THEY are four normal schoolkids from Huntly. Except that the life they have chosen is anything but ordinary.

Instead of studying for their A levels and doing all the things that 17-year-old boys from Aberdeenshire usually get up to in their spare time, Brodie Murray, Jack Nicholls and identical twins Fergus and Oliver Newman spent last weekend on top of a mountain in Erzurum, Turkey, competing for Great Britain in cross country skiing at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.

The event is the first staging post on a journey which could take this four-strong gang from the sixth year at Gordon High Schools all the way to the Winter Olympics after next, in Beijing in 2022. The advance party if you like is Andrew Young and Andrew Musgrave, two other alumni of the Huntly Nordic Ski Club, who 12 months from now will be competing in the Pyeongchang version.

Anyway, for those who only associate Turkey with sun-kissed beaches and the sweltering summer heat of Bodrum or Marmaris, it is worth mentioning that the conditions the boys had to contend with in Erzurum included temperatures of -24 degrees Celsius at an altitude of 1,800m above sea level. And for those whose picture skiing as a pleasant downhill sweep down some pleasant Alpine landscape, the brutal cross country variation - at least the way these boys do it - often sees them all but crawling over the finishing line, vomiting and doubled over with the exertion, their lungs and limbs crying out in pain.

Each member of the group has his own particular story to tell. Fergus and Oliver (the former is the older by all of six minutes) were first strapped onto skis at the age of two. This seems a bit like child cruelty until you learn that their dad Richard is the chairman of the British Nordic Ski team and their brothers William and Ruaridh also competed for Team GB at previous youth Olympic festivals.

While Oliver was first Brit home in the 7.5km classic race in Erzurum and was first finished in the sprint events, Nicholls - who hopes to combine his ski training with studying for a medical degree - got some revenge in the 10km free race. The other member of the group is Murray, a young man who part crowdfunded his travel to Turkey. He already has his own website, brand and logo, and DJs and sound engineers at proms and parties to help pay the bills.

"I raised a bit over two grand as a crowd funder so that paid for part of the camp to go on the road to Erzurum," Murray told Herald Sport. "There were certain prizes and stuff - if you donated a certain amount of money you got special edition T-shirts.

"A couple of people donated £500 and got their logo on their website," he added. "I think it would have been a struggle to get there otherwise - it really helped my mum and dad out because it was such a massive cost."

Like Young and Musgrave - the latter of whom has beaten the Norwegians at their own game by winning that nation's freestyle championships - all four of the boys know that they may have to travel to Scandinavia or Russia if they are to make their dream of a career in cross country skiing become a reality. Until then, they will have to make do with the odd funny look or two when they are spotted on their lunch breaks or free periods, thundering down Huntly High Street with lycra ski poles and what they call roller skis.

"It is quite difficult to practice around here, so we do something called roller skiing which is kind of like roller blading," said Murray. "You pretty much just ski on the tarmac and the roads. There is also a looped track which we ski on which is kind of like a 3G football pitch.

"It definitely turns heads when you are rolling down the high street, in a helmet, lycra and some long poles," he added. "But if you do the sport, you take the embarrassment as well. You can turn round and say 'I may look ridiculous right now but I am representing your country at Olympic level'. "What do my other classmates think of it all? Some think it is pretty awesome and amazing, but some just take the mick and say things like 'you are off to the Baby Olympics'.

"We are all back at school this week but it was really quite amazing, such an awesome experience. All four of us loved it - although it is a bit strange when people say 'you are going to Turkey, can I come, I need a sun tan' - then you get there and it is minus 26 and snowing outside."

"It has been a really exciting experience," said Nicholls. "I think the opening ceremony was one of the more emotional parts of it because I have never been part of something as big as that. To go into the stadium, hear the roar and the cheers of the crowd, was pretty exciting.

"If the four of us could make it to a Winter Olympics together it really would be something special," he added."I think it is possible, not to the next Olympics, but for 2022. I think we are on track right now and I would love it if we could get there."