From Olympic Gold to Olympic Silver: Barbara Cochran on Ski Racing, Mindset & Raising Ryan Cochran-Siegle

We’re revisiting one of our most meaningful conversations — with Olympic gold medalist, ski mom, and mental performance coach Barbara Cochran.

Why now? On February 11, 1972, Barbara won Olympic gold in slalom in Sapporo by just .02 seconds. And 54 years to the day later, her son, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, won Olympic silver in Super-G in Cortina.

An Olympic legacy — built on a Vermont rope tow.

Barbara grew up skiing at her family’s backyard hill, now known as Cochran’s Ski Area — a nonprofit, community-driven mountain where lift tickets are still affordable, race training happens under the lights, and hot chocolate costs $1.50.

We talk about:

• Growing up in a ski racing family
• Training on the legendary rope tow
• The “Cochran Way” philosophy of excellence without pressure
• Raising an Olympian as a single mom
• And the mindset that wins medals

Barbara’s father believed skiing should be joyful — but that striving for excellence builds character. Before sports psychology was mainstream, Barbara was practicing it. Heading into her Olympic race, she repeated:

“I don’t know if I’m going to win, but I know I’m capable of winning.”

That mindset carried her to gold — and now informs her work helping athletes who “train better than

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Transcript

Speaker A: Welcome back to the Ski Moms Podcast. It's season five and we're hitting the slopes. We're sharing real, unfiltered stories of motherhood on the snow. From conquering the bunny hill with toddlers to squeezing in your own powder days, this season celebrates every type of ski mom.

Thanks for joining us. We've got a great season lined up and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

The Ski Moms are bringing back a classic episode. It was from our first season, Sarah. I looked it up. It's episode 12.

The fact that Barbara Ann Cochran trusted us enough to come on season one is amazing. We are celebrating with this revisit because her son, Ryan Cochran Siegel, just won a silver at the Cortina Olympics in.

Speaker B: Super G. And I was looking back at the facts. So what's really amazing about this is the. Barbara won the gold by.02 seconds on February 11, 1972 in Sapporo, Japan. And 54 years later to the day, yesterday, February 11, 2026,

her son, Ryan Cochran Siegel won his second Olympic silver medal in the Super G. So that's pretty amazing timing.

Speaker A: And I did look up. There's been five Cochrans, so four, the four siblings raised on the mountain, Cochrane Mountain, have gone to the Olympics now. Two of them have won medals, Barbara, Ba and Ryan.

But that's a pretty good percentage in that family.

And in that time since we launched that episode 12 in our first season,

I got to visit Cochran's. I went there and skied the legendary robe Toe.

It is no joke.

There's one that's normal speed and then there's the hot lapse one where they actually have suede gloves that you put on top of your gloves because it is such a high speed tug.

It shreds gloves.

Speaker C: It's unbelievable.

Speaker B: It sounds like a workout. I remember, I remember the photos from when you did that and you said it was, it was not. It's not easy.

Speaker D: No.

Speaker A: And it's. It's such a classic Vermont experience. There's nobody checking lift tickets. It's $19 or pay what you can.

And I remember walking along the parking lot and there was,

there were families that were making a little barbecue. There was somebody who was feeding a baby. There's babies on backpacks. There's babies on backpacks coming down the alpine hill. You don't see that every day.

And lots of hand knit articles. There's dogs and cars. There's fire pits going. There's such a happy cacophony in the lobby lodge area. Have you ever been to a race there, Sarah?

Speaker B: Yeah, many times. Thank God for snowmaking is an awesome race at the end of the season that often Ryan Cochrane Siegel actually be found skiing in.

And Barbara whipping up pancakes with their famous slope side syrup.

Speaker A: Of course, on top, his training is heavily subsidized by maple syrup, which is excellent.

Speaker B: We both have Olympic fever right now because we leave tomorrow night to fly to Italy.

Speaker A: So we're headed off to the Dolomites. As you're listening to this, we might be in flight, we might be eating some pasta, we might be sipping prosecco, we don't know. But we will be giving you some live coverage in social media.

You can find us at the Ski Moms and then we will do a full download when we get back to the States.

We'll probably be five, five pounds heavier. Maybe not fit into our ski pants upon return,

but we will have earned it all by cheering on Team usa.

And I'm also going to be cheering on the other athletes because Alice Robinson love her story.

Federica is back from injury. Like we're, we're there for all of the ladies and gentlemen on Team USA as well.

Speaker D: Absolutely cannot wait.

Speaker A: So enjoy this blast from the past. Barbara has a timeless story. Her enthusiasm and energy for ski racing and winter sports, we think that you will find infectious. And we're also going to link to the other Olympians because the ski moms get around.

We have some other classic interviews with Olympians. There's Keegan Randall. We've got Caitlin Richardson, Wendy Fisher. So enjoy our full catalog of Olympians that we've had on the podcast and.

