise possible while you’re riding in a car or plane. Other than car racing, I can’t really think of a sport that is faster, and that’s when you’re in a car. In skiing, your own body attains the speed.” Burhenne described skiing as almost like “flying, but on the ground.”

Due to her skiing experience, Burhenne was able to learn how to snowboard in three days. While she respects snowboarding and considers it a fun sport, she believes skiing is more difficult. “I love snowboarding, it’s great—but when you’re snowboarding, if something goes wrong, you can just sit back on your butt and rest,” Burhenne said. “When you fall while skiing, your skis go everywhere. Skiing is also faster, and plus, you have poles to deal with.”

Burhenne encourages anyone looking for a new form of exercise to take up skiing. “I would totally recommend taking up skiing because it works out muscles in your body that you don’t use for walking or running,” she said. “You can also get up to speeds that you can’t reach by running.”