Tyler Nicholson pursuing his Olympic dream

North Bay's Tyler Nicholson, may not be flying 100's of feet into the air but he may be following in Steve Omischl's ski boots.

Much like Steve Omischl did in Vancouver, Nicholson is close to representing Canada and the community of North Bay at the Olympics in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

The 17-year-old was told recently by Snowboard Canada and is the youngest member of the Canadian Slopestyle Ski Team.

"I'm super stoked to have the opportunity to ride with the big dawgs," Tyler said in an email to BayToday.ca.

"Last year at this time, I would never have believed I would be on the National Team with the Canadian riders like Mark, Seb and Max. I will try my best to keep learning and perfecting my riding."

Nicholson will be joining Mark McMorris, who holds the #1 place in the world rankings along with Seb Toutes, #3 and Max Parrot #8.

Tyler is currently ranked 23rd in the World.

He was selected by the Canada Snowboarding by meeting all of the criteria that brings the top 6 slopestyle riders in the country, to ride for Canada February 6th to 8th in Sochi, Russia

All 6 riders will attend, and the top 4 will compete in the first time ever Slopestyle Olympic Sport being introduced at the Games in 2014.

Tyler is scheduled for 3 Worlds Cups and will train with the National Team this summer in Australia, New Zealand and at his home base in Whistler, BC where the USA Olympic Team will train as well.

"I'm really looking forward to living in Whistler Village and going back to New Zealand and Austrialia with the team this summer," said Nicholson.

"I think I'm in for a sick experience."