Resi Stiegler, of the United States, competes during a women’s World Cup slalom ski race in Zagreb, Croatia, on Jan. 3, 2017.
Resi Stiegler is having one of those seasons.
On the slopes, everything is dialed in for the veteran U.S. Ski Team member. She’s healthy and says her skiing is some of the best of her life.
But the results haven’t matched Stiegler’s performances.
“I was having the best season that I’ve ever had,” Stiegler said, “but the last couple races didn’t quite go the way I wanted, and so my ending standings aren’t that good, but my skiing’s like the best it’s been.
“Normally, (if) I’m skiing badly and not getting results, and you’re like, ‘OK, I understand this.’ But then, this year, I skied better than I’ve ever skied and the results weren’t good — or, they’re good, but they’re not the next level, which is what I was trying to go for, top 5s, podiums and stuff.”
In the World Cup season, which wrapped up last week in Aspen, Stiegler finished 61st overall and 20th in her top event, the slalom.
“I’m frustrated,” Stiegler said with a laugh.
She said she’s learning to deal with the disconnect between how she’s skiing her spot in the standings.
“Still learning when I’ve been skiing this long. That’s what’s funny about ski racing,” she said.
Stiegler grew up on the the slopes, and was ski racing by the time she was 6 years old.
Her dad, Josef “Pepi” Stiegler, was an Olympic ski racer for Austria. He won a silver medal in the giant slalom at the 1960 Olympics, and, at the 1964 Games, earned gold in the slalom and bronze in the giant slalom.
The following year, Pepi Stiegler founded the ski school at Jackson Hole in Wyoming. That’s where he was working when Resi was born.
“I think my mom saw that I was a good skier and knew that because my dad was so good that we should probably ski race. And my dad was kind of just more like, ‘I’m going to work, you’re coming with us, and we’re not going to pay for daycare, so you’re either coming with us and sitting in the ski school, or you’re going to go ski on your own and figure it out,’” Stiegler said.
“So, that’s kind of like daycare for me, the mountain.”
She and her younger brother, Seppi, who also has been a part of the U.S. Ski Team, spent their days skiing with other kids, and the ski patrol and lift operators checked up on them throughout the day.
“I think that’s why we love (skiing) so much, because it was all so natural, and no pressure, no forced anything,” Resi Stiegler said.
She won medals at the Western J3 Juniors Olympics before she was 15. She was racing at the World Championships before her 18th birthday. She made the U.S. Olympic team in 2006 and 2014.
Right after that second Olympic appearance, Stiegler suffered an injury that caused her to lose her spot on the U.S. Ski Team (and to miss the U.S. Nationals the last time it was held at Sugarloaf, in 2015).
At age 29 and with no funding, she had a choice to make: keep ski racing or move on with her life? The decision came quick — of course she wanted to keep skiing — but the opportunity to reflect was an eye-opener that rebooted her mindset.
“I’d been doing it my whole life,” Stiegler said, “and I just got that opportunity to kind of to like turn around and be like, no, I still love what I’m doing and I didn’t work my whole life to just like stop because I had a bad year and because of my age. So I was like, yup, I’m going to work harder than I’ve ever worked. And I did, and it’s working out.
“And it’s kind of cool because it gives you like new eyes, a new like sense of purpose when you’re out there; you’re not just going through the motions, because that can happen sometimes. And knowing that you’re doing it because you love it and not because you’re just talented or it just comes naturally. It’s a good feeling to know that you’re working hard for something.”
She raised her own money and raced as an independent that year, and made it back on the U.S. Ski Team in 2015.
“I had one of my best seasons last year,” Stiegler said. “I got back on the team, and I ended up getting back in the top 15 in the world, which was the first time in like eight years for me, so I was pretty stoked on that.”
After that strong World Cup showing last year, Stiegler entered this season with those “next level” expectations. She’s felt good about her skiing, and others complimented her skiing, but it didn’t show in the standings.
“You’re like, what…is…happening?” Stiegler said. “This is my best skiing, everyone can see I’m skiing well, everyone thinks I’m skiing well.
“Then you’re just sitting there, not getting the next step that you want, and it’s so hard to not get really down on yourself. And I’m really hard on myself, so I end up over-working and trying to fix it, when really you have to like calm down, step back, and understand that you’re skiing well, and that the results will come.”
Although Stiegler missed the U.S. Nationals in 2015, but she’s familiar with Sugarloaf.
“I actually really like it. I’ve done really well there before, and I think it’s a great hill,” Stiegler said. “Hopefully not too traumatizing of weather for me. I’m kind of a fair-weather skier,” she adds, with a laugh.
Neither cold weather, frustrations, injuries or the other difficulties of ski racing can deter Stiegler.
“I love it. I definitely wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love it,” she said. “It’s kind of exciting to still be learning at this age and wondering if you’re ever going to make it the way you want it, but it kind of, I don’t know, it makes it exciting.
“I work hard because I want that next level, I want that podium. That’s a really easy way for me to stay motivated.”
Resi Stiegler, of the United States, competes during a women’s World Cup slalom ski race in Semmering, Austria, on Dec. 29, 2016.United States’ Resi Stiegler celebrates after the second run of a women’s World Cup slalom ski race Saturday, March 18, 2017, in Aspen, Colo.
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