She's a 'Lady Viper' on the roller rink

She’s broken her collarbone, separated her shoulder, suffered a concussion, and strained and pulled a variety of muscles. But believe it or not, Leah “Lady Viper” Michael is in the best shape of her life.

Michael is at the top of her game in women’s roller derby. The Columbia Falls 39-year-old works a desk job for a seismic research company by day, but about three nights a week she’s practicing her form for the Flathead Valley Roller Derby Big Mountain Misfits.

Michael was recently named the 2012 Montana Roller Derby Most Valuable Player and was named to the starting lineup of the four-state Northwest All-Star Team.

Michael said she got involved with the Kalispell league more than three years ago after she saw a story in a newspaper about it. She grew up roller skating as a kid, and taking the sport back up, even after 15 years away from a rink, came naturally, she said last week. Roller skating runs in her family — her grandmother was a figure roller skater in Las Vegas.

Roller derby is far removed from grace, however. A team consists of four blockers and one jammer. The idea is to get the jammer through the pack as many times as possible on a flat oval course while blocking out the other team’s jammer at the same time. It’s defense and offense all in one — on skates.

“You score with your body,” she explained.

The women wear helmets, kneepads, elbow pads and wrists pads, but all that doesn’t do much good when racers get slammed into a concrete or hardwood floor.

“I love the rawness of the sport,” Michael said.

In addition to practice, Michael said she’ll run three to five miles a week and does Pilates and hot yoga — yoga performed in a heated room. The work has paid off.

“I’ve lost the better part of 20 pounds since I started,” she said.

The league is nonprofit. The women don’t get paid, and many of them are mothers with children. They may be sweet mommas when they’re off the rink, but many take on personas when they’re competing.

Michael said “Lady Viper” was inspired by the movie “Top Gun.” Every woman has a unique persona — it forms camaraderie among the women, Michael said. A roller derby family, if you will.

The women have also raised thousands for local charities along the way — a typical match will draw 500 to 1,000 people, depending upon the venue. Locally, matches are held at the Flathead County Fairgrounds, but the Misfits would like to have a permanent home someday. They compete in about a dozen matches a year, half in Kalispell. The rest are on the road, across Montana and into Canada and Idaho.

The team is also looking for women athletes who want to give the sport a shot.

They can call coach Lisa Pooler at 603-491-3555 for more information.