Speaker C: We will catch you very soon with.

Speaker A: Our full Dolomite Cortina Milan Olympics review.

Unofficial,

unofficial, not sponsored.

The IOC did not give the ski moms press passes, which is a big fail, I think, on their part.

Speaker D: Agreed.

Speaker E: This week we are so honored to be joined by Barbara Cochran, ski mom,

Olympic gold medalist and sports psychology consultant.

Barbara shares her stories of growing up alongside the sport of ski racing and the Cochran family's incredible skiing history.

Barbara's words have inspired us to stay positive and recognize the invaluable life lessons our kids learn from skiing and racing.

Welcome, Barbara.

Speaker C: Sarah and I met when the girls were tiny. I think they started skiing ski racing together when they were 6 or 7.

And as you know, you know, parents, you've got to make it fun or it's going to be a really long ski season. So you find,

you find other moms who want to ski who are good at, you know, they have a strong crock pot cooking game.

And that's how we became friends. And we launched this podcast a year ago because we wanted to share our joy of skiing and spending time with our families in the mountains.

And also to make it easier, a lot of new families. It can just be overwhelming,

just the getting skiing portion of it,

let alone the racing, which is, you know, another whole thing. So we. We are tapping into experts like you to get stories of the slopes and how you're making it happen.

We're so excited to have you on the podcast.

Speaker D: Well, I'm. I'm thrilled that you thought of me, that you. You're asking me to do it. So. Yeah, it's awesome.

It. It's. Yeah. I feel like at Cochrane's, we sort of.

We start with ski tots,

so when the kids are like three years old, they can get. Start. Start getting involved in it,

and then it's like we hook them,

you know,

and so many of those kids, or not,

I mean, a lot of those kids will go on to the ski club, and I just feel like those early years, it's so much fun. It's like, it's. It's not pressure.

It's. It's. You know, those kids are so excited to.

To get into the course, and then.

Then they move up. It used to be, you know, they move up from J fives to J4s to J3s to J2s, and it's like every move was like,

oh, my goodness. We didn't really know what we were getting into here.

But.

Yeah, but it's awesome. Hi, Sarah. How are you? Hi. Hi.

Speaker F: Nice to meet you.

Speaker D: Nice to meet you.

Speaker F: You were just making me think of when my younger one started racing, and when they're so little, it's so cute. And, you know, it's very cute when they make the mistakes.

Like, she came to her first undergate and she stopped to evaluate it and then did it wrong. And everyone just went, oh.

And there was another time where it's a really long flat at the end of a course, and she stopped before the finish line.

And then I'll never forget her looking at the. They used to write the timing up on the wall, you know, on a big board and her being very happy that she had the highest score.

So I always.

I always look back and think that was all very cute. And then it gets.

It gets more and more serious and unfortunately, less and less cute. Right?

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker F: Can you tell us your ski origin story? You know, how old were you? Who taught you? Walk us through.

Speaker D: We actually,

my dad was a high school teacher at Windsor High School.

And so we started skiing at Mount Escutney in Brownsville, Vermont.

And I was so young.

I think I was like maybe two.

I don't remember ever not skiing. You know, I was too young to remember it,

but dad was a ski coach and so it was like we were always skiing in it. And then we started racing at Mount Escutney. Dad and some other people, I think started the Lollipop program.

So the Lollipop program introduced us to racing. If you won your age group, which I don't even know what the age groups were, all I know is that I don't remember ever winning a lollipop.

And, and, but it was fun, you know, it was, it just.

We, we, everybody did it and our cousin skied there. So.

So it was just kind of like this great big family beyond,

beyond just relatives. I mean, it was a great big skiing family.

And then we moved as a schoolteacher. Dad felt that he couldn't support the family on a, on a teacher's salary,

so he got a job with General Electric and in Burlington.

And we moved to South Burlington for a couple years and then,

and they were looking for a place to ski. So the first year was Underhill Snowball.

And then after that we went to Smugs. So we skied at Smugs, dad,

you know, but we started skiing. We started racing the, the Northern Vermont Council.

I think that was new. When we, we started racing, I think there were.

And, and we just started racing against,

you know, Stow J. Peak. I just,

I just.

What I'm realizing now is how much a part of history my growing up was in the skiing industry.

You know, it's like I,

I just felt like it was there forever. But even the World cup, like when I first started racing nationally, there was no World Cup. It was. That was started like 1967, I think.

So I raced in some of the, the very first World cup races in the States. I didn't, I didn't go to Europe at first,

but, you know, so it was a step by step thing where, you know, you race locally at your ski ski club, your ski mountain, and then,

and then you start branching out as you get a little bit older and start racing at these other.

Against other competitors from other ski clubs. And then when I was a freshman in high school, I made the eastern team for the junior nationals and so went to junior nationals.

I ended up winning the Giants Loam.

