MTV show traces the six-week story of a Carson High School senior as she learns to snowboard

Only a few people know the outcome of Carson High School's Amanda Barnes' last day on the slopes of Heavenly Ski Resort.

Only a few people know that she was sick and vomiting from food poisoning the entire night before and not quite up to par when the competition started the next day.

Only a few people know that she threw up between runs April 2, but managed to complete the competition, as a novice, against seasoned pros.

"I competed against people who had been snowboarding for a long time," the 17-year-old said. "One girl had been snowboarding for five to six years. I was so sick I seriously don't remember much."

Nor does she know which details her episode of MTV's "Made," which airs 10 p.m. July 13 on cable channel 59, will reveal about her six weeks of training to become a snowboarder.

"I have to wait until it's on TV just like everybody else," she said.

The episode will share the groundbreaking news about whether she placed in the competition, something she's had to keep mum about. But many of her close friends, and even a Carson High School teacher, showed up that Saturday to cheer her on and learn the results. Some held a fluorescent pink sign that read "Go Barnes!"

"I had a feeling of great excitement," said Barnes' friend Jessica Chrzanowski. "I'd never seen her snowboard before. After six weeks of hearing about it, it was awesome to see how much she learned."

Before auditioning for MTV's "Made" at Carson High School, Barnes knew little about the sport.

When producers called her about being on the show, she kept telling them they had the wrong person. But months later, she has two boxes of snowboarding gear, a photo album and a snowboard to tell of her experience.

To be in the show, she took a break from her job at Carson Dermatology and began training in her back yard by practicing jumping up onto a box.

In the meantime, MTV cameras tracked her daily life, following her to and from school and capturing her on the weekends at Heavenly. They left her alone about 10 p.m. at night.

"I didn't mind (the cameras) following her around," said her dad, Bruce. "But it got a little hectic around the house."

Bit by bit, Barnes' snowboarding skills improved. Her confidence in herself increased, and she learned the value of carrying through with a commitment.

"I learned to push myself to the maximum and to not give up," she said.

Barnes, who will be a senior at Carson High School this fall, keeps her snowboarding gear in her bedroom. Beanies, gloves, goggles, thermals and outerwear fill two boxes next to her bed. The pink fluorescent sign is behind her Grenade snowboard.

A dresser drawer is filled with T-shirts. She has a striped tie belonging to her Australian coach, "The Dingo," and a helmet boasting her nickname "Barney."

"After the show was done and I'd go up to Heavenly, they called me Barney. That's what they called all the new snowboarders, too, a Barney."

Producers often gave her clothing with advertisements for companies like Burton, Grenade, a company part-owned by "The Dingo," T-Mobile, Mountain Dew and Pepsi.

"I was like a walking advertisement," she said. "Oh my gosh, I got so much Pepsi."

Through it all, she developed a true love for snowboarding, even after a first rough week of misgivings about the show and about her commitment to learning to snowboard.

"I kind of felt like I was a goldfish," she said. "I never had any privacy, but that's what I got myself into."

Come this winter, Barnes might says she has it made: She's got a snowboard, she's got the gear, and now she has the skills to make it up to the slopes every weekend, which is her goal.

"It's weird how everything works out," she said.

-- Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.

Watch it!

What: Amanda Barnes' MTV "Made" episode

When: 10 p.m. July 13

Cable Channel: 59 in Carson City