The only female member of the U.S. Ski Team born in the 1970's, Sarah Schleper de Gaxiola is seeking her fourth Olympic berth in 2010. In her debut, which fell on her 19th birthday, the Vail native finished 22nd in the slalom in Nagano. The technical event specialist's best result in six Olympic races is a 10th place in the slalom at the 2006 Torino Games. She is hard to miss, either by watching (she often wears a bright-green helmet) or listening (she lets out a cheetah-like roar as she leaves the start gate).
Schleper was away from the Alpine circuit for two full seasons from March 2006 to October 2008, but the lay-off was far from one-dimensional. While she was rehabilitating a torn left ACL in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, she fell in love with Federico Gaxiola de la Lama, a Mexico City native whom she had met at a race many years prior through her friend (and his cousin) Rocky. They were married in October 2007.
... and baby carriage Schleper had recovered from her knee injury and was preparing for the 2007-08 season when she found out that she was pregnant. Retirement from the sport was never seriously considered. She skied until she was about eight-and-a-half months pregnant and was back on the slopes again 40 days after the birth of son Lasse in January 2008. The toddler, who is growing up bilingual and has already strapped on skis and challenged the slopes of Vail, has accompanied his mother and father to World Cup events to watch her race.
Lucky number Schleper considers herself very superstitious when it comes to numbers. For example, she seeks fortune in her race bib numbers, and will ride on -- or avoid -- a chairlift based on its number or combination of numbers. Four is her luckiest number, and she wore bib number four when she won her only World Cup event, the slalom at Lenzerheide in March 2005. She also wore bib four when she won the slalom event for her only national championship one month later.
Sarah Schleper's son Lasse gets escorted by U.S. skier Ted Ligety, wearing the bronze medal Ligety won at the 2009 Worlds. Ski bum mentality Schleper's father, Buzz, moved from Minnesota to Vail in the early-1970's, intent on living the ultimate life of a "ski bum." Later, he opened Buzz's Ski Shop in town, which still operates, helping to cater toward like-minded ski enthusiasts. He presented his daughter with her first pair of skis on her second birthday, the spark that lit the proverbial fire. Winters during her youth were spent on snow, near lifts. She attended Erich Sailer's Ski Camp, began racing at age 11 and competed in her first World Cup event at 16.
Buzz had her back Before she had even earned her first World Cup points, Skiing magazine dubbed her as "the great blonde hope ... part Rasta, part Harpo, part Medusa, all Sarah." Her Harpo side got her in some hot water when, in 2000, she and a friend posed topless for a local paper (which added strategic black bars) while skiing down the Back Bowls of Vail Mountain. In response to the backlash, the fathers of the two young women duplicated the photo shoot, skiing shirtless for the April Fool's edition of the same newspaper (also with black bars).
Struggling to make ends meet Juggling motherhood and the life of an athlete's has not been easy, financially, for Schleper. U.S. Ski Team funding was suspended after the 30-year-old veteran was demoted to the B-team during her hiatus, and sponsor money has decreased significantly. For "the first time since [she] was 14," she has struggled to finance her training and competition programs. While her husband plays stay-at-home dad, she earns some money coaching for three weeks per year at Erich Sailer's Ski Camp. Otherwise, she has placed extra ski gear on sale on her personal Web site and relied on local sponsors and donations.
