From Olympian to Freeskiing Pioneer to DJ: How One Woman Rebuilt Her Identity—and What It Reveals About Inner Strength, Transformation, and Living with Wonder

Ageless Athlete - Wendy Fisher
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[00:00:00] 

Wendy: Hey, I am in Crest de Butte, Colorado, and this is where my full-time residents and, um, so for breakfast a few hours ago I started with the cappuccino that I made, and then usually I move into fresh squeezed orange juice that I make every day. And I guess it just depends on how hungry I get when I start eating breakfast.

But I did having English muffin a lot of times I do make bacon, um, but it just, I'm kind of a grazer, so I don't really sit down and have a big breakfast anymore.

Kush: You seem like. Somebody who cares about their breakfast, you make your own cappuccino. So this is not just, you know, a, a simple drip coffee like I do. And then you also squeeze your orange juice. And this happens on a regular basis, or were you just getting ready for this podcast?

Wendy: No, no. [00:01:00] Every day, um, I fresh squeeze orange juice. Mm-hmm.

Kush: Oh, I love it.

Wendy: I hate fake juice. I don't buy any of the juices at the store. you know, when I, when I go to restaurants and it says, uh, fresh orange juice, I'll be like, is it fresh squeezed? And it's just funny how some people just don't know the difference between fresh and fresh from concentrate, they will serve me a fresh from concentrate.

I'm like, this is not fresh squeeze. Um, and I don't even really like two day old fresh squeezed orange juice

Kush: Mm

Wendy: it does change. Um, the flavor just starts to go away, that freshness and

Kush: sure.

Wendy: get hangy. So my grandmother used to do fresh squeezed orange juice, um, and my dad would bring cases of oranges home.

Uh, he only was home on the weekends. He would drive from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe, which is where I grew up, along the drive, he'd pick up a case of oranges and then we would [00:02:00] have fresh squeeze oranges or cut oranges in the kitchen and just eat oranges. So then as my kids started getting older, I started introducing the fresh squeeze again.

And I pretty much do it religiously every day. I don't like taking, like, I take vitamins. I do collagen powder, and I don't like taking that with water. And I don't like my vitamins with my coffee either. So the best way to get it down is with some fresh squeeze orange juice.

Kush: I love it and yeah, thanks for sharing on how this is perhaps being, being homage to this time. Honored. Uh. Tradition that you have had with your family, which is, which is, yeah, this, this legacy of fresh squeezed orange juice that you had growing up and now you have passed on to your, uh, family as well.

maybe, maybe there. This is like, a little insight into how you might be as a [00:03:00] person overall, I, I usually like to ask next, which is, um, who are you and, uh, and what do you do? And I know that it's not a simple answer in your case because you wear lots of hats, but I will let you speak. 

Wendy: uh, I mean, I'm first and foremost a skier. I still ski a lot. Um, that's been foundation of many, I, I guess my career up until this point, and I, it's changed shapes or images of what type of skier I am. But, you know, first the ski racer, uh, was part of the US ski team. Went to the nine two Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.

Um, then when I left my ski racing career, I got into big mountain skiing and did a lot of filming with matchstick production and Warren Miller. And so I was in that realm for a really long time. and have done some other films, short films along the way [00:04:00] and, you know, then got into camps and teaching um, so now, um, in Crested Butte, I became the ambassador of the resort here for 18 years, did my own private lessons, and then Vail came in and, um, I still can teach here. So I guess I'm now a Vail employee, but, uh, 'cause Vail has purchased Cresta Butte, so I do private lessons here, or, you know, I can do private lessons anywhere that, um, is an epic resort. So that, I guess is been my trail. And, you know, I've always maintained this, um, skier identity and, and being able to make an income from the sport. Um, but I've also drifted off into speaking. And, uh, DJing. So I became a local DJ here about 10 years ago because I love dancing and my girlfriend always, we wanted to have dance parties, so we started getting that going, which then morphed into being a wedding dj. So I do tons of events. [00:05:00] Crested Vita is a very beautiful place, so a lot of people come here to get married. And I'm one of the main DJs in the valley, um, who does weddings specifically. So,

Kush: Ah.

Wendy: I get a pretty full summer for that. And then, um, we have a re hotel at the base of the resort and they have hired me to be their music manager. So now I book music and we are kind of the zone in the wintertime for apre skiing. Where I'll hire DJs to play out on the patio and get dance parties going. And then inside I hire musicians to play inside the lobby. Um, so that's, you know, elevation and right at the base of the resort. So, um, yeah, I had a, I have a bunch of different things going on and I do events. My best friend's an event planner, so in the summer I'm very busy doing events for weddings and nonprofits. Typical ski town life where, you know, you live [00:06:00] in a ski town and you're just busy all over making ends meet and I, I like moving. Um, I have a hard time sitting still. I don't like to, the thought of having a real office job is to me. So if I can stay busy and run around, I'd rather be on my feet from eight in the morning until midnight than sitting on my butt from, you know, nine to five.

Kush: Fair enough. that's amazing. Wendy, well, I can see you are an entrepreneur in, in many ways beyond being an athlete. And I love this, uh, twist with. With being a DJ and managing music and related events. Let me ask you this. What does music bring into your life that's different from sport? 

Wendy: I dunno how different it is from [00:07:00] sport. I would say I kind of got into DJing because it was when I started having my kids. So I wasn't able to travel for skiing as much anymore. My career got put on hold. needed an outlet and an outlet of exerting energy. You know, of course I worked out and stuff, but the thrill of going on a run or a bike ride just didn't have the same, I guess, alert or, nervousness as getting on a ski slope and doing a ski line for film or something.

And so I think after I had my first son, I was just itching to be adventurous in a new way. honestly starting to DJ in front of, you know, whether it's 20 people or at an event, it's very nerve wracking. Um, I can't sleep the night before I get stressed about whether they're gonna like my music, if, if all the equipment's [00:08:00] gonna work.

So there has this kind of, this nervous energy that I think. miss by not, um, putting myself out there the ski world. I mean, eventually I did start filming again for skiing and stuff, but I definitely put my career on hold. And I, I think I just needed kind of this outlet to put myself, I don't wanna say I'm an attention getter or, or need attention, but you know, when you're filming and you do ski films, you are the center of attention for that line.

And then it gets put up on film. And so then when you get out DJing, you are the center of everyone's attention and you're kind of creating the mood and vibe for everyone. And so I think it was just a new and different outlet. I do love dancing. I like that freedom. And when you meet with friends who love dancing too, that, that just is such a fun energy. so yeah, it was really cool. And, and Crested Butt's a very small town, so whether you know me or not, a lot of people know of me as a [00:09:00] skier. But now there's this new generation here. 'cause I am older. They know me as the DJ and music planner of the hotel here. So it's

Kush: Oh wow.

Wendy: two different identities. But, um, but yeah, so I don't know if it, it totally was different than skiing. I just think it was a replacement that I needed at the time. when I had to stay home and be, you know, I won't, I don't wanna say locked down, but just I didn't travel as much and I, I needed an outlet.

Kush: That's so great. ~You know, I got into. Dancing, I guess specifically like salsa dancing and uh, uh, and then later into house music, whatnot. Uh, uh, a dozen or, or so years ago. And one thing I loved about, uh, that part of my life was that it was so different than rock climbing or surfing where my, my, my, my friend circle there was different.~

~And I felt that when I would go dancing, you know, or, or be performing, I would be so excited because I would be so different than being out in nature. But I was still pushing myself and I was still learning new things. And I would bring the energy then back from, from performing and dancing back into the outdoors.~

~And I loved like how. I had these way, two different activities, but they kind of complimented each other in like an unusual, unexpected way. Do you find the same between like, you know, your music end of life and then your, uh, your life on the slopes?~

Wendy: ~Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean I, uh, it's, you know, um, multiple personalities going on, right? Like, you know, there's my skier hat and then. There's my mom hat. And, and actually, I mean, I would describe myself. I, I mean, I get energetic when I talk with people and you're asking questions, I get engaged. But in general, I feel like I'm kind of, um, shy and I say to myself, then to DJ in front of a bunch of people and put myself out there, it's, it's definitely a mind game 'cause you have to look like you're comfortable, you know, you don't wanna be stiff and lame up there.~

~And it definitely makes me break outta my shell. And so it is weird, uh, to feel like I'm shy inside and kind of keep to myself, but then to put myself in front of people during a dancing moment and then my energy up and outward. So, yeah, I mean it definitely, you know, all these different takes on my life. Pull out a different personality. I feel like.~

Kush: ~Sure. And you know, I can see that in, in your normal life, you just. Wendy, this person, and maybe you are reserved like you say you are, but then when you are on, you know, in front of a mic, in front of like a music setup, then you are Wendy, this accomplished dj. And then you have to kind of wear that persona.~

~And then when you are out there, uh, competing or skiing, then it's like this, this Wendy, the athlete. And that allows you to thrive in that identity. Uh, yeah. I, I, I, um, so Great. So~ Wendy, I'll confess that I don't know enough about the kind of skiing that you do. I, I've lived in San Francisco for like two decades, right next to Tahoe, and I haven't spent enough time going to Tahoe in the winter or skiing myself.

