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Meet Eric Cohen, Deaflympian

U.S. Deaf Ski and Snowboard Deaflympian, Eric Cohen, will be competing in his first Winter Deaflympics this December 2019. Although Cohen began competitive snowboarding at age 21, he was no stranger to the slopes growing up. Under the influence of his parents, Cohen begin to ski at the young age of three. Five years later, he tried snowboarding for the first time and fell in love, and the rest is, as they say, history. Besides learning from fellow snowboarders, watching snowboarding movies, and reading magazines such as Transworld Snowboarding and SNOWboarder, Cohen was self taught, receiving no formal training. With the mountain as his primary teacher, Cohen placed third in the 2019 US Snowboard National Championships at the 30+ level.

Cohen, who received no formal training, placed third at the 2019 US Snowboard National Championships at Copper Mountain.

In preparation for the Deaflympics, Cohen is training 3 to 4 days a week at Woodward Copper, located at Copper Mountains Resort in the heart of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. In addition, he incorporates other modes of training to help him achieve his performance goals such as weight-lifting, swimming, yoga/stretching, hiking, and skateboarding. Outside of training, Cohen enjoys exploring Colorado while mountain biking.  

In the near future, Cohen plans to become a professional snowboarding coach. Currently he is working towards his certification through the American Association of Snowboard Instructors.  

The 2019 Winter Deaflypmics in Valtellina-Valchiavenna, Italy, will be Cohen’s first European experience. In his own words, Cohen shared, “I cannot wait to meet all the new faces from all over the world and have possibly one of the greatest times of our lives! I’m so excited!!”

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