Nyman inspires Vail student-athletes

Steven Nyman doesn't try to make any airs about being a professional public speaker. It’s probably one of many reasons students at Vail Mountain School thought he was so cool.

STEVEN NYMAN DOESN'T TRY to make any airs about being a professional public speaker. It’s probably one of many reasons students at Vail Mountain School thought he was so cool.
    Taking a break from training at Keystone, Nyman made the trip over a snowy Vail Pass in Colorado on Friday afternoon to be the star of the school’s “Brown Bag” lunch-time speaker series.
    “I feel like my face is pretty red,” were Nyman’s first words after he was introduced to the classroom of students. From that point forward, the fact that he was a normal kid who one day found himself standing on the top of the world juniors podium, and then almost on a World Cup podium (in last year’s downhill at Garmisch, where he finished fourth), was made all the more admirable to his audience by his easy, humble and self-conscious demeanor.
    Ellen Foster, a middle school ski coach at Vail Mountain School and a longtime acquaintance of Nyman’s, thought he would be a perfect candidate to provide motivation to the student audience, which consisted of all sorts of competitive skiers from nordic to alpine to freestyle, as well as just students who wanted to hear a success story.
    “I thought it would be great to have him here to share points he felt were important for young people to pursue their dreams,” Foster said. “From a young boy, I’ve always loved his attitude.”
    During last year’s Olympics, Foster’s team members all wore “I believe in Steven,” buttons, and the classroom Friday was full of eager juniors and seniors who had made the voluntary decision to take their lunch hour to hear what Nyman had to say.
    “I ski cross-country, and I know he’s an alpine skier, but I was interested in hearing how he got to where he is,” said Vail Mountain School nordic team member Caitlin Zdechlik, 16.
    "Especially before the race season, it’s really going to help me with what I do," said 16-year-old Chris Woods, who's aiming for a spot on the junior national nordic team this season. "It’s going to cause me to push myself as hard as I can go. It’s going to take a lot of focus and a lot of drive."
    Nyman made three points to his audience about his road to success, including “the journey” required to reach one’s goals, the requirement for each individual “to maximize their potential” and also the value of “throwing back the rope” to others who may be on a similar path, which appeared to be what he was doing in his presentation.
    “It’s something I’ve always believed in – everybody helping each other,” Nyman said. “If everyone is throwing the rope back, if you work together and push each other on the hill, everyone will be better. One of these days, you’re going to be the guy below and you’re going to need the rope-tow back.”
    After Nyman finished his presentation, he opened the floor to questions and about 20 hands shot into the air. One student asked Nyman for an example of when he maximized his potential and then further pushed those limits, and he cited his junior worlds victory. Another student asked to hear the process of how he went from being a normal kid to one of the top members of the U.S. alpine team.
    Nyman pointed out that for him, it’s never been about medals or podium finishes.
    “Even when I’ve won races, it didn’t feel that different than when I went out there and didn’t get such great results,” Nyman said. “Because every time I’ve gone out there, I know that I’ve given it everything I had that day. Going out there and knowing I put forth my best effort, I can walk away today being satisfied, feeling good with what I did and what I accomplished.”
    The U.S. men’s and women’s speed teams are training in Summit County for another week, before the women move on to race in World Cups in Aspen, Colorado, and the men head out to Lake Louise, Alberta, Nov. 25-27.