You CAN come home again

You CAN come home againJulia Mancuso has come full circle. The 22-year-old California native grew up ripping around Squaw Valley’s infamous terrain as a member of the Mighty Mite program, and, nearly 20 years later, she returned to the mountain where it all started and was honored by her home mountain as an Olympic champion.

As reported in the Las Vegas Sun, more than 400 people, many of them tiara-adorned Mighty Mites there to cheer on their newest skiing hero, attended Mancuso’s welcome-home party at the base of Squaw Valley Saturday, April 15. There, Mancuso, still rocking to the trademark tiara look herself, was presented with a lifetime pass to the resort and had one of the runs where the Squaw ski team trains named after her. (Going for the simple, direct approach, they went with ‘Julia’s Gold.’)

Mancuso also received a letter from California governor (and potential Austrian ski team double agent) Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaiming Saturday, April 15 as Julia Mancuso Day. (Think the Waxroom can take paid vacation on Julia Mancuso Day?)

It was probably appropriate that the ceremony had to be moved inside due to snow and wind, seeing as Mancuso won her gold in similar conditions. But the weather did little to dampen spirits of those in attendance, including Mancuso’s parents and three sisters, as well as numerous current and former Olympians, such as Tamara McKinney.

“A lot of people don’t know how hard it is to win a gold medal,” McKinney told The Associated Press.

Well, if someone had just told the Waxroom a gold medal might have resulted in free skiing at Squaw for life, and a letter from Conan the Barbarian, it might have trained a bit harder, but we’ll let Mancuso soak up the glory. She deserves it.