Ski Heroes

The scandal was as taken out of a Finnish television theater, and it ended every bit as tragic. The FIS Nordic Skiing World Championships in Lahti 2001 will forever be remembered with horror in Finland. In our Halloween Special this year we go through the stages of the Lahti 2001 scandal all the way through to the impact the scandal continues to have on Finnish skiing today, almost 24 years later....

Few have felt the pressure from a whole nation on his shoulders the way Masahiko Harada did at the 1998 Olympic ski jumping team competition in Nagano, Japan. In episode 18 we follow the journey of the Japanese ski jumping team from their let down at the 1994 games to their emotional comeback at their own Olympics four years later.   Send a text

Talk about living life to the fullest. Gone too soon under tragic circumstances, Kasha Rigby showed us all how a life can be lived. From her early days of ski bumming in Colorado, to her countless expeditions and first descents, she stayed true to her friends, her passion, and her telemark style to the very end. In this episode we recount Kasha's amazing life and highlight a few of her long l...

Her aggressive style of skiing made people compare her to fellow Italian skier Alberto Tomba, but she was no female version of him. Her demeanor may have been humble and shy, but Deborah Compagnoni was fearless on the slope. Despite an injury plagued career, she had a unique ability to pull it together when it mattered the most. In Episode 16, we explore Compagnoni's career through wins, inju...

Ski jumping needs innovation. And an unlikely hero may have just showed up to save the day, or at least save it for one day.. In episode 15 I share my thoughts on Red Bull's recent publicity stunt in Iceland, the impact this may have on ski jumping as a sport moving forward. And of course, I share my thoughts on Ryoyu Kobayashi's fantastic jump and new world record of 291 meters.  Send a...

Ski flying has always been about chasing records.  In a never-ending pursuit of longer and longer jumps, ski flying hills were expanded faster than the jumpers could keep up with. By the 1980s, hills had become uncontrollable monsters and the sport produced some of the most spectacular crashes in skiing history. Our Halloween Special dives into the story of ski flying leading up to when it all cul...

Toni Nieminen from Finland was only 16 years old when he introduced himself to the world of ski jumping. As the sport was going through a massive change from the old parallel style to the new V-style, Nieminen became the first jumper to truly master it. In episode 13 we cover the story of his absolutely epic 1992 season where he dominated the World Cup, the Four Hills Tournament, and the Olympics....

Skiing was a thing in the Wild West. Snowshoe Thompson, a native of Tinn in Telemark, Norway, introduced skiing to California during the now legendary Gold Rush in the 1850s as he delivered mail and supplies to the gold and silver miners in the Sierra Nevada's as a mailman for Uncle Sam. His skills and ability on a pair of skis became legendary in the Sierras, and Snowshoe became an instituti...

It only takes one person to make a big change. US cross-country skier Bill Koch had been a loner most of his life and was never afraid to go his own ways. Having won the silver medal at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics, his career struggled following the Olympic success. To reinvent his career he decided yet again to go his own ways, and he ended up forever changing the sport of cross-country skiing in...

What a cool life Andrea Mead Lawrence lived! Staying true to her motto of skiing for fun, by the time she was 19 she was a two time Olympic Champion and had travelled the world to do the thing she loved the most, skiing of course. In episode 10 of Ski Heroes we cover her life as a skier, Olympic champion, and three time Olympian, and how she ultimately leveraged her Olympic status to create a plat...

Toni Sailer was an incredibly multi-talented Austrian skier from Kitzbuhel who started out dominating the world of alpine ski racing, and who ended up as one of the biggest celebrities Austria has ever had. In episode 9 of Ski Heroes, we explore Toni Sailer's life as a ski racer, including his dominant performance at the 1956 Cortina Olympics, we touch on his acting career, and we even make s...

Anette Sagen should simply be known as one of the greatest ski jumpers of all time. And she would have been were she born a boy. In episode 8 we tell the story of women's ski jumping and how all female ski jumpers have had to fight for their right to participate and compete. And no one did so better and more fiercely than ski jumping pioneer Anette Sagen who dominated women's ski jumping...

Happy Halloween everyone!  Episode 7 is a Halloween special which covers the Hahnenkamm Rennen down Die Streif course in Kitzbuhel in Austria. A race about as scary and spectacular as one can get it on a pair of skis.  Send a text

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the three former East German biathlon skiers showed remarkable consistency, dominating the relay event in the Olympics and the  World Championships. Episode 6 explores the story of  Sven Fischer, Frank Luck, and Ricco Gross.  Link to Skippy Report episode: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-iyn8f-12c1976 Send a text

Jean Vuarnet was a French ski instructor and ski racer in the 1950s who ended his career with one epic run at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympic games.  With his sharp eye for innovation and technology, he adopted the latest innovations to prepare for the 1960 Olympic Games and set the stage for his second career as a business man.  Send a text

After sensationally winning the silver medal at the 1993 World Championships, Picabo Street started her Olympic career and continued her journey to the top of the world of ski racing. The second and last part about Picabo Street tells the story from Lillehammer 1994 to Salt Lake City in 2002, through both incredible heights and the darkest of moments.  Send a text

Born an outsider and having to fight for everything she ever got in life, including her own name,  Picabo Street grew up to become one of the most successful American skiers of all time . Part 1 of this two part series explores the beginning of this very American story and sets the stage for Picabo's Olympic career.  Send a text

In 1985 in Falun in Sweden a mistake was made that would forever change the sport of ski jumping, and costing millions of dollars doing so. Episode 2 explores the fascinating story of anti-hero Jan Boklöv and how his struggles to be accepted with his new style of ski jumping ended up forever changing the sport.  Send a text

Welcome to the Ski Heroes podcast!  The first episode pays respect to the man who started it all. Born in 1825 in Morgedal in Norway, Sondre Norheim was a pioneer with a passion for skiing and an eye for innovation and is rightfully titled the father of modern day skiing.  Send a text