And I suspect many of our listeners may not also. Understand your sport specifically. I, I'm sure some of them have [00:10:00] seen you on TV and some of those, uh, movies and also have, uh, have heard or followed your career through the Olympics. But can you help us understand what you are best known for from the world of skiing? 

Wendy: yeah, I would say best known for my big mountain skiing. And back when I started doing it, it was called Extreme Skiing. but it's been, you know, the name has been changed. Big mountain skiing or, um, free ride, free ride skiing. And so, yeah, when I left the US ski team, when I left my racing career, I was still pretty young.

I was 24. And my life up until that point had been skiing. And you know, of course I thought about like, after skiing, what am I gonna do with my life? when 24 came and I realized my racing career was over, I, there was a part of me, I was like, wow, I just spent my whole life up to [00:11:00] now. 'cause I started skiing when I was two, but really racing when I was five. and, you know, you're thrown into sports at a young age. I was like, wow. Uh, it's such a bummer that it's over. Like I've so much about this sport. I, you know, have gotten to a very high level and now I'm done. I was not looking to be a ski instructor at that age. And now I do teach, but I had to really mature into that thought and desire and I wasn't ready. So there's a part of me that just felt like, um. wouldn't say a waste of time of putting all that time and energy into skiing, but it just felt like a, a, a bummer way to go. Then accidentally, I was on a road trip to never ski again because I just didn't see a future in it. Um, I was unhappy, so I wanted to go on a road trip just to travel around different resorts, have fun skiing one last winter, and then I wanted to get into mountain bike racing. So I [00:12:00] was an avid biker. I loved, um, biking and working out, and that seemed like the next path. But on my journey to never ski again, I ended up in Cresta Butte, Colorado, which I now live in, and there's a extreme skiing contest going on, and I got talked into entering it, and it changed my world. It just, the energy, the liveliness, ski racing just became so serious. Which, you know, it is a business and for sure I wanted to be one of the top skiers, but I didn't understand the mentality of becoming a top athlete, which was, I don't wanna say cutthroat, but know, it's pretty serious when you're on the top of the pyramid trying to become the best. Your team becomes smaller of who's traveling around together and you're not traveling with your friends, of course, maybe you try to have friends, but in the end, you know, it's one for all and all for one. And that atmosphere was not conducive to my [00:13:00] personality. when I got into big mountain skiing, um, and it was so new, the sport was so new that, uh, I flourished in it and we were all doing it together to try to build this new sport that was unknown and which was big. Mountain skiing is where you have a platform on a ski run and they, um, judges will. The, um, they, they block it off. And so you can ski in an area and it's basically up to your interpretation of how you wanna ski that line. And it usually involves from pretty technical terrain. So it's just not like perfect nice turns sinking all the way down. You're looking for obstacles, you're looking for trees, shoots, to make your ski line very interesting to the judges and the audience. you hopefully ski it pretty flawlessly so that you get scored well. So it's a, you know, you have four to five judges judging on you on a multiple of categories, but what it comes down to [00:14:00] is, you know, hopefully skiing a pretty challenging line that you can perfect and, ski it within a certain amount of time.

And then you get judged on that. when I got into the sport, not a lot of girls were doing it, and not a lot of girls were pushing it to the edge. So when I got introduced to it. that opening to be a little bit more aggressive. Take airs, um, jump Cliffs. Uh, that's what I became known for, for the women kind of transferring.

I mean, there's women before me who were skiing awesome. And brought the level to here. then when I came in, I saw an opening to take the level here

Kush: Uh,

Wendy: course there's other girls who are taking it here. So I guess I was just one of the stepping blocks of that transformation of big mountain skiing for women. And so I definitely feel honored to, um, have that, I guess, notch in my ski career.

Kush: [00:15:00] Wendy, I'll have to actually ask you about this. You quote, unquote, retired from professional ski racing at the age of 24, if I heard that correctly. So that sounds. Quite young. Was that typical for ski racers back in the day? And I'm also curious, has that also changed in current day ski racing? Has that, are people still retiring in their, uh, early twenties?

Wendy: Yeah, I mean, um, it was earlier than I was hoping, you know, when I made the ski team, I was, uh, I think 15 and I really thought I was gonna be on the team much longer. But at my, at, during that time, it was rare if you kept ski racing 30. So if you were a ski racer at 30, and I remember there were a few, we just thought they were so old. [00:16:00] but now, I mean, you see ski racers, they're under their forties and it's not that big of a deal. If you can keep up the performance and your health, um, you know, limited injuries. You should be able to keep it together. And so, yeah, I, I mean actually I might've quit a little sooner. I think I got into big mountain skiing at 24, so I might've even been like 22, 23 when I left.

Kush: Wow.

Wendy: And I would say yes, it, it was early. Um, I think I had, I definitely physically had way more years mentally, no. Um, I let the ski team very depressed, very down and out. I could not have mentally survived the US ski team any more than I did. And of course, I had many, many years to reflect why that was what happened in my career.

And I've come to terms with it and, and piece over my challenges, which [00:17:00] in all athletic fields, you know, there's, there's only a handful of athletes that are gonna make it to the tippy top. With lots of success. And you know, you see that with a Lindsay Vonne or a McKayla. Um, you see that they are in there the most, of course there are other athletes getting in there, here and there, but not to the level of that career, the career that they've had. So yes, I had some career highlights and, but I, you know, and I went to peace with when I left the ski team, the reasons why it took me a long time to get over it, because yes, I wanted a more successful career than what I did have. The saving grace was, is I found this whole new career that I was not even looking for. that totally revived me and made me a completely different person in skier. And it felt actually more me when I got into the big mountain [00:18:00] world of free skiing, I was like, oh, this is so much more me than the ski racing. So the ski racing was a great platform and, and for me, you don't have to be a ski racer to be a big mountain skier. But for me, when I entered into it, at that time, I was pretty much the highest level female skier ever to get into big mountain skiing. Even, even men. I mean, there was not an Olympic skier yet who was jumping into the big mountain ski world. So I kind of entered that first. And my, the confidence that I had from my background is really what held me to be a strong, big mountain skier.

Knowing that I had so much technical training, um, I knew I was one of the best skiers out there. So when I saw guys jumping cliffs and guys doing really gnarly shoots and tight terrain, and with exposure, knew that I had more technical. Foundation than them, and I should be able to do that as well. So that was my, my mental thought, like, I deserve to be here. I have all the [00:19:00] technical capabilities and skills to be able to ski what they're doing, so why shouldn't I push myself to that level?

Kush: So badass. I'm guessing that you left the pro, I guess the, the ski racing world, the, the professional side at maybe the peak of your powers, you know, early twenties. And it sounds like that was a voluntary decision that you were, whatever you were burnt out. You were not finding the joy in that space. Just Yeah, just.

Staying there for a second, was that also typical for that time that people in ski racing would hang up their skis

Wendy: mm-hmm.

Kush: at that age? Was that typical or like you or people looked at you with, you know, eyebrows raised and be like, oh my goodness, she is at the top and [00:20:00] he's walking away.

Wendy: Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say eyebrows are raised because I was going through a lot of mental issues, so I almost feel like it wasn't a surprise. I mean, yeah, I was on the World Cup level, but I was fastly declining and like you said, I was not having, uh, the love and, and passion and, um, fun. So fun was a big word for me, which, was one of the things that I discovered when I left ski racing, years later, was my decline in the sport was there was no more fun. I climbed the level that I got to because I loved the sport, and I did it purely out of. Because I loved it and it was fun and it's all I knew and I was just brought up that way and, and there's some deeper behind also why I skied, raced, but uh, but ultimately I just, I could [00:21:00] not, it was, yeah, it just became a dark place. And so, yeah, I mean, I guess I left at a normal time. There are other athletes who left around that same age. I think maybe your young twenties is where you kind of feel the flip, but now it's different. I mean, girls now you can delay the time you made the ski team and you can even make it later, like, make the team at 22, to college first. Um, there are a few changes or different. of making the team, but it normally girls make the team at a young age, younger than boys because we mature sooner and all that other kind of stuff. So making it at 15, 16 is not abnormal. then by the time you're 23, you're 22, you're already on the ski team for quite a long time.

But hopefully you're getting to the World Cup level by that age. And if you're [00:22:00] not, then it means maybe it's time to think of something else. But if you are at the World Cup level at that age, then yeah, you would keep going. So I was at the World Cup level at that age, 23 when I left. But like I said, I just didn't have the mental capacity to keep it going.

So it was a choice to leave the team. Um, and yeah, I walked away and when I did, you know, I had a, a talk with one of my coaches. I said, I'm just, you know, I'm having nightmares at night. I am depressed all the time. So it was agreed that I needed time off and I was an athlete that never got hurt. So there's also that side of it.

