This feature from KTVB shares Sun Valley’s excitement about being home to the U.S. Alpine National Skiing Championships, the first the town has held in 65 years. Sun Valley is ready for the return of the championships, which will be attended by Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn and other top skiers from around the country.
The U.S. ski team includes Kipling Weisel, Thom Weisel’s son, along Tanner Farrow, both of whom are pleased to be able to train and attend the event at home. The two of them will train against some of the best skiers in the nation, and at only 21 and 22 years old, the young athletes are in the spotlight.
“It’s not really pressure, it’s exciting and I get to come home and have world-class training,” said Weisel. “I can almost guarantee there’s no one else in the world training for events like we have this week.”
The article also shares both Farrow’s and Weisel’s dreams of becoming professional skiers at the Olympic level. Both athletes have been skiing their entire lives—Farrow says he’s been in the sport since he was just two years old. Weisel too grew up in the area and knows it well.
“I think I’m heading in the right direction to be an Olympic skier but there’s just always so much work to do,” Weisel explained. For now, KTVB says the U.S. Alpine Skiing Championships are a good place to begin working towards that goal.
KTVB also spoke with Will Brandenburg, a former Olympian who is now a skiing coach. Brandenburg offered insights about the young men’s paths, indicating that though their dream of becoming Olympians would require a considerable amount of hard work, it is not impossible to reach.
“We’re talking tenths of a second, half a second here and there on runs that can make the difference between them being on the Olympic team or not,” Brandenburg explained. Weisel agrees: “These are definitely the grind years; you gotta work hard and get through these next few years, and hopefully work towards the World Cup, and eventually the Olympics is the goal,” he said.
Weisel also believes he has a distinct home-advantage, skiing in Sun Valley. “Growing up here and spending my whole life skiing the mountain is definitely an advantage,” he said. The same is true for Farrow, who is excited for his friends and family to see him doing what he loves most.