Jackson Hole skiers competing in Winter Olympics

Three female athletes representing the U.S.A., as well as Teton Valley, set their sights on Olympic glory.

 

Whether you’re planning on visiting Jackson Hole during the upcoming Presidents’ Week (the last week of the Winter Olympics) or later on this year, make sure you root for three U.S.A. skiers with their own roots to our area.

 

Jackson Hole native Resi Stiegler, Victor, Idaho’s Breezy Johnson and Jaelin Kauf of Alta (Wyoming) are all in PyeongChang, South Korea for the Winter Games. The three aforementioned towns are part of Teton Valley.

 

According to the Jackson Hole News&Guide, of the 10 women named to the U.S. Alpine Olympic team, 20% are Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard Club alums (Breezy and Resi).

 

Jackson Hole has an impressive Winter Olympic athlete heritage: 18 current or former residents have competed in the Winter Games.

 

Resi Stiegler is making her third appearance at the Winter Olympics. The daughter of Austrian Olympic champion Pepi Stiegler, Resi comes from excellent Olympic stock. Her dad won gold, silver and bronze medals in the 1960 and ’64 Olympics and has called Jackson Hole home for more than 50 years. In 1965, he became the first ski school director at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Resi will be racing in the women’s giant slalom on Wednesday, Valentine’s Day, and again on Thursday, Feb. 15th.

 

Jaelin Kauf is ranked the No. 1 mogul skier in the world. This is her first time at the Olympics. Sadly, she missed qualifying for the moguls final — and the chance at Olympic gold — by mere points (0.78) last Sunday. Despite the disappointment, her attitude is pretty positive as she aims to remain No. 1 at the next World Cup competition event.

 

This is also Breezy Johnson’s first Olympics. She will be skiing in both the Super G and downhill races on Feb. 17th and 21st, respectively. Her world downhill ranking is currently 14th, a year after finishing 18th in her debut season of World Cup competition.

 

Jackson Hole has an impressive Winter Olympic athlete heritage: 18 current or former residents have competed in the Winter Games as far back as the 1936 Olympics up to today. Perhaps one of the most renowned Olympians to call Jackson home is Alpine skiing legend Tommy Moe who competed in the 1992, 1994 and 1998 Games, winning both a silver and gold medal in 1994. Tommy is ambassador of skiing at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

 

Jackson Hole’s other “connection” to the Winter Olympics this year is that NBC is hosting network VIP advertisers off-location here at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. The move was made due to a lack of accommodations in PyeongChang so Olympic Village was scrapped in favor of Teton Village where many of the network’s prized sponsors are staying at the Four Seasons.