Kelleher, Zamansky announce retirement

Two U.S. Ski Team athlete retirements came on the heels of the USSA Congress when Keely Kelleher and Jake Zamansky announced they would pursue other interests.

Following seven seasons with the U.S. Alpine Ski Team, recently crowned U.S. super G champion Kelleher (Big Sky, Mont.T) announced retirement in order to focus on being a full-time student at Westminster College in Salt Lake City.

Zamansky (Aspen, Colo.), decided the Olympic GS was going to be his final race. “I didn’t intend for the Olympics to cap my career,” said Zamansky,
after returning from a surfing trip to Nicaragua with fellow U.S. Ski
Team alums Scott Macartney, Erik Schlopy and Bryon Friedman. “After
Whistler, I still thought I had some fight left in me, but the way my
body feels, it’s just the right time to move on.”

Kelleher earned her first U.S. championship in March but said it was just time to get on with her life. “After spending my entire life focused completely on ski racing, I’m starting a new job as a full time student on August 25.” said Kelleher, “The ski team has a partnership with Westminster that allows athletes to pursue their education. It’s a great way for us to transition out of the sport.”

Kelleher cut teeth with the Big Sky Ski Team in Montana then enrolled in Salt Lake’s famed Rowmark Academy, which has produced numerous top U.S. Ski Team athletes. During her tenure, Kelleher was honored as the Most Improved Technical Skier (2000), received the Northrop Award for Excellence in Speed Events (2001) and the prestigious Senior Award for Dedication to Skiing, Leadership and Ski Racing Ability. Additionally, she captured the J2 Junior Olympic gold medals for both giant slalom and combined in 2000.

“She was such a special athlete to work with,” said Rowmark Program Director Todd Brickson. “I haven’t experienced very many athletes as driven as Keely. She was an incredible competitor, but also a great teammate. I’ve already been recruiting her to do some guest coaching with our athletes.”

Post grad she rocketed through the North American pipeline, landed a spot on the national squad in 2003 and was tracking toward the World Cup level when a crash at the final fall training camp in Colorado knocked her out for the season with a broken right leg. Ultimately the rod placed in her leg was too big and caused serious complications. According to Brickson, most athletes would have given up.

“It was supposed to be a six month turn-a-round and back to snow, but it turned into three years of surgeries,” said Kelleher. “Mentally and physically, constantly recovering is draining, but I was always looking forward to racing. It’s what kept me motivated. I love ski racing.”

After earning her first World Cup start in December of 2007, Kelleher would score her first points the following season in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She landed two other top 30 results later that season and exited the 2009 winter looking toward a berth in Vancouver, but leg pain continued to hamper her progress.

“When all the other girls were putting down six or seven runs on a training day, I’d be holding back tears after four, but I just kept telling myself it was going to go away when the season finally started,” she said. “Then the first weekend of World Cup rolled around and I had the best result of my career with 20th in the Lake Louise super G. I was headed off to Val d’Isere [France] for the next set of races and things were looking positive.”

Then bam, a crash in Val d’Isere resulted in a sprained right ankle, furthering then compacted pain she’d been fighting throughout the season’s preparation period.

“It was a lot to deal with, but that’s what we do – it was still fun,” Kelleher said. “I’ll always remember those long travel days just goofing around with my teammates. We were always able to find humor in every situation and at the end of the day, we were ski racing. We were able to meet some of the most amazing people and discover incredible places because we were skiing. The view from the start at Cortina [Italy] is a place not many people get to see and I’ll always be thankful for that.”

Kelleher thanked her family, coaches, teammates and sponsors Big Sky Resort, Lone Mountain Sports, Atomic and POC for sticking with her through it all. “It’s incredible the amount of support that goes into ski racing. My family is amazing and stood with me every step of the way and continue to do so,” said Kelleher. “I was pretty fortunate to have some awesome sponsors along the way too, who I’ll always be connected with.

