Sarah Schleper brings experience to newly formed Front Range Ski Club
One year after retiring from World Cup Racing, Sarah Schleper brings experience to newly formed Front Range Ski Club.
It’s been just over than a year since Sarah Schleper kicked out of a World Cup start for the last time in Lienz, Austria (the sister race to Semmering that takes place in late December). Donning a brown cocktail dress and stopping midway through the course to scoop up her then-3-year-old son, Lasse, she pro- vided a memorable conclusion to a 15-year World Cup career.
Still, it was hardly an end to her racing life. You don’t have to know Schleper all that well to have known it wouldn’t be long be- fore she was back the course, and when Echo Mountain outside Denver was transformed this fall into a dedicated racing facility, Schleper was a natural fit to head up its programming.
“Since September, we’ve been working to make [Front Range Ski Club] one of the best ski racing models in the country,” says Schleper. “The whole setup is really amazing for ski racing. The lift takes about six minutes right now, but we also put in two high- speed rope tows, so we can have three-minute lap times.”
Schleper added that the rope tow system helps athletes get an upper body workout and spend as much time on their skis as pos- sible. Then there’s the flexibility of the venue.
“We can control the conditions really well because no one else is on the hill,” says Schleper. “We can put down water when we want; we can make it softer. We can add terrain; we can set cours- es on the catwalk. We can set course all the way up and down the mountain any which way we want.”
About the Author: Pete Rugh
