UPDATE: Bend’s Biancha Emery is now ranked 11th in the world for youth women’s skeleton after Wednesday’s race in Pyeongchang. The top 19 youth skeleton racers qualify for the Youth Olympic Games next year in Pyeongchang, South Korea. If she qualifies, Biancha will represent the U.S. Olympic Committee.

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Bend is known for its outdoor sports, but Caldera High School ninth grader Biancha Emery participates in a sport that’s more extreme than most. A skeleton racer, she regularly speeds face-down head-first on icy tracks at astonishing speeds. This week, she’s competing in South Korea with 75 other teenagers from 25 different countries.

Emery has been in South Korea for three weeks to race and train for, ultimately, the Winter World Youth Olympics next year.

Emery, 15, only began training in the sport last year when her family lived in Utah, said her mother, Michele Emery. Skeleton is similar to luge, but involves only a single rider.

Her father, Steve, was a bobsledder, and encouraged Biancha to attempt a sled run at the track in Park City, Utah, which was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Since skeleton is such a niche sport, there are only two skeleton tracks in the United States: one in Park City and one in Lake Placid, New York.

Her first run didn’t go so well, because the boy ahead of her broke his arm. She didn’t want to go back up, but her mother convinced her to give it at least one more try.

“The second time was pretty cool, and she went up for the rest of the season,” said Michele Emery. The coaches in Utah saw natural talent in Emery, and recommended she train in Lake Placid.

Emery is the youngest racer to start from the top of the Lake Placid track, which she did in March 2022. Coaches there asked her to start training for the U.S. Skeleton Youth Olympic Development Team.

This week’s heats in Pyeongchang, for the BMW International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation’s OMEGA Youth Series, are her second international race. Emery also competed in Innsbruck, Austria, last month.

“It’s important to get time on the track,” said Michele Emery. The Winter World Youth Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang and its neighboring city of Gangneung next year, and skeleton racers will be racing on the same track Biancha has spent three weeks training on. Each track is different, and it’s important to know its characteristics.

“It’s fascinating how quickly she’s progressed,” said Michele Emery. “She has natural driving tendencies. She loves it.”

Emery is only allowed to perform two runs a day due to the sheer amount of G force, which takes its toll on the body. “It takes a lot out of athletes,” said Michele Emery. “It’s exhilarating to watch in person. Video and TV don’t do it justice.”

Emery’s fastest speed is 87 mph, and she’s already broken records, said her mother.

Skeleton racers hit their peak in their late 20s and 30s, and Emery is young to be a racer. Regardless, her next goal is the Youth Olympics next year, with her ultimate dream being to compete for the U.S. at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Emery is also a lacrosse goalie for Caldera High, and does strength and dry-land training in the off season.

Emery will head back to Lake Placid on Sunday for further training, as well as another race.