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Our SkiSailor

SqueakySnow

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I am absolutely gutted. I never had the pleasure of meeting her in person, but her tips so generously given in the forum helped me become a better skier... even just this past winter. Rest in peace dear Laura, and my thoughts are with your friends and family during this devastating time.
 

VickiK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I met Laura at the Snowbasin diva gathering. She charmed me with her infectious smile and good humor. So sad.
 

floridakeysskibum

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I meet laura one long season year at snowbird...where we were both Leary of meeting in person. That year 4 people dropped into Alta all alone...We both made the comment of the m&m commercial about Santa. “He is real” turned into “they are real” about the ski divas... I shared a room/bed with her in Utah for a week, and I know I talked her ear off, but I really felt comfortable around her. We had a blast one year at big sky where coverage was thin, and I could hear her yelling, but didn’t know what until I later ran over that group of “rocks”. The video of big sky says it all. We laughed and shared beers after wards. She will be missed dearly...damnit, life just sucks some days!!
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
We had a blast one year at big sky where coverage was thin, and I could hear her yelling, but didn’t know what until I later ran over that group of “rocks”.

Oh yeah - she was so full of enthusiasm that we all thought she was whooping with glee when she yelled, not warning us of the rocks! So we all skied over there into the rocks until finally one of us got the right message.
 

mustski

Angel Diva
I only met her in person one time - at the Diva West in Snowbasin. Her personality was infectious on line and I am sure that I am not alone in feeling like I got to know her through her posts. My condolences to everyone who knew and loved her. I too hope she is skiing endless powder turns.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
Here's a truly amazing Laura story:

During Diva West at Big Sky in 2015, Laura was taken out by a snowboarder at mid mountain. Instead of taking the smart way down (that'd be ski patrol sled), she declared herself "totally fine" (even though she couldn't walk) and instead went up the Challenger Lift to the top of the Peak. From there, she insisted on skiing down some pretty steep stuff (well, a lot of it was side slipping), much of it on ONE SKI. Eventually she made it down and was diagnosed with three fractures and torn ligaments. She ended up having surgery in Bozeman a couple days later, and had to have three screws put in!

Here's her route down the mountain:

CHALLENGER #### SHOW.jpg

Never once, afterwards, did she complain about having to sit in the lodge or the condo while we all went skiing. Instead, she insisted she was the luckiest person around because she was able to be there with all her friends. I know if it was me, I'd be whining and complaining and carrying on. Not Laura. That was who she was.

Laura.jpg

Here's a little known fact: This was when she had cancer and was supposed to have major surgery for it in just a few weeks time.
 
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ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
Some of you may also remember that Laura had a goggle video camera. This resulted in some pretty funny stuff. Some years ago she and I were skiing at Magic here in Vermont. The snow was very sticky and she took a tumble, all caught on tape via the goggle cam. The resulting video is hysterical; It looks like she's in a washing machine. We had a really good laugh over that one:

 

SkiBam

Angel Diva
I too am absolutely devastated to hear this news. I first met Laura at Diva East at Whiteface, then again at Big Sky (forget the year, but it was an Epic gathering though I hung out mainly with Divas). I skied with her a lot on that trip and remember being on a chairlift with her when she told me she had been asked to become an instructor. She kind of implied she wasn't good enough and I like to think I maybe helped change her mind about that! I told her she would be FABULOUS – and I was right.

Her skiing tips here and on Pugski were always worth reading and learning from. What kindness, what patience, what empathy she always showed.

And didn't she ski the Big Couloir at Big Sky? So so impressive.

What a terrible loss for everyone who knew her.
 

Ursula

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Here's a truly amazing Laura story:

During Diva West at Big Sky in 2015, Laura was taken out by a snowboarder at mid mountain. Instead of taking the smart way down (that'd be ski patrol sled), she declared herself "totally fine" (even though she couldn't walk) and instead went up the Challenger Lift to the top of the Peak. From there, she insisted on skiing down some pretty steep stuff (well, a lot of it was side slipping), much of it on ONE SKI. Eventually she made it down and was diagnosed with three fractures and torn ligaments. She ended up having surgery in Bozeman a couple days later, and had to have three screws put in!

