Julia Mancuso Skis Vermont

Julia Mancuso, the ski racer from Lake Tahoe who racked up 36 World Cup podiums and four Olympic medals, flew east this weekend for two reasons. “She was hired to ski with a family in Stowe,”  said George Couperthwait, the president of Stöckli USA who lives just up the road from Cochran’s in Richmond. Mancuso is a Stöckli athlete.

The second reason she was in Vermont was to sign autographs at Cochran’s Ski Area. As kids of all ages rode the t-bar to ski under the lights at Cochran’s, Mancuso made some turns then went to the base lodge to sign autographs. Her  her husband, surfer Dylan Fish, sat quietly with their child as a long line of junior racers stood waiting.

Fellow Olympic medalist from a previous generation Barbara Ann Cochran and her brother, World Cup racer Bobby, milled around in the kitchen, helping to make sure everyone was fed at the ski area’s traditional simple Friday night suppers.

Mancus won the giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and was the silver medalist in downhill and combined in 2010, and the bronze medalist in the combined in 2014. She has also won five medals (two silver and three bronze) at the World Championships and seven races in regular World Cup competition.

Most recently, Mancuso and Fish joined Austrian Sandra Lahnsteiner and New Zealander Janina Kuzma and their spouses in British Columbia to shoot “Couples: Shades of Winter.” The short film highlights the women freeskiing big, powdery lines with their husbands in tow. Take a look:

Opener: Two Olympic legends: Barbara Ann Cochran and Julia Mancuso. Photo by Lisa Lynn