Imagine how you’d feel if you were 13 years old and Justin Beiber walked into the room.
That was me about a week ago. Because last Wednesday something comparable happened that made me get all goose-bumpy and tongue tied. I skied with two Olympic legends: Picabo Street and Donna Weinbrecht.
In case you need a reminder about who they are, here’s a refresher:
Donna Weinbrecht won the first freestyle gold medal at the Winter Olympics, in 1992. She’s won seven national titles, has 46 World Cup wins, and is a member of both the National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and the Hall of Fame at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum. She’s also listed as one of the Ski Channel’s Top 50 Olympians of All Time .
Picabo Street won gold medals in Super G at the 1998 Winter Olympics and downhill at the 1996 World Championships, as well as three other Olympic and World Championship medals. She also won World Cup downhill season titles in 1995 and 1996, the first American woman to do so, and has a total of 9 World Cup downhill race wins. In 2004, Picabo was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame.
So can you blame me for being excited? I don’t mean to sound creepy about this; it’s just that I don’t fall over skiers of this caliber every day of the week.
Make no mistake: Picabo and Donna did not come to my little corner of Vermont just to ski with me. I’m not that delusional. They came to participate in a media event at Killington to promote the resort’s specialized education programs. Donna will be heading up two women’s weekend clinics at the resort. And Picabo, well, she was just there for extra star power.
Yes, I actually did ski with them. In hindsight. I was so rattled that I’m sure everything I said was incredibly stupid. But both Donna and Picabo were extremely friendly and gracious. Picabo even said she liked my helmet, and took the time to give me some pointers (if you’re reading this, thanks, Pic! I’m working on it!).
Truly, a once in a lifetime experience.
If you’re interested in Killington’s new Women’s Program, here’s a link. And if you decide to sign up, say hi to Donna for me.