Here's her route down the mountain:

View attachment 13025

Never once, afterwards, did she complain about having to sit in the lodge or the condo while we all went skiing. Instead, she insisted she was the luckiest person around because she was able to be there with all her friends. I know if it was me, I'd be whining and complaining and carrying on. Not Laura. That was who she was.

View attachment 13026

Here's a little known fact: This was when she had cancer and was supposed to have major surgery for it in just a few weeks time.
An on a side note: Katie Perrey, who stayed with her , lost a ski , now Laura picked it up and side slipped on one leg and a ski on her shoulder!!!! Only Laura !!!!!
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
Damn.

I first met Laura back in 2010, on a late April trip to Snowbird. She said I was the first Diva she met in person. I doubt the pics from the old trip report will show up, so:

Me, perma-grin, SkiSailor
87617761-1A7D-4E8D-BDCE-FB396DC70C19.jpeg

SkiSailor and floridakeysskibum
BB7C4366-7891-4436-B2A4-2F208CDAC5ED.jpeg

Floridakeysskibum, me, SkiSailor
767D0D45-D44E-4117-99C0-22316DD0629D.jpeg

Action shot - skisailor, floridakeysskibum
47BF5626-81D4-442F-9B5E-9B3DB93B1A6E.jpeg

That was such a special trip. I'm happy to have the memory.

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/snowbird-alta-4-23-10-through-4-25-10.9867/
 

vanhoskier

Angel Diva
Her loss will be felt by many.

A few things about Skisailor that deserve mention:

She had a long career working as an environmentalist for the State of Delaware. She was always game for a beer, and on a cross country trip with her, we visited some “interesting” bars!

Laura was not only a gifted skier, but a gifted sailor. For many years, she lived on her sailboat, named Scheherazade, which was docked on a tributary of the Chesapeake. I was lucky to sail with Laura on her. The boat was 29’ long, so it was an exercise in “living small.”

But Laura dreamed big. She raced sailboats, too. And she realized her dream of living in Bozeman and working at Big Sky.
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Oh, and I remember how much she enjoyed a drink in the sun after skiing. Need to look at my Whiteface pictures to see if I have one of those.

Yes, I was just recounting to a few other folks one of my memories of her was drinking beer on the patio at Big Sky. She went up to get beers for us and asked me what I wanted. I basically said, "Anything but PBR; if you get me a PBR, I will feed it to a plant." She dutifully returned with a lager.
 

contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This is truly heartbreaking news. She really did have this calm, fun, vibrant energy about her, combined with humility and passion. I met her at Diva West at Snowbasin also, and she left such a positive impression on me. I was hoping to meet up with her this winter at Big Sky. I also had no idea she had been battling cancer. Every day is a perfect powder day in heaven--ski free as a bird, Laura!
 

ride_ski

Angel Diva
Here's a truly amazing Laura story:

During Diva West at Big Sky in 2015, Laura was taken out by a snowboarder at mid mountain. Instead of taking the smart way down (that'd be ski patrol sled), she declared herself "totally fine" (even though she couldn't walk) and instead went up the Challenger Lift to the top of the Peak. From there, she insisted on skiing down some pretty steep stuff (well, a lot of it was side slipping), much of it on ONE SKI. Eventually she made it down and was diagnosed with three fractures and torn ligaments. She ended up having surgery in Bozeman a couple days later, and had to have three screws put in!



Never once, afterwards, did she complain about having to sit in the lodge or the condo while we all went skiing. Instead, she insisted she was the luckiest person around because she was able to be there with all her friends. I know if it was me, I'd be whining and complaining and carrying on. Not Laura. That was who she was.

I remember one thing that was very important to her after she got hurt was spending as much time in the lodge as she could (with her foot elevated of course) so she could see all of us and hear about our adventures skiing.
 

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