TAHOE CITY — Six months to the day after his spine-wrenching crash at the U.S. Freestyle Selections, Jake Hickman’s skis hardly touched the snow as he floated down the slopes at Mt. Bachelor, an elated teen. “The first day back, I felt like the biggest gaper ever,” said Hickman, joking about the experience in Tahoe tourist terms. “But then the second day everything came back, and the third day I was skiing like 70 percent of what I used to be. I felt really good.” That was June 2012. A half-year earlier, the former J-2 National Champion, then 17, was …