You know, a lot of athletes blow out their knees, they break limbs, they have to take time off, whether, and back then knee surgeries were months long, or half a season long, or you completely miss a season. never missed a dry line camp. I never missed a ski camp, I never missed a race, um, my whole career. I think I hit this, uh, [00:23:00] burnout stage and rather than blow out my knee, which I know people, know, might hear this is crazy, but I kind of wish I had an injury so that I,

Kush: Gosh.

Wendy: so I would've been couched, I would. My body relaxed, my mind relaxed. Maybe I would get this hungry ness to get back out there because of this injury. And it just, um, I got into instead an eating disorder. I started over training. I, you know, I, I just built on all these negative things in my life that maybe if I was forced to have time off, I could have recovered, but because I was never forced to have time off, though I was told to have time off, was not physically impaired.

So to me that meant I was lazy impaired.

Kush: Josh.

Wendy: um, I'm not gonna be a strong athlete and what athlete is lazy? And [00:24:00] so I really just think I needed a break and I just kind of hit a breaking point. That, um, I had to walk away from because of my state of mind.

Kush: Yes. I can only imagine the amount of stamina you had and the stamina it takes to be, not the physical stamina necessarily, but just the mental stamina

Wendy: Mm-hmm.

Kush: I. Be pushing yourself from that early in age, continuously. So, yeah, I mean, even if somebody, let's say, did not have a physical injury or did not go through the other, let's say, mental, uh, situations you went through at some point, you know, one just wants to just not do it like every,

Wendy: Mm-hmm.

Kush: the grueling nature of training and, and, and competing.

Like I'm sure one day people are like, you wake up and you might be like, gosh, this is like way too [00:25:00] much. I don't feel like, yeah. I don't feel like going out of the cold at like four 30 or 5:00 AM for whatever type of training is, is on the script.

Wendy: I did. I, I, I wanted to go out 4:00 AM in the morning because I had a mental issue of that I needed to work out. It was a need, it was a,

Kush: Wow.

Wendy: it was a obsession that if I didn't do it, then mentally I would be, I guess at a loss. So that's like an eating, you know, workout disorder where I felt like if I didn't work out enough, uh, I was gonna gain a lot of weight.

I was gonna be outta shape. I, so it's an obsession that built up so much that it became unhealthy than having a healthy relationship with the workout and the process. I. Having more time off, being okay with time off. So I, I left the ski [00:26:00] team wanting, I loved showing up for training. I love whether it was ski training, dryland training, um, I was mentally all in for that. It was more the social aspect, being very competitive with the girls who you travel in vans with the girls who you roommate with the girls who you have, um, you're working out with, having dinner with the US ski team is a team, but it's an individual sport. So unless you are like Mikayla or Bode Miller, uh, you know, a top athlete who can have their own entourage and afford to pay to be separate from the team, that's one way of doing it.

But you gotta really get to that level. And back in my era, if you branched off away like that, it was very, very frowned upon. um. put yourself in an atmosphere where, I don't wanna say it was catty all the time, mean my, my teammates were fine. We were [00:27:00] all, I talk with them now, a bunch of teammates, and we were all going through this mental weirdness, but we never talked about it because of our age.

And we wanted open. I mean, when you become in your forties and fifties, you just became, you just become way more open about your life and things that you reflect on and you're like, oh my God, we're all kind of going through the same thing. But none of us talked about it. But ~uh, yeah, so. A lot of, um, self-talk and awareness about who I was then and who I am now and, and stuff like~ that. So what was going on with me was just a lot of, um, personal identity issues got taken over and I was trying to solve those issues by to work out a lot, eat little. Um, I was trying to make myself, myself feel better in that atmosphere because mentally I was drowning.

So, yeah. So I needed to walk away for my mental health.

Kush: Sure. Yeah, I can, I can now see that maybe that exercise and the, [00:28:00] the insane discipline that you had to follow was almost like a, like life support, like that allowed you to function because you could like, just kinda, you know, just put all your, all your effort into that.

Wendy: Mm-hmm.

Kush: Uh, maybe sometime, maybe almost, almost in a robotic way,

Wendy: Yep.

Kush: the other reality around you was so challenging.

And I can only imagine like you are out there with your teammates and yes, you are sharing so many things, but you're also kind of gunning for each other

Wendy: Mm-hmm.

Kush: you have to win. That's, that's kind of like your career as an athlete is to try to win and Yeah, it sounds like it, it, it creates. I guess not the healthiest of conflict between your teammates, but then also within you, because you have to try to resolve that.

And also at that young age, and I'm guessing this probably gets, yeah, you probably see that in other [00:29:00] sports as well. What, what I think is also interesting about maybe these niche sports, like, like ours, you know, like these outdoor sports, you also have to be so intrinsically motivated. Like there's not a a, a huge amount of, cash money or, I, I don't know where the sport is now, but maybe back then, I'm guessing that yes, it, the fire has to come from within and if you stop feeling that fire, you have to, yeah, you have you, yeah, you have to kind of try to walk away.

So Wendy, you walked away, um, and you talk about like how you got into the. Maybe back then extreme ski race, extreme skiing, and now Big Mountain and how, that was such maybe, um, so, reviving for you, like it was being able to use your, so yeah. Can you talk a little bit about like how the kind of liberation you felt [00:30:00] and how that allowed you to maybe even heal from some of the internal challenges that you were going through? 

Wendy: I remember my first contest, um, again, it was here in Crested Butte and back then we had two runs and the contest people were showing me some of the different ski lines. 'cause usually it's a, it's a multi-day event and you're trying to accumulate points from the first day to the end.

It's changed now, but back then that's how it was. so I had two runs and people showed me, you know, days before Wendy, this is one of the venues I. This is where one, this is where the girls ski. So they showed me the line that all the girls most likely would would ski. And someone was telling me I needed to ski prettier and more upright 'cause I was too racer. so first run comes and I, uh, [00:31:00] do my run. I ski where all the girls did. It was fine, you know, uh, I just skied down the run. I think I hit a little jump. And then, um, the other girls came down. They all skied in the same zone. And then into, um, a friend who I grew up with, Shama Conkey, which a lot of people in the ski world or base jumping world or just, you know, sports in general probably have heard about Shane. And he was at the base of the skier and I ran into him and we start chitchatting and the guys start to come. And so I'm watching and I'd never seen a contest before. So literally this is the first time. I'm watching a contest is after my first run and all the guys start coming down totally different zone than the girls. Really? Ratty, rocky, gnarly, gross. Not something you would typically get, just gravitate to. Um, and they're skiing tight lines. They were hitting jumps, catching air, doing all [00:32:00] stuff. And that's when, you know, I saw their technique. A lot of 'em were skiing in a way that I thought was, um, you know, obviously not trained like me. And I looked at Shane, I was like, oh my God, I'm a better skier than that guy. Can I do that line? And then another person came down and did something else and I'm like, Shane, can I do that? these guys just kept coming down and like, and I kept asking Shane the same question. He just kept saying, yes, yes, yes. So finally he had to go up for his run and he, and we talked about the line that I was gonna do. So second run, all the girls went back into their same zone. And when it was my run, I just went fall line from the start, which was directly above all the gnarly terrain that the guys are skiing. as I started heading that way then, the contest had hundreds of supporters with their kegs, lounge chairs, barbecue, like everyone's just there to watch all [00:33:00] the, you know, these athletes do crazy stuff.

And so as I'm skiing down. Suddenly everybody, the audience starts just roaring and screaming and I can hear them. And I was just like, oh my God. And I get to this edge where it obviously, it's mandatory air that I lined myself up to, to jump off this cliff. And you know, you should back then I was able to pause for a second.

Now, today, if you were to pause on a cliff, you get dot points. But I paused for a second and I just took it all in because everybody was going crazy. then I hit the air, I stuck my line, I skied down to the bottom and just everyone surrounded me and they're like, we've never seen a girl do this before. I was just like, oh, here's my, here's my new thing. I mean, I didn't, I mean, I just remember

Kush: Wow.

Wendy: this is amazing, this feeling's amazing. I just was feeling so down and out about life, what I was gonna do. And I still wasn't thinking that I was gonna get into big mount skiing, [00:34:00] but it just lifted me up so much. came to me and he's like, and I won the run by a ton, but then Shane came to me, he is like, when do you need to keep doing this? You need to keep doing these contests. And I said, no, Shane, I'm on a road trip to never ski again. Um, you know, this was great, but I'm, I'm moving on from skiing. And then a few days after the contest, uh, it just hit me.

I was like, I'm gonna go do the rest of the contest. So I drove back out to Tahoe 'cause there's a contest in Kirkwood, a contest in Squaw. I won those, up to Alaska for what was called the World Extreme Skiing Championships back then, won that, got picked up by sponsors. Again, matchsticks asked to film me and so it just kind of snowballed to, I didn't give up skiing, kept skiing and gave me a whole new, outlook on life.

