To show how sharp her skate blades are, Rita Fehr slides her fingernail across the edge of one.

The 15-year-old's purple nail polish already is a bit chipped, but the metal removes a little more. Traces from her nail can be seen as white powder against the shiny steel.

The skate manufacturer recommends the high-quality, professional-level blades be sharpened every three months or so. But if Rita doesn't get them sharpened within two months, they become dull enough to skid and slide during her hours of practice.

For the Chippewa Falls teenager competing later this month in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in California, it took a level of commitment that wears down hardened steel to reach her childhood dream.

"I just love it. I can't imagine stopping," Rita said of figure skating.

On Monday mornings Arleen Fehr drives her daughter to Eden Prairie, Minn., and watches her practice her routine.

But they don't ride back home together.

Rita spends weekdays living at a friend's home in the Twin Cities and returns to Chippewa Falls when her mom picks her up from the ice arena on Friday afternoons.

It has been the family's routine for the past two years.

Keith and Arleen Fehr support their daughter's desire to advance in figure skating and train in Minnesota because of Rita's never-waning enthusiasm for the graceful sport.

"That's all she ever wanted to do," Arleen said. "When somebody's got that passion, it's hard to tell her 'no.' "

Watching figure skating on TV captured Rita's attention at age 6.

"That was her dream," Arleen said.

Her family didn't skate much aside from casual winter outings to outdoor community rinks, but Rita jumped into the sport at 6 and started competing when she was 10.

Between ages 10 and 15, Rita tested through 22 skill levels - a rapid pace considering each level usually takes six months to a year to achieve, Arleen said. That quick ascent means Rita will be skating against women who are 18 and 19 years old.

"Now at 15, she's competing against girls who have been competing for years," Arleen said.

The intense training needed to advance quickly required Rita to sacrifice family time and traditional schooling.

"It's very difficult," her coach, Trudy Oltmanns, said. "From what I understand, she does not live close to any big training facility. The biggest commitment from her and her family is the time."

Oltmanns, of Eden Prairie, Minn., has trained skaters for about 15 years and said the amount of practice needed to be competitive precludes many contenders from attending a regular school.

"Most of the kids at this level are home-schooled or do online learning," she said.

The Fehrs worried at first about pulling their daughter out of a traditional school and letting her learn through a virtual school instead, but Rita has been able to keep up with her homework and online tests. Her parents also can track their daughter's progress in online courses, and the virtual school will report Rita truant if she doesn't keep up with her schoolwork.

Although virtual schooling could be isolating, Rita keeps in touch with friends she made at Chippewa Falls Middle School. She also has made new friends in Minnesota's figure-skating circles.

Skating at her level also requires a financial commitment from her family.

Coaching costs $78 an hour, and then there is paying for ice time and sending food with Rita for the week, Arleen said.

Her mom previously made her skating outfits, but reaching the national stage warrants the $600 shimmering lime-green custom-made dress she will wear at the upcoming championships.

Both Rita and her mother said the best way to deal with living apart during the week is to not dwell on time she is away from her parents and four siblings. They keep in touch as many modern families do: by cell phone.

That allows Rita to share triumphs, such as when she texts Mom that she landed a triple salchow - a difficult jump with the skater spinning three full revolutions before landing.

After Rita finishes practicing, they'll talk on the phone before Mom goes to work the night shift at an Elk Mound group home.

The family has learned to cope with long-distance relationships. Arleen's husband, Keith, moved to Illinois two years ago to work as an engineer at a John Deere manufacturing plant when he couldn't find a comparable job in the Chippewa Valley.

Less than a decade after pointing to skaters on the TV screen, Rita will appear on it herself.

She will skate in the senior pairs' competition of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., with her skating partner, Peter Biver.

Although their performances might not make it to the nine hours NBC Sports will air on cable television, the entire championships will be available to subscribers of the skating website Icenetwork.com.

Rita and Biver are one of 13 senior-level pairs' teams from across the United States who will skate in the national championships. They will perform their two-minute, 40-second short routine on Tuesday, Jan. 24, and their 4 1/2-minute long program will be Saturday, Jan. 28.

Biver, a 35-year-old Rice Lake native, coached Rita when he lived in the Chippewa Valley, but he moved to the Twin Cities a couple of years ago. Their years of working together and a scarcity of other available partners led them to skate together as a pair.

"I started with him and we passed all our tests together," Rita said.

She and Biver passed their senior pairs' test - an achievement about 20 skating duos earn each year - in August. Passing the test earned them the distinction of U.S. Figure Skating gold medalists, which is represented by the small, round gold pin attached to Rita's skate bag.

While they have performed in skating exhibitions throughout western Wisconsin through the years, the nationals will be their first time competing as a pair.

To be ready for the challenge, they began training a couple of months ago with Oltmanns.

It's not easy to find a pair matched in skill level, availability and commitment, Oltmanns said.

"They're working very, very hard on short notice, short time, short budget," she said. "They're doing the best they can. It's the opportunity of a lifetime for them."

Oltmanns' resume includes training two-time national pairs' champions Josh Santillan and Olivia Oltmanns, her daughter. That pair skates with Rita and Biver during weekday trainings at an Eden Prairie ice area.

After spending about three hours working on their routine each weekday, Rita and Biver go to the gym for about an hour. For her, it means 40 minute of cardiovascular training followed by strength conditioning.

Her goal is not to gain more muscle because that would make her heavier. Instead, she must remain lightweight while conditioning muscle she already has to assist Biver when he lifts her in their routine.

The sport has some physical risks involved. Rita has cut her hands on newly sharped skate blades. Last year she missed her shot at a sectional competition when she broke her foot during practice.

Although she enjoys performing as both a single and in pairs, Rita said she enjoys the throws and lifts when skating with a partner.

"I like the feeling of being in the air," she said. "It's just fun."

And with Biver standing 6-foot-4 - pretty tall for a skater - she gets held higher in the air than many other female skaters.

Rita stands at 5 feet, 4 inches tall. The height difference between her and Biver is most noticeable when they are skating next to each other or facing one another. She believes some in the audience view it as strange, but others are intrigued and appreciate the challenges it brings to pairs' skating.

Biver also brings experience to the duo of having skated longer than Rita has been alive. He started skating at age 11, has been trained by several Olympians and has toured with Holiday on Ice, the world's largest ice-skating entertainment show.

Rita hopes this month's competition will be a stepping stone to the Olympics - her ultimate dream.

But on her weekends, she also spends time with kids strapping on ice skates for their first time - maybe, like her, being inspired by watching other skaters.

Rita spends part of her Sundays at Hobbs Ice Center in Eau Claire as a volunteer with the Eau Claire Figure Skating Club's Learn to Skate program.

Of course, she gets in an hour of practice first.

Dowd can be reached at 715-833-9204, 800-236-7077 or andrew.dowd@ecpc.com.