At age 11, Jessica Bittler of Lackawannock Township is already a gold-medal skier.

On March 1, Jessica participated in her first National Standard Racer, or NASTAR, skiing competition at Peek 'n Peak Resort, near Findley Lake, N.Y., east of Erie, and placed 12th in her age group out of 51 skiers. She also walked away with gold and silver medals. Her results will be published in the upcoming NASTAR ski magazine.

NASTAR is the largest public recreational grassroots ski race program in the world. It was developed in 1968 to provide a fun, competitive and easily accessible recreational ski racing program for skiers of all ages, according to the Web site.

Jessica started skiing at age 7 with her father, Brad. The family goes on ski trips each winter to Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, N.Y. Her mother, Jody, said Jessica did the competition "just for fun."

"We didn't realize how big of a deal it was," she said.

Jessica's cousin, Jamie Mausser of Sharon, accompanied her to the competition; she walked away with a bronze medal.

Now that she's gone to her first competition, Jessica's ready to do more next winter.

When she's not skiing, Jessica likes to play sports and she enjoys school, especially math class. The fifth-grader in Mercer School District's Oakview Elementary School has a 4.0 grade point average.

She's also a poet. Two of her poems will be published in the upcoming "Anthology of Poems by Young Americans."

"We're definitely proud of her," her mother said.

When she grows up, Jessica said she wants to make skiing part of her career, whether she's a professional skier or the owner of a ski lodge.