HAZLE TOWNSHIP--- Age is nothing but a number for one 80-year-old national skiing champion in Luzerne County.
Norbert Kotzer starts every morning watching Newswatch 16 while working out.
"There's no other weather person in the world that is like Joe Snedeker. He is my favorite man," Kotzer said.
Kotzer just came home a few weeks ago with two bronze medals for his age group in the slalom and giant slalom competitions at the Liberty Mutual NASTAR Nationals.
His history on the slopes comes from a humble beginning.
"The skis did not have any edges on them. It was just wooden skis with a leather strap over top my foot and that was it," Kotzer said.
He trains for the competition all year round. He doesn't just lift weights at the gym, he lifts spirits too.
Exercise physiologist Janet Brown is up at the crack of dawn with Kotzer at the Health and Wellness Center for the Lehigh Valley Hospital. She said his attitude is uplifting.
"It's very impressive. I hope when I get older I can do the same thing because he's very positive to us and all the members here as well," Brown said.
Kotzer spends about two hours a day, five days a week at the gym. He starts his workout on the treadmill and then wraps it all up lifting weights.
It's a routine he never strays from because he knows exactly why he's there.
"You have to get out and you have to do something," Kotzer said. "You have to do it... you're doing it for yourself, that's who you're doing it for, and your family."
This firecracker plans to compete again for the national championships next March.