It just, it just definitely felt more like me. Just the, the comradery around the whole sport. Guys and girls [00:35:00] traveled together, the guys really supported us, girls supported each other. it was a rebirth of a, a new sport, a rebirth of me. So it just definitely, um, was a transition at the time. It was just perfect transition to move on to something else.

And, skiing was my whole life up to that point, and it just felt great to be able to use my skills in a whole new way. And so then even by my former teammates on the US ski team, everyone started seeing me branch off into this new sport. And, just, yeah, it made me feel good about myself that I took, you know, took the situation and I transformed into a new sport and was involved with the progression of this new sport.

Kush: Yeah. And also maybe good for the world of skiing and maybe professional sports at large that you didn't completely walk away [00:36:00] because you, you know, you, uh, pioneered this, uh, this wave of, uh, excellence in big mountain skiing

Wendy: Mm-hmm.

Kush: may not have happened had you not been there at that time. Quick question.

You know, we spoke about this conflicted type of comradery from the world of ski racing, and now you're doing Big Mountain, uh, uh, uh, events. But it sounds like you're still competing with your fellow athletes, but then there was the bond, the bonding was different. Can you talk about like how that was different, even though it sounds like you were still competing with the people you were traveling with or seeing at all these events All the time.

I.

Wendy: Yeah. Well, I had no coaches, so. friends were coaches, my boyfriend was my coach. It it, it was just, you know, even leaving the ski team. Um, another conflict that I had was my B team coach. When you make the [00:37:00] US ski team, this a team, B team, C team. So my B team coach was great. He would really build me up. He understood me mentally. Um, it's a sport that you don't get to pick your own coach Again, Mikayla does and Lindsay probably does, but for the other mass majority of us, you know, your assigned coaches, the US ski team hires coaches. So you leave your program, your name to the US ski team and you might not always get along with the coaches that the ski team picks for you to have. So I have a B team coach, he's great. He knew me inside and out. He knew when I was skiing bad, he would come to me and, and just could pull it out of me. Then I got moved up to the A team. That coach just coached different, didn't really give a shit. Um, totally different energy. And that affects you mentally.

When you're out there, you only feel alone because you don't feel like you can talk to your teammates all the time. And now you have a coach that [00:38:00] doesn't communicate the same way as the coach that just elevated you to this next level. So when I was traveling with Big Mountain, we were just with friends and I didn't have to room with anyone if I didn't want to.

You know, I had a travel budget for my ski team. You have a friend, you're like, Hey, we're gonna go up to Whistler for that contest. Do you, do you need a condo? Like, should we go in a condo together? Or maybe I just get a hotel by myself. I can get my own rental car. I don't have to drive with anyone if I don't want to. so it was of much more freedom. You got to your own, um, aura. Or the people surround you. Not to say that there were some girls that we were very competitive in the big mound. It, it did get intense at times, but never to the same degree as, um, it was as a ski racer. And so yeah, there's just, there's just so much more freedom and support for sure. Um, you know, I was at one contest where I was looking at [00:39:00] a line and right from the start it was mandatory air and I was looking over it and this girl walks over and she looks over my shoulder and I'm kind of bummed because I don't want her to see the line that I'm looking at. I don't want her to my same line. so she looked over and she's like, if there's any girl who can do it, it's you. And

Kush: Oh.

Wendy: and I was like, oh my God. Did she just say something nice to me? I was like, wow, that, that was amazing. And I did do that line and I did win the contest, but it was in that era. It was just really cool, you know, people were supporting each other 'cause it was just still a new frontier. in that sport. mean that I lost my obsession of, working out and my eating issues. That still took years to let go. But being in this new sport that I started feeling better about myself, I started to get happy again. It was [00:40:00] eventually I was able to start letting go of the need and necessity to work out three times a day. I was able to start introducing like fat and other foods into my diet that I that would make me feel sick or I had fear of eating because of the mental state I was in. Slowly being happy and in this new venue and atmosphere it was. And then, you know, I had a boyfriend who cared and loved me and took care of me.

And so, you know, slowly I was adding on these new positives in my life that, I, I was gradually getting rid of the negative hangups that built up when I was really unhappy.

Kush: Excellent. I, I'm curious. This element of like, this maybe, uh, competition that is different [00:41:00] between ski racing and then this like fee skiing or big. And I just wonder if the opportunities to succeed change, because sounds like in ski racing, you know, there is, the world seems binary. Like you either win, you either won the event or you didn't win the event.

You either made the team or you did not make the team. So maybe that also brings out that, uh, you know, that ferocity between like teammates, but maybe in this new world that you are part of. Maybe there were different ways to succeed. You know, you are going to different events, so there are different events if you take part and you could maybe even if you lost in something, you, you won somewhere else.

And maybe there were other ways to also, uh, make a career through let's say, ski movies [00:42:00] like, like you did May, can you, uh, talk for a minute about how your livelihood also changed? Like, I can see that there is this pressure as a young athlete to succeed because maybe you are at your athletic prime when you are competing and maybe you've, you know, one visa, Hey, I, I have to make my mark because once I'm out I don't have the same, uh, options anymore.

So can you speak a little bit about how that shifted for you as well?

Wendy: Yeah, I mean, like you said, yes. Uh, ski racing is unique and great in one way where it's, it's a clean, clean, clean on how you become successful. It's the clock, you know? You can't argue it. You can't dispute it. And um, and yes, like you said, there's a time period and I even talked to my kids, they're both athletes and, you know, trying to keep their [00:43:00] nose clean, uh, of mischief and stuff during a certain period of their lives. I'm like, you have a time period. You have 10 years to make your mark. Maybe a little bit more. But then ski racing. Yeah. Like, you know, you get into your mid thirties, which is you know, there's just a small percentage that are still racing in mid thirties, but they are, but then, yeah, then you're moving on.

Then you have to figure out your next chapter of your life. so yeah, I left ski racing and then free skiing, big mountain skiing. You, that is, that's an endless career, right? It is. There's so many avenues. People came up to me afterwards, girls like. and they were former racers who just wanna keep skiing and do something Wendy, how do we get into it?

And I'm like, I have no idea. You have to follow your, your heart. Because also Skier Cross was getting developed. I, I did the first women's skier cross in 1998 here in Crested [00:44:00] Butte. So that was another avenue to start breaking outta ski racing and have a different career. Um, I didn't really like that avenue.

I stuck with Big Mountain. I liked helicopter skiing, I liked filming. That became my platform. There's some, um, skiers who then just became mostly who did ski covers and would go with ski magazines. And, uh, you know, have stories written on travels that they would do with friends. I did do some of that, but definitely my focus became after getting success from the Big Mountain career and getting noticed from those competitions, I got noticed by Matchstick Productions and Warren Miller and other ski movie.

And so when I was given money by ski companies, 'cause now I'm getting picked up and sponsored and making money, I would choose how I wanted to spend that money and I chose it with the focus of ski films. so [00:45:00] luckily I was able to get in with these different film companies and be one of their female skiers. So yeah. The, the after ski life and you're seeing it now, I mean there are so many skiers who, whether it's Ted Ligety, um, or Peekaboo Street or you know, all these different athletes who after ski racing career. You can still tap into all these different avenues. And whether it's becoming a ski instructor really focused at a high level like Deb Armstrong. So there was, there became just such a bigger platform that o opened up in that era that I got into because the ski industry was so close-minded that they thought ski racing is the end all be all. And that's, that's how you make a mark is you being a good skier and a skier that has, that, you know, has a lot of respect or you give a lot of respect to. 'cause when I started telling ski companies, I was getting a big mountain [00:46:00] skiing, they were like, oh yeah, I mean, know. okay skiers. They, it wasn't looked at to the same high level and then now, you know, you could be a big mountain skier in the films and just given so much respect, just as much respect as a ski racer. And you know, now you have park skiing and um, all, just, just so much different platforms. So they're there, is, you know, your own canvas. You know, you can be an artist and you have a canvas and you can make yourself type of skier you want as long as people enjoy watching you and they like your personality and enjoy watching the journey as well.

So there's just really so many opportunities. And, um, so I know that was one area of question you're getting into and I think I might have drifted off the main thing you wanted. Um, sorry.

Kush: Yeah. No, I, yeah, I was just trying to get a sense of like. When you are a, a competitive ski [00:47:00] racer, are you getting paid by the competitions or by the ski teams? Like how does I, I get a sense, I, I think I understand how you, uh, you succeed in, in free skiing or big mountain skiing or, because you know, you're kind of an entrepreneur, right?

It's like, it's like the people you're working with and the path you take and how you get paid based on like, sort of your creativity, your success. But like, when you're competing, are they paying you for winning back in the day? Like, what's, how does that happen?

