Lindsey Vonn bids farewell to Vail Valley — for now

Lindsey Vonn officially bid farewell to the Vail Valley, her longtime home and site of the latter half of her club career. Vonn recently sold her East Vail home, the first home she ever purchased, and offered her gratitude to the community with a full-page ad that appeared in the Vail Daily, the local newspaper.

“I am sad to say that I have sold my Vail home this month,” Vonn said in the ad. “I want to personally thank each and every member of the community who supported me throughout my career. When I moved from Minnesota to Vail with my family I was 12 years old.”

The announcement comes two years after Vonn’s retirement from professional ski racing and a year after her engagement to P.K. Subban, a defenseman with the New Jersey Devils.

In the ad, Vonn specifically thanks Ski Club Vail (now Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) and credits the organization for helping her develop as an athlete.

“My father, who also moved to Vail as a young ski racer to train with his long-time friend Pepi Gramshammer, knew how much of an impact it could make on me. Going from a small hill in Minnesota to Colorado was the turning point of my career. With the help of Ski Club Vail, I developed the confidence and love for speed that helped me to win the Olympic downhill, 43 Downhill World Cup races, and finish my career with a total of 82 World Cup wins.”

Vonn also acknowledged the significance of Vail’s World Championship ski slope, International, which was renamed “Lindsey’s” after she passed 63 World Cup wins. She says, “it will always be the greatest gift I have ever received. If you told 15-year-old me slipping the course for the 1999 World Championships that this would one day be my namesake, I would have never believed you.”

Vonn signed off by saying, “I am looking forward to settling down and starting my own family of skiers. This is not goodbye for good. Although Vail won’t be my full-time residence it is still home for some of my family and will always be my home-town.”

Vonn is expected to spilt her time between Los Angeles and New Jersey.