Kate Sonnick’s column Sunday, “Ski like a girl,” reminded me of the first time I heard the comment.
Heidi Voelker was the weekly pacesetter at the Deer Valley race hill. I watched over several seasons as literally thousands of Nastar racers from all over the country tried, and failed, to come close to her time on the course.
As far as I know, Heidi was the author of the line and I watched as hundreds of young girls and women (including my daughter) had those words in magic marker written on their helmets.
Heidi, a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Ski Team, holds six top-10 World Cup finishes, including a podium in 1994 and three Winter Olympics (Wikipedia). She is the skier on probably millions of Utah “ski” license plate.
I think anyone, myself included, who has spent any time on Park City Mountain, Deer Valley or Utah Olympic Park slopes could honestly admit to only hoping that someday their skiing might get a tiny tiny bit closer to the “Ski Like a Girl” examples like Heidi, Holly, Picabo, Lindsey and Mikaela and so many others who ski right here in Park City.
Stan Rodman
Park City