Wendy: Yeah. So yeah, as a ski racer, you were allowed to have ski sponsors if you did a certain level of success, you would get paid. But up until. 1991 athletes ski racers were amateurs and we still, and they still are, but [00:48:00] we were, and you were not allowed to get paid. So in 1991 was the era of, um, I think the dream team was going to be in the next Olympics and they were all professional NBA basketball players who all paid.

So that changed the dynamic of the Olympic amateur status of not being able to be in the Olympics. know, so lemme go back. You weren't allowed to be in the Olympics if you were a paid athlete, but we were paid with ski company contracts, which were kind of like, I wouldn't say hidden from the Olympic umbrella, but we were not allowed to make prize money until 92, the dream team, because they were all making tons of money.

So that kind of was like, well, why aren't we making money? So they started introducing prize money into ski racing at that time. so I

Kush: Sorry, by by DREAM team, are you talking about like, sorry, was it the BA basketball? The NBA. Oh, of course. Of course. Yes. Okay. Yeah, that was pivotal.

Wendy: So they were entering the realm of Olympics, which is they're making gobs of [00:49:00] money, but

Kush: Yeah.

Wendy: runners, you know, not, not US runners, but runners and skiers and like all those amateur sports that have been in the Olympics for so long, you weren't allowed to make money. That's amateur. So, uh, but then in 1991 is when they started to allow, um, prize money at ski events.

So that's how you'd make your money. Obviously you see ski racers, they have a headgear sponsor. They're making money from that sponsor, endorsements, all that stuff. So big mountain skiing. Again, we do make it from our ski companies. You could probably also have endorsements from like Wheaties if you wanted or something like that.

And then there was prize money. was very small though. I did not do big mountain skiing at all for the money. I. I did it for peace of mind. So when I would go to events, pe people would ask me, Wendy, how much money would you win if you won today? I'm like, I have no idea. I don't even know there's prize money. am doing this because I am a different [00:50:00] person. I'd love, like, I, you know, just traveling around with all these great people. 'cause you would still go free ski around, um, maybe do some filming it. It was just, um, it, it was just a way of life that was making me happy. And that was

Kush: Nick.

Wendy: residents over the financial gain.

Kush: Sure. How, how are you supporting yourself though?

Wendy: Well, I was getting money from ski companies, so

Kush: Ah.

Wendy: it was, I was getting great, uh, from Smith back at the time. You know, um, Solomon picked me up at the time, so I was getting a travel budget and a retainer, for sure I tried to get a decent contract out of that. But again, that just snowballed. It wasn't. It snowballed because that was the way the sport was going. And so if you wanted me on their product, they were giving, you know, they're offering me money, so of course I'm gonna say yes, I wasn't necessarily doing any contests because of the prize money. It was just fun and,[00:51:00] 

Kush: Yeah, it was bigger. I mean, you were getting the, the return seemed like more profound than any kind of prize money. I mean, it sounds like it was allowing you to rediscover yourself, heal yourself in this new way. One thing I wanted to ask you, when you were a barrier breaker, like you helped usher in like maybe this era of like big mountain skiing, you, you did these like, uh, novel things that were not being done before.

And you spoke off earlier about how Shane McConkey, I mean, totally, totally tragic about him. Like maybe he was maybe one reason why you. Found the confidence, but I sense that you, you also have this maybe, I don't know, deeper conviction or, or self-belief that you can go out there and do really hard things.

And I'm curious, have you always been like that? Like since you were like, I don't know, a, a young, young [00:52:00] person, uh, a, a little girl, have you, uh, have you, did you also have that in other aspects of your life? Like whether it's studies or somewhere else where you just had this quiet conviction, confidence that you could do these, uh, things that were very difficult.

Wendy: Um, in athletics? Yeah. School. No. Um, so yeah, you go back to what was I like as a kid to be, drive is not traditional or, uh, what made me really get into the sport was, um, family, my dad, uh, my mom, they moved my two older brothers and I to Lake Tahoe because my oldest brother, mark wanted to ski and my parents would take us up there on the weekends.

So we became weekend warriors. And then he just wanted to ski all the time. He told my parents that teachers told my [00:53:00] parents that he actually improved. In school during the winter. So my parents moved to Sep to Tahoe, and we became a skiing family. We went to Squaw or Palisades, every, we became part of the Squaw Valley ski team. So that, that was our life. And I don't remember to sign to be a skier. It was just kind of what was, what we were here to do. And um, unfortunately my oldest brother passed away in a ski accident at 13. Um, I was seven and it was a day skiing with the Squa Valley ski team. And skied up to him and, uh, at that age, it, you know, it dawned on me that I realized he was dead. And so there's a kind of hidden drive also, which is I think why in my ski racing career I had a lot of mental trauma, not trauma, but um, just some mental. Things going on because I associated my skiing career, my [00:54:00] life to my brother a lot because he did not get to keep skiing. He did not get to have this career or, um, you know, lifestyle that we moved to Tahoe for. So I, that drove me a lot. My, my parents, my dad told me a story that his parents told him that my other brother Craig and I should not ski anymore after my brother's death. And my dad told me that if Mark was to have died crossing the street and got hit by a car, would he then not let us walk across the street again? He said, no, we are skiers and Craig and Wendy are gonna keep skiing. And so was pushed into me. So I never had any downtime. I never had any time to reflect that this is something that I shouldn't be doing. If anything, I might have put more energy into it because it, it was our life. I, I don't know.

So I definitely had this other willpower of. Live life to the fullest. This, I, I did not become [00:55:00] afraid after the incident. If anything, just taught me to just keep moving forward and do what you love at all costs. that's kind of how I, I lived that. Um, I ended up having learning disabilities. I was not great at school.

I was always pulled in to do special ed classes. I had untimed SATs. So school, it just had this negative feeling all the time that I was different. I was singled out because I'd be the one kid who was in the corner with a different teacher, uh, very insecure. And my athletics, I became a cross country runner. Um, I mountain biked. I water skied everything I did athletically, people would comment on like, oh, you're so talented. You're very natural. in my head, I just, in any sport, I would just work so, so hard because that got me more, gain, more attention. [00:56:00] And school, I just really try to get away from school as fast as I could and had a lot of doubt in, in that realm.

So yeah, I, I definitely flourished in sports.

Kush: Yes, I guess, uh, success, breed success and even as adults, you know, we are vulnerable to that. But as kids, of course, you know, if you find yourself being successful in one thing, then you, you double down on that thing because that just helps you. Um, I wanted to get a little bit of a peek into Okay.

Coming to the present, right. And. I don't know how old you are, Wendy, but sometimes because I host this podcast, I feel emboldened to ask. Can, can you share how, uh, how young you are at this point?

Wendy: 53.

Kush: Okay. Okay. 53 years young and you are still going after it. You know, [00:57:00] you are doing these sports. When we were, uh, exchanging messages, you had just, uh, completed mound biking in, in fruita.

Can you talk a little bit about how your training, your ability to take care of yourself and keep performing, how that has also shifted. You were this hot charger

Wendy: Mm-hmm.

Kush: your twenties. Where are you today with your, uh, ability to keep going?

Wendy: I am. My ability to keep going is I've, I've pulled back a little bit. Um, I would say when I got to a certain point before I had kids, I was still having this guilt feeling if I didn't work out, like if I didn't do a really hard bike ride, if I didn't do a really hard run, if I didn't do certain things, would feel guilty all day. And so I still had this overhanging of [00:58:00] that was just, I don't know, it just a negative feeling. If I didn't do what I thought an athlete, I still considered myself an athlete and I'm like, oh my God, I didn't go on a hard bike ride today. Like, how could I not? And it, it just was so ingrained, it's so hard to let go of these feelings that I thought to myself before I had kids.

It's like if I well, one, I was afraid of gaining weight also. So, you know, it was this compulsion of eating little gain and working out am I, if I knew I wouldn't blow up to be, you know, really, really outta shape and in different way I would never work out again is something I told myself. 'cause I wanted to get rid of this. Uh, just these negative thoughts all the time. So it turned out I got pregnant and I literally just, I was like, I'm gonna get big, so I'm just gonna let it happen. I walked a lot and stuff and my body totally transformed, totally changed. And after I had my kids, I [00:59:00] was so exhausted from the drain of this guilt that I always put on myself, that I took a few years off actually, of not working out very much. just because I was exhausted. Then as my kids started getting a little bit older, all of a sudden I realized that I'm not in shape anymore. I'm like, oh my God. I just let it all go, which was fine. But then I thought to myself, I don't want my kids to see me this way. I want them to see me as the athlete that I was. So I started working out again. I started running, going to the gym, getting back in shape. 'cause I wanted to have my kids not see the Wendy that I was, you know, I didn't wanna be like, your mom used to do this, or your mom used to do that. No, no, no, no. My kids need otherwise. So, so I got back into shape and I started working out again and going on bike rides and, and just with a new mindset around it, trying to let go of the guilt and more, [01:00:00] you know, just gauging it differently. So I got really back into working out and felt great. And so now my kids are older. They're 19 and 17, and I'm kind of in a new path of, I do workout, I go on casual runs with my girlfriends. I mountain bike. I've never been hurt, I, I've been hurt. I've had lots of ski crashes and water ski crashes and mountain bike crashes, but I've walked away from 'em all.