“I’ll always value Keely as a competitor and as a friend,” said long-time teammate Stacey Cook. “We’ve been racing together since we were J3’s and then made every step up together. We made the ski team together and landed our first Europa Cup podiums together – it won’t be the same on the road without her.”

Prior to her first day of classes, Kelleher says she’ll spend the summer giving back to ski racing by coaching in Alaska, Oregon and possibly Chile – after a three week surfing trip to Mexico with friends.

“It’s a good transition into becoming a student,” she said. “But the best way for me to give back is to help get more kids stoked on ski racing. Alaska is a super specialized camp, were we’ll be working on body position off big jumps then I’m off to Mt. Hood and hopefully Chile before school starts.”

A product of Aspen’s Team Geronimo, Zamansky made the very first U.S. Development Team just before his 18th birthday and roped the opportunity into the 2001 Junior of the Year honor from Ski Racing Magazine. He then went on to capture U.S. Championship medals, NorAm titles – including the 2006 NorAm overall crown – World Cup points, and earn births on the 2009 Audi FIS Alpine World Championships and 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

“I look at my life right now and I am so thankful for the freedom that ski racing has provided. It’s a very special lifestyle and that comes from the people involved in skiing world,” he said. “I’ve seen so much of the world, I ride motocross, surf in the summer and then each winter, I’ve been able to do what I love the most and make a living doing it – that’s pretty special.”

Yet for Zamansky, the lifestyle didn’t come without commitment and struggle. Following the 2008 season, he fell short of a slot on the U.S. Ski Team for the following winter, yet his NorAm results were good enough for a 2009 World Cup starting spot in giant slalom. Zamansky wanted it and opted to fund his own racing.

That struggle became an integral part of the groundbreaking Audi documentary “Truth in Motion: U.S. Ski Team’s Road to Vancouver,” which aired on NBC two weeks before the Olympics. The documentary is now available for free download from iTunes.

“Honestly, it was one of the best things to happen to my skiing career,” Zamansky said. “I was finally racing for all the right reasons. I was tuning my own skis, so I carried all the weight if they weren’t fast and the only expectation I had to live up to was my own.”

On top of that, there was an equipment switch to Fischer from Rossignol, and a summer of missed training due to a broken left collarbone.

“The guys a total fighter,” said Head Coach Sasha Rearick. “But he’s also professional and very well organized. He knew what he needed to do to get his skiing to the next level and he didn’t back down from that. He embraced it and got the job done. I respect that.”

Zamansky translated the pre-Olympic season into scoring his first World Cup points at the Alta Badia, Italy giant slalom, one of the tour’s toughest races. He then went on to score again in Adelboden, Switzerland directly after Christmas and earn a slot on the 2009 World Championships squad, which he followed up with his career best 15th in Sestriere, Italy.

“I was totally broke before Alta Badia and actually thought it was going to be my last race. Then I scored my first World Cup points and went back to the U.S. for Christmas, scrounged up some new sponsors and went back on the road,” said Zamansky. “The big results took a lot longer to achieve than I thought they would, but that didn’t make them any less special.”

He made the U.S. Ski Team again for 2010 and scored World Cup giant slalom points in Beaver Creek, CO and Val d’Isere, France to earn a spot in Vancouver.

“Jake was always one of the best technical giant slalom skiers through the ranks,” said teammate TJ Lanning , who joined him on the first U.S. Development Team. “He trained hard, skied hard and in my e
yes had a great career. But he’s not done with skiing, we’ll see him around.”

And that’s Zamansky’s plan too. He’ll continue to work with Spyder, a longtime U.S. Ski Team and personal sponsor, through next winter and do some coaching with Team Geronimo with a goal to remain a part of the industry.

“Skiing is what I’ve known my whole life,” says Zamanksy. “Working with Spyder is great opportunity and I’m excited to do some coaching this summer. Like I said, skiing is a special lifestyle and one I will always appreciate.”

GEPA photos