All Dave DiGravio’s stuff is packed into his car: clothing, music, athletic gear. The 19-year-old Farmingtonian and his dad are on a road trip, switching places at the steering wheel somewhere in Indiana, listening to Dean Martin and Metallica and talking to pass the time.

They went to the Football Hall of Fame Monday. They might catch a baseball game if they have time before getting to Utah.

The Mt. Blue High School and Carrabassett Valley Academy alum is moving to Park City, Utah, where the U.S. Ski Team trains. He’s on it, now.

His dad Ron says Dave was the worst skier out of his three kids when he started at age four. “He stunk when he was little,” he said. “He hated the cold, ran into trees, and fell off a chairlift. He was the last one I thought would ever make it.”

That changed, though, as he got older. His CVA coach, Freestyle Program manager Glenn Eddy, said it was a mixture of intensity, hard work, natural ability, and luck that got him where he is today.

“You make your own luck, I guess,” Eddy said. “He’s been a serious athlete since he was a little kid.”

He was being sponsored by ski equipment manufacturers by the time he was in high school, Dave DiGravio said Monday. In addition to playing on the Mt. Blue Football team in the fall (he was a Fitzpatrick Award finalist his senior year), he did well in freestyle competitions, Eddy said. He had an affinity for acrobatics and competed in the Junior World Championships as a young teen on the halfpipe. His experience served him well, as moguls have progressively become more heavily acrobatic – and more difficult – over the past few years.

Last winter, he came back from shoulder surgery to qualify for the U.S. team, on the C team. With only 10-15 members at any given time, that in itself is rare, Eddy said. DiGravio traveled with them, and had a few starts on the World Cup tour. He did well. Now he’s moved up to the B team, and he’s moving out to train with his teammates, full time.

“I feel good,” he said. “It’s a great place for me to be at this point in my life.”

Besides training at least 4 hours every day, DiGravio said he’ll have some unique opportunities in Utah. Westminster College offers an Olympic Team program, letting team members fit school in around a tight competition and training schedule.

The team doesn’t cover living expenses, and DiGravio wants to work at Home Depot. The store also has a program tailored to Olympic athletes, allowing them to work when they can and still have a job and health insurance. He’s hoping to get a position.

He’ll be living and training with two of his teammates, and has a World Cup competition in late December or early January.

For the next four years, DiGravio said, he’ll focus on skiing. He hopes to compete in the Olympics. He hopes to win gold in moguls.