I've never had knee surgery. I've only broken my thumbs. Um, so that really surprises people. I maybe have a little back pain here and there. I, you know, I do from traveling the last few days, but I don't have knee pain. I don't have hip pain. I'm able to just get off the couch and go out and still do sports that I, I love. But I decided I wanted new, new things. I've been learning to dirt bike, which surprisingly I'm not that great at. I thought it would've been better. I'm learning to golf [01:01:00] and so that's been really fun and interesting. So I'm kind of in a stage where I'm still doing my sports. I still run, I still bike, I still go to the gym.

I still do stomach routines and back routines. 'cause I think that's so important to keep your stomach and back strong. I feel like that's the, the foundation of everything else. Um, but I, I definitely have let go of feeling like I need to get up at six in the morning and do it. I actually just have started to turn off my alarm.

I would still have my alarm set every morning for 6 45. if I did not at least get up by 6 45, I would feel guilty. And so I'm trying to learn to let go of the guilt. Because after all, I do tell myself I'm 53. I'm trying not to prove anything anymore. I've already done whatever it is that I was gonna do. And now I need to learn to just this new chapter do sports that are new and different to me. 'cause I don't need to be the same athlete. And that's the great thing about being [01:02:00] a skier. A skier was an athlete that was able to mountain bike, dirt bike, do other sports. Um, whereas as basketball players or baseball players, you hear it, they have to sign a contract that they won't dirt bike, they won't ski, they won't do these other sports.

Right. But no, not a skier. We, we can do anything and everything 'cause it's already dangerous. So, um, I've, I've, you know, got into skateboarding at one time, um, learned to ride a skateboard, which I, you know, is amazing. So I love being a changer. I love doing new things. I like new opportunities. I play pickleball a lot, especially with my 90-year-old parents. They are amazing. They're actually the true thing that I even talked to my kids about. I'm like, you need to look at your grandparents. 90 years old, my dad plays pickleball every morning and every afternoon, and he swears he would not be alive today if it wasn't for pickleball because he can't do anything else [01:03:00] he can't really move.

He can't run, he can't bike, he can't do all these other sports, but he can play pickleball and he plays it every single day. He goes to pickleball camps. So that, that's been really cool to just see my parents still living vibrant, active lives. So I hope to be like them. necessarily need to be the best biker out there anymore, or the best runner, which I used to.

I used to try to win every bike ride, even casual bike ride. run. Always had to be in the front, and now I'm just. I'm just trying to embrace it and get rid of the guilt still. So at 53, I'm still trying to get rid of the guilt. I'm letting myself maybe sleep into 7, 7 30 and then get up in my day and get going. So, yeah, that, that's the chapter I'm in right now. Um, I don't wanna let go of my athletics for sure. It's, I, you know, keeping that mobility, staying healthy. Um, but I, I [01:04:00] do like challenging myself at different sports. 

Kush: Well, sounds like, disciplined morning exercise can now sometimes be replaced by cappuccino therapy or fresh orange juice, and sounds like that's been a healthy change and thanks for sharing this thing about your parents. Yes. Sounds like you have some genetic gifts. It's remarkable given the type of sports you have and the level at which you have done them, that, knock on wood, you haven't gotten injured any.

Maybe any routines or strategies, Wendy, with your physical training that we can learn from on, like things that you have doubled down on. You talked about like, uh, doing things for your core and your back or, or others that can also help us either, you know, keep [01:05:00] injury away or maybe even recover from Yeah.

De debilities or injuries as, as we get older,

Wendy: Yeah, I mean, stomach routines, stomach and back was ingrained to me back in when I was younger, you know, high school where I went to high school. We would do stomach routines every day, and then I just, I. Always continue that even, um, you know, my ski racing, free skiing. I don't know, I just feel like it's the core, right?

I mean, it is your core and you hear people have back issues from weightlifting so much and this and that. And I, I just feel like, and I try to tell my kids like, if you just do five to 10 minutes a day on your stomach and back, that is, I feel like the stability of that area. So whatever other sports you get into, that area, you know, you're back.

It just takes a hit no matter what. So I wouldn't say I'm religious [01:06:00] anymore about it. I definitely do it at least three days a week where I used to do it every day for years and years and years. I had that foundation. Um, I definitely don't wanna let it go. And, you know, I, for many years I had a. Routine where I worked out three days a week in the gym. I did not want to be lifting weights more than an hour. I'm like, if I'm in here for more than an hour, that's just too much. If I start to lift weights where I need a spotter, then I need a new routine. So I would have someone hire me and give me a new routine and, and I would do that for a month. lighter weights, but balancing kind of workouts, you know, so some sort of squat or um, balancing routine so that you weren't lifting too many heavy weights. And then I would finish it off by doing intervals. I'd get on a treadmill and I suck at intervals. I was a snail, I was more of an endurance athlete growing up. So I'd get on a treadmill and I'd do 30 minutes of like a five [01:07:00] minute warmup and a five minute cool down. But in between I do like minute off, minute on intervals just to be able to keep, know, so I'm not a stagnant pace. You know, when you go running, a lot of times you just stay one pace. So I used to do that a long time and people would walk into the gym and come up to me and be like, Wendy, what are you training for?

And I'd say, life, you know, I'm like, do I need a train? Do I have to have a purpose other than to stay healthy? am I doing that right now? No. But I might pick it up again and start doing something like that. But, um, just staying active. I definitely am the point in my life of just staying active. I think, like I said, I've had a lot of ski crashes. a lot of people used to say I was look like a natural crasher. So in my mentality when I was a skier, did not have, I, of course I had fear, but in those contests that we would have, and of course I'm trying to ski a, a hard line, a tight shoot, [01:08:00] possibly exposure of rocks, cliffs below you. So if you fell, you could definitely get injured.

Or I try to find an air to hit, which is 15 to 30 feet. Which I could get injured I would look at those opportunities and I would say to myself, I have not been injured yet. I have not blown out my knees and I'm in a sport that is very common. So I think to myself, you know, my day is gonna come. I'm gonna blow out my knee, I'm gonna break a leg.

Like who hasn't in ski racing or dirt biking? Like in these sports that are high risk, get injured. And I don't wanna say I haven't had crashes, I've had small injuries, but not the terms of, again, a broken leg or um, a cast or surgery. So I was always embracing it. It's gonna happen. If I'm putting myself in these situations, it's gonna happen.

So that was always my mentality and it still hasn't happened. So I was just open to it now, being on a [01:09:00] dirt bike, I'm in a different mindset these days. I'm actually happier in life. And I feel like I do have a lot to lose and I'm on this dirt bike and I have a lot of fear that I never felt in other sports.

So it's kind of been different for me. I'm like, whoa. Um, I used to talk about being fearless and being, you know, being open-minded to situations and I'm actually feeling this fear that I didn't feel be fear before. So it's been a new interesting sensation that I'm now working through at a different age. but yeah. But for many years I just used to embrace that injuries are gonna happen because that's the lifestyle I'm in and whether that mentality has been to my benefit and when I do crash, I'm kind of loose. Or maybe it's just the mechanics and the genes that I given 

Kush: Yeah, I mean, you know, we get older and we feel more fragile and, uh, you know, you get [01:10:00] hurt. Like, I hurt my back, uh, a few weeks ago. I've never had, I guess I've had other injuries all over, but somehow I've never had like a back injury. And I kind of heard it exercising and it really set me back mentally also because I'm like, oops.

Like there was this one part of my body that I had worked hard at and I thought was, was solid. And, uh, yeah. Now it's like, you know, all of, all of the body, like everything feels just that much more vulnerable. yeah, I mean, it sounds like you've had to also refine your mindset. One thing that you talked about earlier is you still have this, uh, desire to push yourself.

You've always had that right to, to push yourself and to, to win. How do you. Wendy, how do you reconcile that? Because you have changed over time. You know, you are maybe not the person you were in your early twenties or even, even later [01:11:00] when you are not in top form now. So how are you able to find joy in your sports given that you know you with this, Wendy, now you're a different person.

Wendy: Yeah. Now again, it's self-talk. I do a lot of self-talk, like

Kush: Okay.

