Mammoth has characters

(Editor's Note: This story first appeared in the July 2007 issue of Mammoth Monthly magazine. Subscribe here.)

Last January, Mammoth motocross racer Russell Malm jammed through another finish line, this time during halftime at a supercross event in front of tens of thousands of fans at Angels Stadium in Anaheim

It was a race for kids, and everything seemed to be routine, except that Russell Malm apart from being just eight years old, was lucky to be alive, much less racing motorcycles and skiing with the Mammoth Mountain Ski Team.

"Russell Malm is a popular and colorful local personality," said Laurey Carlson, a top organizer for this year's Mammoth Motocross, in which Malm participated for the first time.

"When you meet him, you can't help but smile because his zest for life just oozes from him. He lives every day for the adventures he may encounter. His enthusiasm is contagious.

"He's a great little rider and would do it every day here in Mammoth if winter didn't get in the way. He's an integral part of our local motocross family. We are looking forward to his participation for many years to come."

Malm's parents are Tomi Bortolazzo and Ron Malm, owner of KTM in Mammoth. They are his biggest fans, constantly by his side since was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic immune system disorder that leads to deterioration of the joints and often results in loss of mobility and constant inflammation throughout the body.

Bortolazzo said Russell almost died when he was eighteen months old because of complications that led to the arthritis, which was diagnosed when he was six.

"Russell really is a tough little guy," his mother said. "When he was leaving the intensive care unit after this started, the nurses taught him to flex his muscles and to say how strong he is, and it's true. He takes medication now that stunts his growth and makes him much heavier than other kids his age but he doesn't see it like that.

"His size is part of life for him. So are his strength issues. There are days when he can't walk -- he can't even get out of bed. Nobody sees that. Everybody just sees this short, tough little kid that goes really fast on his skis and his motorcycle."

Kevin Thomas, who works in physical therapy at the Mammoth S.P.O.R.T. Clinic and who works with Malm on the ski hill, said his eyes just about pop out sometimes watching him ski.

"He's such an aggressive kid," Thomas said last spring, as the ski season was winding down and the dirt bike season was revving up.

"If he's intimidated by anything on the mountain, you tell him to compare the situation to motocross , and it gets him all fired up. You tell him to pretend a turn in a race course is like a berm on the track, and that he has to hold his poles out front like handlebars and pull the throttle and the brake.

"We see other kids with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in physical therapy and they never seem to be able to exercise at a high level. They spend a lot of time working out in the pool. I was concerned about it with him at the beginning of the year, but it never really seemed to affect him.

"The other day we were jumping of Hair Jump and he was going huge."

Thomas said Russell worked his way into one of the highest-level groups for kids his age and has been named the most improved athlete of the elite category of J5 skiers for the Mammoth team.

For Russell, though, skiing is second priority. As his parents and coaches say, his idols aren't ski racers like Bode Miller or Darren Rahlves, but motocross legends like Ricky Carmichael and Travis Pastrana.

Needless to say, his parents see his races in quite a different context than the parents of other racers.

"The parents of the kids racing that day in Anaheim were looking at this halftime-show event as a chance for their kids to become pro racers," said Ron Malm, who brought his family to Mammoth from Rancho Cucamonga two years ago.

"Officials actually had to take the dads aside before the race and asked us not to be so intense about our kids' performances. Russell thought he finished better than he actually did, but in the end, he was just happy to be there.

"When he saw how some of the other kids and their dads were acting, he came up to me and said, 'I love you, Dad.' It brought a tear to my eye. It was the peak of motocross for him."

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