After watching videos of  professional skaters landing ludicrous jumps and hearing worldwide applause this weekend, Sari Behr turned to me and exclaimed “I am obsessed with them, all I want to do is be just like them”.

Behr, a sophomore and competitive skater at AHS, has been skating for nearly her entire life, under the coaching of her own mother, Peggy Behr, who was a skater herself.  In the 1980-90’s she traveled around the world with Disney on Ice as Dopey from Snow White and also skated competitively.  Later on after her skating career ended, Peggy began coaching, and coached skating National champion and Olympian, Jeremy Abbott.  Sari is now following in her mother’s footsteps at the Aspen Revolutions Figure Skating Club.  Having a mother as a coach seems like it could be hard at times, but Sari and Peggy seem to really make it work.

“I think it has been a real bond between Sari and I and when we look back on it, it has been a really positive experience for the two of us,” Peggy said.

Sari feels nearly the exact same ways, but being a teenager, gets annoyed by it at times as well.

“There are ups and downs, but I mostly enjoy having her there because she knows me better than any of my other coaches and always has the right thing to say. We also joke around a lot together, which makes being at the rink fun,” Sari said.

Sari just finished her skating season after the recent Southwestern Regionals in Fort Collins in early October.  There, she performed two pieces, that she has been working on for the entire year-long season.  One routine was performed to a track from the movie “Anna Karenina”, and the other to an instrumental version of Adele’s “Turning Tables”.

Despite the tough competition, Sari got out on the ice and performed the best she could.  Sari thought that she did well at regionals and “felt good with how I skated”.  She believed that the competition was extremely close and only a few mistakes held her back from advancing to the final rounds.   Even without making it to finals, Sari found many things to be proud of coming out of it.

“I landed the hardest jump in my program, a double axel. This was a big accomplishment for me because I had been working all year on that jump,” Sari said.

“There are nine states that compete at the Southwestern regionals, Texas skaters being the toughest, and more than half of Sari’s level is from Dallas,”  Coach Peggy said.  “Knowing that going into regionals was tough, but she held her own and I was really proud of her.”

With this season at its end, the new one must begin.  Sari will now start working on two new routines for next year’s competitions and regionals.  Another side project for both Sari and her mother is the annual Stars on Aspen Ice skating show on December 20th.  Jeremy Abbott, the Olympian, and Peggy Behr are the ones who put on this show.  It will feature “skating’s biggest names like 2014 Olympian Gracie Gold” and all of the students in the Revolutions club.

“It is a show you would see at the Pepsi Center, but it is right here in Aspen.” said Peggy Behr excitedly.

Beyond the show, Sari and Peggy have great expectations for Sari’s future skating career.  Sari talked about wanting to be just like the professionals and is well on her way towards that.

“ I think Sari has many years of competitive skating ahead of her, hopefully at the national level or higher. She could possibly become a competitive pair skater, and of course she will have many opportunities to skate around the world in professional ice shows,” Peggy said.

Sari ultimately hopes to compete at the highest of levels and maybe even become a figure skating Olympian some day.  She loves to be out on the ice and is passionate about what she does.  Hopefully everyone in the school can now take part in Sari’s skating career and head out to the show in December.  Until then, wish her luck!