Going Back to Chile: A Fresh Start in the Andes
Giving a Young Coach a Chance—and Our Athlete Room to Begin Again
Sometimes, the right next step is not the most obvious one.
Sometimes, it is the person without the longest résumé, the biggest title, or the most familiar name. Sometimes, it is a young coach with fresh eyes, quiet confidence, and an instinctive ability to connect with the athlete standing in front of him.
And sometimes, moving forward means going back—to the same mountain, the same winding road, and a little condo in the Andes where the last chapter began.
We are going back to Chile.
But this time, it feels different.
Finding a Diamond in the Rough
Toward the end of our last trip, somewhere between the difficult beginning, the long drives, the breakthroughs, and all those laughs, we found what felt like an absolute diamond in the rough.
A young coach.
He may not have decades of experience behind him, but he has something that cannot be measured by the number of years spent holding a drill. He sees our girl. He listens to her. He communicates in a way that reaches her, and he understands that developing an athlete requires far more than correcting a turn or setting a course.
It requires trust.
Young coaches are sometimes overlooked because they have not yet had time to build an extensive résumé. But experience is only one part of coaching. Energy matters. Curiosity matters. Adaptability matters. The willingness to keep learning matters.
Most importantly, connection matters.
A young coach can remember what it feels like to be the athlete—to stand in the start gate with nerves, expectations, doubt, and determination all competing for space in your head. He can bring new ideas without being tied to the way things have always been done. He can grow alongside an athlete instead of expecting her to fit into a system designed for someone else.
We are not ignoring his age or pretending experience does not matter. We are choosing to recognize everything else he brings to the mountain.
Sometimes, someone simply needs the opportunity to show what he can do.
We are giving him that chance because, during our time in Chile, he gave our girl something equally valuable: the chance to see herself differently.
A Fresh Start for Our Girl
Young athletes carry more than most people realize.
They carry past results, missed opportunities, outside opinions, comparisons, injuries, expectations, and every mistake they wish they could ski again. Eventually, all that weight can follow them into the start gate.
Our girl does not need someone to erase her past. Her experiences have made her resilient, determined, and stronger than she always realizes.
But she does deserve a fresh start.
Not a complete reinvention. Not pressure to become a different athlete overnight. Simply a clean place from which to begin again.
A new voice.
A new relationship.
A new season.
A coach who will meet her where she is, believe in where she can go, and help her build the technical and mental foundation to get there.
This return to Chile is not about expecting an instant transformation. It is about creating the time and space for trust to develop. It is about returning to the basics, rebuilding confidence, and allowing progress to happen one run at a time.
The mountains have a way of stripping away the noise. At the top of the course, there is no past result and no future expectation. There is only the athlete, the snow, and the next turn.
That is where we want to begin.
The Coaches Who Gave Her Wings
A fresh start does not erase the people who helped her reach this point.
Our girl has been incredibly fortunate to have loyal, trusted coaches who stood beside her through the hard days, believed in her when her own confidence wavered, and continued showing up with patience, honesty, and unwavering support.
They helped rebuild her after injuries and disappointments. They reminded her of her strength, created space for breakthroughs, and gave her the foundation she needs to step into this next chapter.
They did not simply teach her how to become a better skier. They helped her grow into a stronger, braver, and more resilient athlete.
In so many ways, they gave her the wings to fly.
Now, as she begins this new chapter with a new coach, she carries their lessons, belief, and support with her. This is not leaving their influence behind. It is taking everything they gave her and allowing it to carry her forward.
The best coaches do more than prepare an athlete for the next race. They prepare her for the moment when she is ready to take the next leap.
Ours did exactly that.
Returning to the Place That Tested Us
Our first trip to Chile did not unfold the way we planned.
It began with three days of flights, an eight- to nine-hour drive up the mountain, five runs on snow, and a medical emergency that sent us racing back to Santiago.
There were tears, exhaustion, grief, fear, and more miles up and down the road than we ever wanted to count.