Wendy: me, someone passes me on a bike ride. Like when I was in fruit, I was biking with a girl and so. Other people passed. I'm like, oh God, that's kind of new for me. I'm like, it's okay. It's okay. I'm allowed to be passed. I'm 53. God dammit. So I'm like, um, but the thing is, is I don't feel it. So I don't feel like I'm older. I still feel young, I also have to look back that like I'm not keeping the maintenance up that I used to and I need to be nicer to myself. um, so yeah, it, it is just a different conversation of embracing I'm allowed to, [01:12:00] um, you know, slack off a little bit here and there and, and just find the joy in getting out and exercising, but not necessarily need to take it to the level that I need to be or be, you know, in the leader pack. yeah. And like skinning, you know, I used to back country ski all the time. I used to be the one who broke trail for even the guys. now I am just okay that I'm, I'm not that person. And again, I already know, I have to think about how I've already lived a very fulfilled life and even

Kush: Like, how do you, like, how do you draw that line, Wendy, between, uh, pushing yourself and, and protecting yourself?

Wendy: Um, well, I mean, I guess it just naturally hap, you know, if, if I'm not into top form anymore, it, it naturally gets drawn for me. Right. Um, and again, it's, it is just the [01:13:00] mindset. Like I don't need to feel guilty or bummed out that, um, I'm at this age where I don't need to feel like I need to prove anything for anyone anymore, which I did.

I felt like I had prove a lot when I was younger, and that's the. nice thing about maturing and having more confidence in yourself and not feeling like you need to do anything, have any expectations for other people. You don't need to get to their level. Like a lot of times you put expectations on yourself because you think other people are putting expectations on you or, or thoughts about you. I, you know, now I don't really care anymore. Where before that is what drove me. It drove

Kush: Sure.

Wendy: trying to people, you know, be up to their standards of, because I already named, I already created this level for me. when you start to drop down and other people still hold you to that level, that's, that's where [01:14:00] you're constantly trying to upswing back to what you think.

And again, they might not, people might not even really care, but it's really what you think you think. People are thinking,

Kush: Right.

Wendy: once you let go what other people are thinking and you just start taking care of yourself and what you feel is accomplishment to yourself, then it eases up on the guilty and, and it, it's taken years.

I mean, it's taken years and years and years for me to feel really guilty about being who I was before. It's, I'm feeling less guilty that I'm actually not getting up before 6 30, 6 45 anymore. Um, I'm trying to release all the, all that stuff that I've been holding on up to this point. You start to develop so much baggage when you're younger what you think. Life should be like, or your life should be [01:15:00] like. And a lot of it is based on what you think other people think your life should be like. Um, you know, it's, it's just, I feel like as you get older, it's releasing and stepping away from expectations, baggage that you created yourself. 'cause you're the one who did it no one else then hopefully live, I'm hoping to live my next chapter, a little less stressful.

Um, these expectations that I've put on myself that were unnecessary.

Kush: Talking of, uh, next chapter. Uh, when do you think your best years are behind you or ahead of you?

Wendy: Um, I mean, even though the years behind me were rough, I, I made it hard on myself. I. Those were good years. I mean, I'm not gonna, I don't know how in my future I'm gonna [01:16:00] top, you know, heli skiing around the world with some of the best male athletes out there, like Seth Morrison and Shane McConkey and filming with Matchstick and being in the middle of nowhere in remote areas.

I mean, I, I can't top that any, I I just don't think I'll be able to top that. Um, going to the Olympics and skiing with high level skiers, my ass off, my years ahead of me are just gonna be different. Best years, uh, years ahead of me are just gonna be different. Best years, different parts of the world and mountains. you know, I did a, a car race with a girlfriend, a rally, and does how I hope to keep going. I hope I have a. The health, mindset, the finances to just keep adventuring, even if it's not ski related. 'cause I've based my whole life skiing and I've had a lot of powder days, which have been amazing. But that doesn't necessarily need to be my drive for the next chapter. [01:17:00] Um, you know, it might be going to really cool golf courses around the world, I don't know.

Or different hikes with girlfriends in different locations. So I'm, I'm just an open book. I have, I don't plan, I'm not a planner. I'm not a goal setter. I am a day by day kind of person. So tomorrow, something new and different could surprise me. That takes me on a whole different avenue. So I'm very open to just ideas uh, changes. 

Kush: One thing I love about, uh, love about picking up like a new sport or a new hobby where I don't have any background and I'm a total novice, is that one can only get better. You know? So like I feel like mountain biking is that sport for me because I am like, I'm such a total kook that I only get better every time I go biking.

And I think, I think as humans we love progress and we love learning new things. And you [01:18:00] start something new and you can kind of find that same, same zest for, for growth. You have to. Kids, I think two boys, both athletes. What might be a, a couple of specific ways you are raising them to allow them to prosper as both athletes and as healthy individuals.

Maybe from the lessons you have learned.

Wendy: Mm-hmm. Well, I'm super honest with them. I mean, I tell 'em my diet, when I was a young kid, I was, I ate nothing but junk and I loved it. I tried to raise my kids healthy and, um, keep them away from all that stuff. But then I got to a point where I was like, you know, we're all allowed to make our own dietary choices.

Um, I've introduced them to very healthy eating. I also have. Been open to them eating unhealthy and then, you know, [01:19:00] eventually you decide the path you're gonna wanna make. So I wasn't super strict in that. Um, we were very open to talk about drugs and alcohol because it's very prevalent in this era. They both went away to school, to different types of skiing academies.

My oldest went away to a school in France, um, called Apex 2100, and it's just for ski racing. My younger son goes to a school in Oregon called Y East, and it focuses on slopestyle. And know, I tell them that they're very lucky to be able to go to these schools. I know tons of people tell me all the time because I, I tell parents, I said, told my kids, no trouble, no drugs, no alcohol, no mischief. everyone tells me, but that's high school. I. And I went away to a ski academy and I told him I did not do any of that. Didn't even phase me. I focused on being a ski racer. I didn't, just was not that type of kid. And so, [01:20:00] you know, when I get resistance from parents who tell me, oh, Wendy, you know that that's not gonna happen.

I'm like, it is gonna happen. And I talk to my kids every year, maybe three times a year, and I tell 'em the same thing. I'm like, you're going to the school for a reason. You have told me you wanna be an athlete. You wanna be a top ski racer, a top slope style skier. I will support that 100%. I will do whatever it takes to help you along this path of yours if you commit to it and show me that you're serious, which means training, physical fitness. And so I would, like I said, I, I worked on my physical fitness again because I wanted my kids to see that I am an athlete. So I'd go on bike rides with them. I would take them running, I would do intervals with them. I'd go to the gym with them. Um, so I showed them that I'm still involved in this path. And then when they went into my school, I said, your school does not want you to drink, does not want you to do drugs, and you wanna be this [01:21:00] athlete I brought it up earlier. You have this window to be an athlete and then it's gone. You can't go back. You can't reverse. It's not like becoming a lawyer or doctor where you can go keep studying and get into a different program and keep progressing in your career. Athletes have a a time slot that they're done, whether it's injuries or, um, just natural clock time out. So I'm like, you have this window. If that's what you wanna be, I support it. But if you get caught doing something at school, then you know, time and place come home. can have some drinks with your friends. We can have drinks in a safe environment. Um, so it's not like I am super I'm not a strict parent, just time and place. that at your school, when you have a scholarship, when you are, you know, have this focus, that's not the time or place, but if you come home and you have friends around, I don't mind if you guys have drinks together. We're in a safe environment. [01:22:00] So that's how I've raised my kids. Like, I'm here, I'm gonna support you.

You just have to show that you're really serious about it. And they've been awesome. My oldest son graduated. he has had a great ski race season. He went to the world juniors in Italy. he's 19 and you know, he's was close to making the ski team. He's training with them right now. So, yeah, I'm like, I. You know, and they, and they know it, so they know I'm serious. I'm like, if you mess up, I'm gonna be pissed. did it, you can do it. And my youngest son, same thing. Um, so he's learning new tricks. He's, you know, loves the school that he is going to. And I'm like, if you love the school, you're going to then don't mess up. So both boys, um, have stayed on that path. Um, and so when parents tell me that, oh, it can't be done, kids just wanna drink, they wanna have mischief in school or do whatever, I'm like, no, if, if you talk to your kids [01:23:00] enough and you are just super honest, I'm honest about my mistakes that I've made in my life and that stuff.

I, I'm pretty honest to my kids. 

Kush: Well, congratulations on raising these two sounds like, uh, intelligent athletes,

Wendy: Yeah.

Kush: I hope they also know how lucky they are for this balanced, uh, upbringing and inspiration. They're, they're getting, uh, from you, you've also mentored young athletes from what I know, like through your coaching. And otherwise if you could, um, go back and speak to your.

Younger self, uh, somebody, you know, like, like this teenage person who's struggling with, uh, pressure and perfectionism and, and maybe maybe body image, uh, what would [01:24:00] you want her to hear? 

Wendy: thing that I've been telling, like I told my kids that, know, well what happened? One of the reasons I got an eating disorder was in high school, you know, kids are just, can be mean. Not all kids, but you know, things are said. That's when you're very impressionable. Um, one, know, having witnessing my brother's death was definitely left a, a scar mentally.

