Sarah Schleper

OLYMPIC SKIER, SLALOM AND GIANT SLALOM
THREE-TIME OLYMPIAN AND MOTHER

PERSONAL DATA

Birthdate 2/29/79
Hometown Glenwood Springs, CO
Resides Vail, CO
Height 5’4”

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• 2010, 1st Place, Visa US Alpine Championships, Whiteface, NY
• 2009, 5th Place, Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Giant Slalom, Lienz, Austria
• 2009, 24th Place, FIS World Cup, Giant Slalom
• 2009, 2nd Place, National Championships, Slalom
• 2009, 1st Place, Nor-Am Cup, Giant Slalom
• 2009, 1st Place, FIS Race, Giant Slalom
• 2009, 28th Place, FIS World Ski Championships, Slalom
• 2009, 39th Place, European Cup, Slalom
• 2008, 2nd Place, US Nationals, Aleyeska AK, Slalom
• 2006, 10th Place, Olympic Games in Torino, US Ski Team (A-Team)
• 2004-5, World Cup season, 7 top-10 finishes and 1 World Cup win
• 2003-4, World Cup season, 8 top-10 finishes and 1 podium
• 2002, Member of U.S. Ski Team, A-Team at the Winter Olympic Games, Salt Lake City
• 2001, World Cup podium in both Slalom and Giant Slalom
• 2001-3, 18-time top-10 Alpine World Cup
• Four-time National Champion
• 2002-3, Colorado Skiing Sportswoman of the Year
• 2001, Skiing Magazine’s Top 25 Skiers in North America
• 1998 Member of U.S. Ski Team at the Winter Olympic Games, Nagano
• 1997, World Juniors, Silver Medal, Slalom

BACKGROUND

Sarah Schleper is on a comeback.

After overcoming back surgery to resolve disc issues and nursing a torn left ACL plus meniscus and lesser MCL injuries, Schleper took the 2006-2007 season off.

While surfing in Mexico and rehabilitating her body, Sarah fell in love. Now married to husband, Federico Gaxiola, Sarah has had a baby and has returned to the ski tour with husband and baby by her side. “I have been envisioning racing and winning races throughout my entire pregnancy,” says Schleper, “I want to get back on the race course. There are still a few things I have to accomplish.”

Sarah has been atop World Cup podiums, won U.S. championships and has competed in three Olympic Games during her exciting career.

Now that she’s skiing again, her goal is more wins. "Getting my skis to go fast... relaxing and letting my instinct for speed take control," says Schleper. Currently, she has her eyes on medaling at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.

Schleper's father, Buzz, raised Sarah and her younger brother as a single parent. In 1972, Buzz was a self-proclaimed ski bum who moved from Minnesota to Vail, CO with a van and $1,000 in cash. Upon arrival, he worked in a local ski shop and later opened his own store. "She literally grew up in my shop," Buzz says of Sarah. "I think she learned you have to work for everything you get." As a child, Sarah would beg her father to ski, then head to the shop afterwards and fall asleep under one of the ski-tuning benches. When Buzz got done with his shift at midnight or later, he would carry his sleeping daughter to the car and drive her home. Sarah began skiing at age 2 after receiving a pair of skis for her birthday. She was racing by age 11. Schleper won five Junior Olympics gold medals and was Junior Skier of the Year for "Ski Racing" in 1995; she also was Whistler Cup slalom champ in 1994 and made her World Cup debut at Beaver Creek, CO, in November 1995 at age 16. In 1997, Schleper was the slalom silver medalist at World Juniors.

In 1997, Skiing Magazine called her "the great blonde hope -- part Rasta, part Harpo, part Medusa, all Sarah." In her free time, she likes to surf, write travel books and play poker. Schleper is frequently recognized by her thicket of long, curly blond hair, which turns heads all over Europe, much to Schleper's surprise.

Schleper has been on surfing trips around the world from Costa Rica to Samoa. She also enjoys wakeboarding, water skiing, mountain and dirt biking, yoga, soccer, art, reading and music.

RELATED POSTS

Vail’s Schleper commits to Ski Team return – She is eyeing her fifth Olympics, her father says

5.20.10 | by stantoncompany

Four-time Olympic skier Sarah Schleper has committed to return to the U.S. Ski Team next winter, her father, Buzz, said. Last month, Schleper said she was 80 percent sure she would not retire. “She e-mailed me yesterday,” Buzz Schleper said. “She just said she had talked to (women's technical coach) Trevor (Wagner) and gave a commitment for (read more)

Comments (0) | Permalink | Posted in: Clients, Press, Sarah Schleper, Skiing, Sports |

Ski racer Sarah Schleper may not retire after all

4.6.10 | by stantoncompany

In November of 2009, Sarah Schleper was very sure she wouldn't be part of the professional ski racing scene by now. Well, "now" has come, and when faced with the thought of retirement, Sarah's not so sure anymore. The 31-year-old mom placed 14th and 16th in the Olympic giant slalom and slalom this year in Vancouver (her fourth (read more)

Comments (0) | Permalink | Posted in: Clients, Press, Sarah Schleper, Skiing, Sports |

Ford, Schleper Win Slalom Titles

3.22.10 | by stantoncompany

Call it a belated birthday present - after turning 21 on Saturday, 2010 Olympian Tommy Ford (Bend, OR) took his first U.S. title with the slalom win at the 2010 Visa U.S. Alpine Championships at Whiteface on Sunday. Ford was joined in the winner's circle by fellow Olympian Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO), who marked her fourth (read more)

Comments (0) | Permalink | Posted in: Clients, Press, Sarah Schleper, Skiing, Sports |

Schleper’s other baby: Alpine skiing

2.26.10 | by stantoncompany

Sarah Schleper, 31, is married and has a child, but she's never settled down. She might finally do that after her final Olympic race, the slalom.

A lot of women ski racers look forward to the day they can marry, settle down and have a (read more)

Comments (0) | Permalink | Posted in: Clients, Press, Sarah Schleper, Skiing, Sports |

Sarah Schleper: Four Time Olympian & Full Time Mom

2.25.10 | by stantoncompany

With all the talk of a certain blonde member of Team USA, you might have overlooked another amazing story on the US Alpine Women's Ski Team. Sarah Schleper, a Vail, CO native and new mother is competing in her fourth Winter Olympics as she races in Vancouver. Today (2/25) Sarah joins the medal hunt on her second run on the (read more)

Comments (1) | Permalink | Posted in: Clients, Press, Sarah Schleper, Skiing, Sports |

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