But that trip also gave us meaningful mental and physical breakthroughs, coaches that showed up for us in every possible way, more laughter than we could measure, and a young coach who may become an important part of our girl’s story.
Chile tested us—but it also gave us something worth returning for.
Going back feels a little like reclaiming the trip. We are returning with more clarity, a different purpose, and the hope that this chapter will begin with possibility instead of crisis.
We know better than to assume everything will go perfectly. Ski racing has cured us of that expectation.
But we also know that a difficult beginning does not get to decide how the story ends.
Making A Little Condo Home Again
For an independent ski team, the condo is much more than a place to sleep.
It becomes headquarters, tuning room, recovery space, kitchen, laundry room, office, and gathering place. It is where wet gear piles up, video is reviewed, meals are made, emotions come down from the mountain, and the next day’s plan begins to take shape.
For this return, we will make our little Valle Nevado condo feel like home using the same simple capsules that worked for us before.
The Coffee Capsule
Long training mornings require good coffee.
We will bring our Lavazza Super Crema, our compact coffee setup, and everything needed to make a proper cappuccino before the first trip to the lift. It is a small ritual, but familiar rituals matter when you are living far from home.
The Cozy Capsule
A down travel blanket, chunky knits, soft layers, and a few comforting pieces will help take the condo from temporary rental to mountain retreat.
After cold training days, we want a space that feels warm, calm, and restorative—even if skis, boots, and race equipment occupy half the room.
The Scent and Gear Capsule
Several athletes and coaches sharing a small condo with wet ski gear can create its own very distinct atmosphere.
Our travel candle, charcoal odor absorbers, and fresh cedar-and-eucalyptus fabric spray will return with us. Nothing overly perfumed—just enough to keep the space feeling clean, neutral, and a little more like home.
The Kitchen Capsule
We will once again bring the small kitchen essentials that make condo cooking easier: familiar seasonings and the pieces we need to turn simple groceries into comforting dinners.
The meals will not be complicated. They need to refuel an athlete, work in a small kitchen at high altitude, and be manageable after long days on snow.
But simple does not have to feel careless. A real meal at the table can reset the entire day.
The Evening Capsule
A little candlelight, a favorite playlist, dinner together, and time to laugh may be the most important capsule of all.
Those evenings are where a collection of people begins to feel like a team. They are where difficult runs lose some of their weight, small wins are celebrated, and the mountain stories get better every time they are told.
We do not need much to make the condo feel special. We just need a few familiar comforts and the people who make us want to gather around the table.
Building Something Together
This coming season will ask a lot from both our girl and her new coach.
He will be learning how she processes information, how she responds under pressure, and when she needs instruction versus when she needs space. She will be learning to trust a new voice and to remain open when change feels uncomfortable.
They will both make mistakes.
That is not a flaw in the plan. That is part of the process.
Giving a young coach a chance does not mean expecting him to have every answer. It means believing he has the character, instincts, and commitment to keep searching for the right ones.
Giving our girl a fresh start does not mean pretending the hard chapters never happened. It means allowing her to carry forward the strength she earned without continuing to carry every disappointment.
They both have something to prove—but more importantly, they both have room to grow.
A New Chapter in a Familiar Place
Soon, we will once again make the long journey south.
We will fill our little condo with ski gear, coffee, familiar comforts, simple dinners, wet gloves, loud laughter, and the hopes we are trying not to hold too tightly.
Our girl will return to the mountain with a new coach beside her, the lessons of her trusted coaches within her, and a new season ahead of her.
The goal is not perfection.
The goal is trust. Progress. Confidence. Connection.
The goal is to build something lasting, one day and one run at a time.
We are forever grateful to the coaches who gave our girl the wings to fly.
We are giving a young coach a chance.
We are giving our athlete a fresh start.
And we are going back to Chile—to the winding mountain road, our little condo above the clouds, and those Andes sunsets that never disappoint.
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