DOUBLE TAKE

PALMER — Kimberly DelFrate doesn’t often look over her shoulder to see who’s behind her.

Over the last four years, the senior skier from Palmer High School has gradually passed most of the competition in the Valley, leaving opponents behind in the snow.

But as Kimberly ascends into the higher ranks of prep skiing — she has routinely placed in the top 20 this year in large races involving the states best skiers — there is one person who has been gaining on her quickly.

And not only is that person a teammate of hers, but a friend, a sister, a twin.

Amanda DelFrate has been closing the gap between her and her twin sister almost as quickly as Kimberly has vaulted to the front of races on the cross-country skiing scene.

Together, the pair gives Palmer a one-two punch at the top of its girl’s team that can compete with anyone in the state.

Skiing is a lifestyle for the twins. Born into a family that enjoys life strapped to two long pieces of wood, the DelFrate girls were first attached to skis at the age of 4, although they didn’t start peacefully.

“They hated it,” says the twins’ mother Sherry DelFrate who, along with their father Gino, taught the girls to ski when they were growing up in Homer. “They cried a lot. We joke about it now. But I can’t keep up with them. Their dad is trying to keep up with them, but not anymore.”

Although skiing initially wasn’t the most enjoyable activity for the twins, the girls quickly took to the sport. When the family moved to the Valley when the girls were in the fifth grade, they were enrolled in a junior Nordic skiing program, where they flourished in until they started to ski competitively three years later.

Eighth grade was the turning point in the careers of the DelFrate twins. That year the girls started to train with Alaska Nordic Racing. ANR provided them with coaching, workout programs and competitions to ski in. Enrolling in the program before entering high school is one of the reasons the sisters have seen so much success recently in their prep careers, says Kimberly.

“It really helps us to have organized training outside of the high school season,” Kimberly says. “In order to be successful you have to train the full year and you don’t get that through high school.”

As the years progressed, the workout programs through ANR have become more rigorous. Each year the girls set out a plan of how many hours of training they will accomplish through the year. The hours increase each year; leading to the massive 450 hours of training the girls were allotted this year, an amount that Palmer ski coach Darin Markwardt says isn’t surpassed by many people.

“They probably train more than anybody in the Valley,” Markwardt says. “In the last two years they have made the jump from good skiers to great skiers. It’s an accumulation of the thousands of hours that they have put into it.”

Amanda says the girls train year-round, including during the summer months. In the summer, they will do a combination of weightlifting, running and roller skiing.

“We have fun doing it,” Amanda says. “It’s just a lot of fun. It’s enjoyable. It’s not like we have a huge schedule during the summer to keep up.”

The DelFrate twins are not identical, in looks or personality.

Kimberly enjoys talking, while Amanda is the better listener. Amanda is a proficient artist, while Kimberly prefers to sing.

“They were born on the same day, but that’s about it,” Sherry DelFrate says of her daughters. “They have two totally different personalities. In school they are both very bright, but each have their own strengths.”

Kimberly is the competitive one.

Markwardt attributes the success Kimberly has in races to sheer tenacity opposed to form.

“You put her on the ski course and put someone in front of her or behind her and she will beat that person just because she is so competitive,” Markwardt says.

Amanda is the technician. She excels on the course due to a combination of strength and form.

“Amanda is incredibly strong and has beautiful technique,” Markwardt says.

Much like their personalities, the skiing styles of the girls are different, but both provide results.

“Kimberly is No. 1, but they are incredibly close,” Markwardt says. “They are not identical twins, but they are very identical in terms of ability.”

For most of their high school career, Kimberly has been the faster one. Kimberly used to routinely finish ahead of Amanda, beating her sister by more than a minute. But over the last year Amanda has caught up and is now threatening to dethrone Kimberly as the fastest skier in the house.

This was exhibited earlier in this ski season, when Kimberly edged out Amanda by the slimmest of margins — 1 second.

“The gap between us has definitely closed,” Kimberly says. Naturally, as the competitive one, Kimberly uses this pressure from her sister to improve. “It kind of lights a fire for her to try and beat me and for me to try and stay in front of her.”

Amanda says the competition between the two is a friendly push between the twins.

“I’ve always tried to keep up with her,” Amanda says. “It’s kind of her that gets competitive in staying ahead of me. But it doesn’t hinder us in any way.”

Markwardt says the relationship between the girls — friendly, yet competitive — is a joy to have on the team.

“They’ll be giggling one second and then trying to out race each other the next,” he says.

As for what’s next for the twins, college is in the future. Both would like to ski at the collegiate level and, as of now, both have been admitted to the University of Alaska Anchorage, but the girls aren’t sure if that’s where they’ll attend. Whether the twins will split up and go to different schools is to be determined.

“We haven’t really talked about it,” Amanda says. “It’s just kind of how it (both going to UAA) worked out.”

For Markwardt, who first met the DelFrate twins when they enrolled in ANR four years ago, he says the future could possibly include racing in the Junior Olympics, along with a prosperous college career.

And all of the success of the twins, in the present and the future, Markwardt says can be attributed to the strength and determination of the girls, who have worked tirelessly since Markwardt first met them.

“They just have such a passion and determination. When I first met them they were good athletes, but not the stars they are today, and it’s because of that,” he says. “The steadiness of their training and love of the sport has enabled them to move up in the ranks, and now they are two of the top skiers in the region.”