PARK CITY, Utah - Cammy Potter is remembered by friends and family as being upbeat, determined, ambitious, competitive and fun-loving.

Potter succumbed to a three-year battle with cancer Wednesday. Born to parents Charlie and Carol, director of the Cadillac Area Visitor's Bureau, Cammy Potter was born in Cadillac and raised in Harrietta. Potter is survived by her husband, Jon Root; his two children; her parents; and brothers Cliff of London and Hugh of Lansing.

"Cammy was an absolute champion as an athlete and as a person. During her illness she embraced this battle as her own. She said it was her battle and she was going to fight it," said Kathy Clifford, Potter's aunt. "It was harder on us than it has been on her."

Known as Big Air for her skill in skiing and snowboarding, Potter spent many of her 35 years in Park City, Utah, doing what she loved. Coming from a family of skiers, Potter's uncle, Jerry Clifford, said it was natural for her to be involved in the sport.

"Cammy was just a very natural, competitive skier," Clifford said. From skiing to snowboarding, Potter made the transition when the sport was still in its infancy, he said.

"I started snowboarding one Christmas break," Potter told the Cadillac News in February 1999. "I was living on the East Coast, and I was tired of skiing. It wasn't fun anymore. I was kind of burned out. Snowboarding kind of revived my interest. It gave me some new-found fun."

This was in 1991 while Potter attended Boston College. In 1998, she was a top contender for the U.S. Olympic snowboarding team in Nagano, Japan. In 1990s, Potter was one of the first members of the U.S. Snowboard Team, said former coach Peter Foley.

"She was just super fun, that's what I remember most was having a really good time with her," Foley said.

After that, Potter spent some time in Cadillac, splitting her time as an instructor at Caberfae Peaks and operator of Cammy's Boutique, a clothing store in downtown Cadillac.

While in Cadillac some three years ago, Potter was diagnosed with breast cancer.**

** Cadillac News Article, 2/13/2004