By combining the most outrageous real life experiences and hardcore physics, new teacher Kevin Coulombe has been blowing students’ minds since the first day of school. Contrary to the more lackadaisical Physics class in past years, Coulombe teaches in a new and evermore intriguing manner. Though many may only see him as a kooky teacher, Coulombe has and continues to live an adventure-filled life, starting with his insane amount of talent on the slopes of Aspen, Colorado.
After switching from ski racing to snowboarding, Coulombe begun when he was just 11 years old. Coulombe says he switched from ski racing because he “didn’t like having to race all the time with [his] friends, I wanted to just enjoy the mountain more, I liked cruising and tricks opposed to just racing,” said Coulumbe. All throughout his high school career, Coulombe competed, quickly gaining talent even though he was later to emerging sport than most of his competitors. Although extremely gifted, there weren’t very many competitions to take part in, seeing as snowboarding was just beginning to become popular as a cutthroat sport. The most difficult skill Coulombe is able to execute is a “double front flip, or a McTwist (a backflip followed by a 540° spin),” said Coulombe.
Despite that the fact that the physics teacher is an accomplished snowboarder himself, he greatly admires “Gretchen Bleiler, because she’s a local who made it really big. I knew her growing up, she’s super down-to-Earth and humble even though she’s skilled enough to compete in the X-Games and Olympics,” said Coulombe. Staying true to his hometown, he confesses that his choice location to board is “Highlands Mountain in Aspen, it has 1 of the most extreme patrolled ski areas in the U.S., called the Highlands Bowl,” said Coulombe. His most cherished experience there was on “the Two Creeks Chairlift during a whiteout blizzard, I couldn’t even see the chair in front of me. But I was alone, and I have never felt more at peace and one with nature, it was incredible,” Coulombe added.
Living in California and being limited to popular slopes such as Mammoth or China Peak, comparing the unimaginable perfect powder in Aspen, Colorado seems like a true Winter Wonderland. Besides signing up for his AP Physics class, Coulombe’s final advice to his fellow shredders is “when you find the sweet powder stash, only share it with your closest friends”.
