Star Snowboarding Siblings Sign with Arluck Promotions

Good things come in pairs. A perfect example is the brother-sister duo of Teddy and Jordan Karlinski — the next great snowboarders to come from Aspen, Colorado.

Arluck Promotions is pleased to announce that both young athletes have signed with its company for a full representation agreement.

Jordan, 16, made her debut at the Winter X Games in boardercross at just 15, and is a member of the US Snowboarding Team. The young star already has her sights set on the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, after a dominating 2005-06 winter season in which she won one Grand Prix slopestyle and finished third in another.

Her older brother isn’t far behind. This past winter, Teddy,18, had his best competitive season to date, highlighted by a fifth-place finish in slopestyle at a Grand Prix at Oregon’s Mount Bachelor.

Miah Wheeler, the duo’s head snowboarding coach at the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, describes both as one-of-a-kind talents.

“They both rise to any occasion,” Wheeler says. “Jordie has a natural style and grace in her riding. She makes it look easy. Teddy is a gamer. The better the competition, the better he rides.”

Jordan , who first strapped on a board at 7, is equally proficient in the freestyle disciplines of halfpipe and slopestyle, as well as the high-stakes, winner-take-all derby that is boardercross.

She was selected to the U.S. Snowboarding Team for boardercross after her debut at the Winter X Games in 2005, but has continued to compete – and win – in the two freestyle disciplines.

Jordie credits her versatility to years of riding with her older brother and his group of friends. “It totally makes a difference riding with boys,” Jordan says. “If you look at it, they have so many more technical tricks, and they’re so much more advanced in most areas of snowboarding. It’s just more fun riding with them because they totally push you.”

Teddy takes credit for pushing his sister along, but acknowledges that she has helped motivate him. His current goal is to earn a spot amonst the best riders in the world when the Winter X Games arrives in Aspen next year.

“I want to be there right with her,” he says. “That definitely pushes me when I see her in the X Games. I want the same kind of recognition.”

Both Karlinskis honed their skills under the direction of the coaches at AVSC — a factory for Olympic athletes over the years. At the 2006 Games in Torino, two AVSC alums represented the United States in snowboarding, including halfpipe silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler. The other AVSC rider, Jason Smith, finished sixth in the inaugural men’s boardercross — the second-best finish for the U.S.

Ian Fehler
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