But then, know, as I got older, um, boys, you, I'd hear boys comment on other girls' body images changing and how they're getting bigger. And I mean, we're ski racers. We're basically trying to develop a sprinter's body, not a long distant runner's body. I had a long distance runner's body. I was very petite, very skinny. and so when I went to the ski academy, you know, we're starting to develop more muscles. We're working out all the time. Girls' bodies were changing [01:25:00] and some were changing sooner than mine, and they were getting bigger. And I'd hear boys like, comment on, oh, look at so-and-so. They're getting big. And it's not like, I mean, obviously I, I, I listened and I knew they weren't being the nicest, but I, I wasn't really thinking I was taking it in that much. And then because I had a really high metabolism and we worked out three or four times a day, um, one day I was sophomore, I think in high school and I had lunch at my dinner and I had four scoops of ice cream, tons of garlic bread, huge plate of pasta. And I just ate like a monster. I mean, I just ate so much food and I ate all day long. I sat down and these older girls came by and sat next to me and they said, I. Wendy, we're gonna sit here and make sure you eat everything. And I'm like, yeah, no problem. Like I'm super stoked to eat everything. Um, they're like, we're gonna sit here and watch you and just make sure. I'm like, okay. And they're like, and you just wait, Wendy, you just wait [01:26:00] someday.

Kush: Oh my gosh. Wow.

Wendy: okay. I know they're being mean, but I, I just didn't really realize, you know, the effects of it. So then after I left high school, still was petite and, um, I went back home to California. We were really big into water skiing. My brother and I, I moved to Sacramento to be with him, to, to water ski. my dad's like, we need to find Wendy a trainer here. And my brother's like, oh, well there's an, the Sacramento Kings. I mean, there's an NBA basketball team here. So my dad went to their trainer and asked if I could work out with them. I was this, you know, five, six girl showing up to the gym at the Arco Arena in Sacramento with all these professional basketball players who were six foot plus. And my training turned from running two to six miles every morning to playing soccer for an hour in the afternoon to [01:27:00] apply metrics or intervals or some other training to really like an hour and a half of workout in the morning. And it was to CrossFit, where it became heavy, heavy lifting, power lifting, and I still ate a lot. And guess what? I ended up putting on like 25 in two months. I was the strongest I ever was. I went and

Kush: Whoa.

Wendy: nationals that year. I mean, I made the Olympics. It transformed my life for the better as an athlete. But mentally, all of a sudden those girls came into my head, the boys came into my head. I'm a, my, my clothes weren't fitting the same. I was super strong, but I just had a negative reaction to this growth that I had. even though it was athletically for the better and I was performing at a whole new level, my brain went to this isn't, I don't feel like I fit in [01:28:00] anymore. And like naturally, I went to my next ski camp, stepped on the scale 'cause the coaches had us weigh in and my coaches were psyched.

They were like, oh my god, awesome job. Wendy. And I looked at the number instead of agreeing with them, I was like, I'm done eating and I'm gonna, I wanted to get back to working out all the time like I did as a high school student. I'm like, I'm done eating and I'm gonna work out all the time. And that day, well, it became the spiral. of my, my mental psyche, I guess. And so if I was to look back, I would want to tell, and this is why I tell people, and, and when I went and mentored at my older son's school, the school asked me to mentor the girls. 'cause they were going through eating things. They were going through body image things.

And I said, who do you wanna be? Do you wanna be a professional athlete? Like, is skiing [01:29:00] that important to you? Do you wanna become a top skier? 'cause if you do, your body's gonna change. It's gonna change shape. Maybe not how you want it, but that's not the goal. And then, you know, now I'm, I'm petite again.

I'm much smaller than that era. I'm like your body, you can transform your body. You can change it to what you wanna be. So who do you wanna be? Now if you wanna be this top athlete, well you might be. because you're a ski racer and that's the sport that you picked in. And back then, you know, we didn't have Serena Williams, we didn't have, you know, these other athletes who have embraced a different body shape to become the best in the world. I wish I had that mentoring of being like, you know, you look at rugby players, I mean, those girls are big and strong and everybody's shape is different. We all have different heritages that your body develops in a different way. So you taking on muscle or eating certain foods your body can change different than [01:30:00] someone else's.

So, you know, really to try not to compare yourself to anyone else, you just need to compare yourself on are you working out hard? Are you doing the right things to better yourself for this path that you want? Which also means taking care of yourself mentally and confiding in people and stuff. I kept everything inside, but it's really hard, you know?

Um. it's not maybe talking to friends because you don't wanna put that burden on friends all the time. Um, it's, it's finding professional health in people who really believe in you. And that's how I made the Olympics. I had my B team coach saw me just sucking. I was skiing so bad, I could barely finish a course, and it was the Olympic year.

And I never thought about the Olympics. My mentality was if I work hard, train hard, keep putting effort in, I'm gonna get better. And if I keep getting better, I'll get better. And who knows where that will take me. So that was my, uh, attitude is [01:31:00] not looking to be an Olympian, but looking just to be a better athlete every day and putting the grind into it. So, um. saw my ski performance and one day he pulled me aside and said, Wendy, the way you're skiing, you're not gonna make the Olympics, so stop thinking about it. And it was like, he just pulled a ja, a dagger outta my chest. I could breathe again. I was like, oh my God, I'm trying to make it for this reason, that reason, but I'm trying to tell myself I don't care. But really, I was just choking myself. two days later, um, you know, he had it at this meeting, said, girls to the next World Cup race, you must get a top three and no exceptions, we're not gonna do a gimme if you get a, you know, fourth place. So two days later, I was very distracted at the start for various reasons, but I got in the starting gate and I won the run.

So I went barely getting top 60 to winning of the run. I got second overall that day, got sent to the next World Cup, started in the fifties, got 13th, got named to the Olympic team. [01:32:00] So I'm not saying like you need to find the most expensive therapist out there, but if you are going through things, it's finding who is a great mentor or knows you really well. feel like just seeing a generic therapist or psychologist who's just going by the textbook, I mean this person, this coach was with me day in and day out. He knew my mannerisms, he knew, he knew my brain was being scrambled. So that was very, very powerful for me to realize someone was there and had that much care.

And again, I would go to the A team coach. He did not know me. He did not know how to capture that. So that was one of my other battles. Um, and also to tell the younger self is if it doesn't work out, there's other avenues in life, you know? So.

Kush: Yes.

Wendy: we just, I think when [01:33:00] you're younger you just, you know, you're compacting so much information and that you think is supposed to be like, and you're trying to crunch it in and be perfect.

And sometimes that's not the perfect way, but luckily I've been able to learn that. So yeah, look back, body image, you know, your body needs to be a certain way for a certain time if you want success. 

Kush: Wouldn't it be awesome if we had the wisdom of our current years into our mind and psyche of our years back in our teens and our twenties? And the power of having the right mentors cannot be overstated. And the, yeah, and this other insight, I think, which you shared, which is so key, is also role models, finding the right ones for oneself.

And you're right, [01:34:00] maybe back then, athletes, maybe particularly women athletes, did not have those kinds of role models to. Provide that positive North Star, and fortunately that has changed. Now people have the allowance to maybe go in different paths and different styles. Wendy, you're running out of time.

I should let you go. Final question for you, which is, and I asked this from everybody on the podcast, which is, what does being ageless mean to you?

Wendy: Oh boy. that anything is possible. You know, um, yeah, you still can do anything. You can still be playing pickleball at 90, you know, so yeah, it, you know, I am, I'm not done living just because I'm in my fifties now. [01:35:00] Definitely not exploring, still adventuring, still living life to the fullest. I.

Kush: A very powerful lesson and a metaphor to end this podcast with. I'm already a fan of your parents. I don't play pickleball today, but I probably will take a pickleball in another couple of decades.

Wendy: Yeah.

Kush: thank you so much for coming on the show this morning.

Wendy: Yeah. No, thank you for having me. And I, I listened to a bunch of your other past, um, interviews and they're, they're really inspiring and interesting. Listen to, yeah. 'cause you usually hear about current athletes and not past athletes that are still, being influential and passing on information.

~That's interesting. And you should come to cross the Butte Mountain bike if that's your thing now, because we are one of the mountain bike capitals So you should come check~

Kush: ~Well, uh, I like to think that I am still interviewing. Current athletes, because I think of you as a current athlete and, and you have the power to ins, you know, you're inspiring us with the way you are living your life and going after things. I think that is maybe such a key lesson you are sharing with us, Wendy, is that you have the zest to pick up new things and try new things and go on adventures, which I think is honestly what keeps us quote unquote young and flourishing, even though our, our years might indicate otherwise.~

Wendy: ~Yeah. Well you'll still, if you find me in Crestview, you'll still find me skiing the same lines I was skiing, you know, 20 years ago.~

Kush: ~I, I would love to come and, uh, man bike with you in Crestview, but I am such a kook. I'm on, I I I started mountain biking over COVID. I'm gonna stop recording.~

~​~