Simsbury Twins Training For National Snowboarding Championship

SIMSBURY, CT — When Mick Ferraro and Mia Soucy signed up their twin sons for a trip to Ski Sundown, they had no way of knowing that both boys would become nationally-ranked snowboarders who live and train in Vermont.

The family had moved to Simsbury from Westport, and the boys, Hudson and Hendrix, started school at Latimer Lane Elementary. One day, their parents signed them up for a school trip to Ski Sundown in New Hartford — mostly as a way to get them involved in their new town.

It was the first time either of them had tried snowboarding, but immediately, both were hooked.

"Anytime they had a chance, they were on a snowboard," Ferraro said. "It was never any formal lessons or anything; they were just with their buddies and ripping."

Four years later, the now 12-year-olds are decorated snowboarders who have qualified for the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association's (USASA) 2022 National Championship.

Hudson and Hendrix started competing in USASA's Southern New England series — one of several regional contests — and this year, they won the 11-12 age group's slopestyle competition: Hendrix came in first, and Hudson came in second.

Slopestyle involves snowboarding down obstacles like rails and jumps, and both boys are nationally ranked in the event (Hendrix is ranked fourth in the country, while Hudson is sixth).

Based on those rankings, the twins have qualified for the USASA National Championship, which will be held in Copper Mountain, Colorado, in April. They'll compete in the boys' 11- and 12-year-old slopestyle event.

Hendrix and Hudson currently live at Mount Snow in Vermont, where they train five or six days a week. They go to school at the Mount Snow Academy — they're still enrolled in Henry James Memorial School, just taking classes virtually — and they spend the rest of their time training.

Their parents have been supportive — they'll take the kids out snowboarding whenever possible, and they built a ramp in their backyard for them to train.

But Mick, who was an athlete in college, is the first to admit that he's still baffled by their quick rise.

"I have no idea what's going on," he said. "This is totally unknown to us."

In the off-season, Hudson and Hendrix play on a Simsbury soccer team, and in the future they may travel out west to train.

But for now, the family is happy with the program at Mount Snow, where the twins will continue training as long as they remain interested in snowboarding. And "school comes first," Mick says.

"As a parent, you just want your kids to love something and find joy, and they've found it with one another. They just want to be on the mountain, the two of them together," Mick said. "They do it innately; to challenge one another, to get better. That's really the really fascinating part about this — and having twins."

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