BOUNTIFUL ó Whatís a snowboarder to do during those long, hot summer months? Conquer the water, of course. Bountiful native Nicole Roundy, a childhood cancer survivor, above-the-knee amputee, and medal-winning snowboarder, recently added to her awards with a gold medal win in the Womenís Wakeboarding category at the Extremity Games in Waterford, Mich.

ìI had been on sort of a silver streak, so it was pretty exciting,î said Roundy, who won silver medals in both the adaptive slopestyle and superpipe competitions at last yearís United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) Nationals. ##M:MORE## ìI got out there and got a good look at the competition and thought ëI can handle this.íî

Roundy, who fell in love with adaptive snowboarding six years ago during a visit to Park City, added wakeboarding to her retinue last summer in an attempt to distract herself from how much she missed the snow.

ìI tried wakeboarding and liked it almost as much as I did snowboarding,î she said. ìThis summer, though, Iíve been spending a lot of time on the water, and now I donít know which I like more.î

At the moment, though, she admits that the scale is tipping toward wakeboarding. Though she feels the impact that comes from landing after jumps is even harder on her prosthetic knee than it is in snowboarding, the presence of the rope gives her more freedom to do tricks.

ìItís another point of contact that I can use to counteract some of the things with my knee,î said Roundy. ìI find it easier to do new tricks on a wakeboard than I do on a snowboard.î

In fact, sheís been picking up some new tricks during her days out on the water, developing them almost improvisationally before refining them.

ìI find myself on the lake just playing around and end up doing a new trick,î she said. ìIíve just barely gotten to the point where I can jump from wake to wake, and my goal is to eventually be able to do a 360 over the wake.î

Even after it gets too cold to wakeboard, however, Roundy still has plenty to look forward to. Sheíll be part of the first Adaptive Snowboard Team formed in the U.S., set to train with the Park City Snowboard Team and sponsored by the National Ability Center.

ìThe U.S. has the largest adaptive snowboarding population in the world, but until now it didnít have a team,î said Roundy, who was one of the first invited to join the group. As always, sheíll be sponsored by OSSUR USA, the National Ability Center, and the Challenged Athletes Foundation. ìCanada has a team, Italy has a team, and now weíll have one.î

No matter what the season, nothingís going to stop Roundy from going as far as she can.

ìImpossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world theyíve been given than to explore the power they have to change it,î she writes on her Myspace page. ìImpossible is not a fact. Itís an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. Itís a dare. Impossible is potential.î

jwardell@davisclipper.com