And then the US Ski Team started a new program called the Hopeful program.

And so I was named to the Hopeful Squad with my sister Marilyn.

And that's when we started training in the summer, you know, and from there started racing nationally and then did well enough nationally.

Eventually, like that next year, I think I made the A team because that's also evolved. It used to be the US Ski Team, and that was,

that was the A team. There was nothing else. And then there was the A team and the Hopeful Squad,

and then they started to do well. The A team, the B team, you know, then started racing World cup, started going to Europe.

I was still in high school when I started racing World Cups in Europe.

And so I just remember, especially my senior year, I missed so much school, but my school was great.

That was before academies and,

and so, you know, I just worked with the teachers and they, they were so proud of us, all of us racing and how well we were doing. And so that's kind of.

I mean, that's how it sort of evolved. It was step by step by step.

Speaker F: So did one. So did your sister go along with you? Was she also joining World cup races? And.

Speaker D: Yeah, so Marilyn's my. She's. She's 11 months older than I am,

and she was doing World cup races when.

When I started doing the. The World cup races. She was actually.

She was better than I was for most of the time until,

like, I think once I got into high school, I started to catch up to her a little bit. My brother and I were born in the same year, so we moved up together.

There's 22 months between my older sister and my younger brother. And I'm in the middle of. So we were very, very close. And then Lindy was like about 18 months younger than Bob,

and so all four of us were close.

Speaker A: Tell me a little bit about your dad's ski racing philosophy in.

Speaker D: In a book that he. He wrote with a ghostwriter there, there's a piece of it that says,

we call it the Cochrane Way. Can you read it to you?

I just tried to make skiing a heck of a lot of fun. I always told them, meaning me and my siblings, even if you don't win a lot of races, you can still enjoy the excitement of competing in them.

But I also tried to make them realize that ski races are won in split seconds and that winning would require a lot of nitpicking and a lot of work on details.

It takes this to do a good job on anything in life.

Also,

I've always felt that every individual should strive to excel in something.

I felt it was excellent Training for our youngsters to learn to reach for a very high level of perfection and to develop the skills to where they could be quite accomplished.

Not so much from the winning standpoint, but just to experience the hard work necessary to excel.

I think that this is an invaluable lesson in life, and it's what I hoped all our kids would learn from skiing.

So the first fish race was at Glen Allen.

And dad took us. Dad took Bobby, Marilyn and I.

And I just remember coming home.

Mom came to the door and was greeting us, and dad said,

guess who won? And she said, marilyn.

And dad said, no.

And then. And he had my little trophy in his hand, and he said. And then she said,

bobby?

And he said, nope. And then she said,

well, who won?

She didn't expect me to be able to do that.

So.

Speaker F: So your dad was your. Was all of your coach coaches?

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker B: Oh, wow.

Speaker D: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And we had. Mom and dad wanted to get into the country, and dad especially wanted to find a place with a hill in the backyard that he could put up a rope toe.

Because we had. We had all started racing by then, and he just. He was a good athlete himself, and he knew that it was really important to train more than just on weekends.

So he had this dream. He wanted to put up a rope toe in the backyard. In September of 1960, they closed on the house with a hundred acres with a beautiful hill in the backyard that wasn't very big, but it was perfect for putting up a rope toe.

And it had good exposure. So because that was before snowmaking,

we were able to,

He. He, you know, put up. Put up the rope toe, cut down the trees for trails, and had it started the beginning of February of 1961.

I'm not sure what year exactly, but we would train. Dad put up lights on the back of the house, and then I think one or two light poles on the hill itself.

And so we could train at night. So we. We'd go to school, we'd come home, we'd do our homework,

have dinner, and then,

I don't know, about 6, 6:30 at night, we. Somebody go down, turn on the lights, and. And our friends would come and train with us. It was so much fun.

It was just every Tuesday and Thursday night, it was like.

Like this little party that we'd have on skis, and we'd be training what a.

Speaker C: What an ultimate ski. Dad, he sounds like,

to. To all this. I mean, to. I mean, I'm sure it's partially his passion, but to help his kids pursue Their passions and just so incredibly creative. I mean, I can't imagine the money that would be involved in it now.

You know, 1961 and all of these, you know,

these years, 60 years later, I don't even know if that would.

Speaker D: Be possible anymore with how expensive skiing has gotten.

I was thinking if my son were starting racing now,

it would have been very, very difficult for me to support him to race at the level and get to the level that he is right now.

Speaker F: So you were saying every few nights that everyone goes out and trains. Was it something you all always wanted to do? It sounds like a lot of fun. There was never anyone kicking and screaming.

Speaker D: I mean, I have friends that say, boy, you must have gotten so much pressure from your parents to be ski racers. And I said, actually no, we didn't. It's like they, they set the, the guidelines for if we wanted to be a ski racer.

They wanted us to put our best effort into it. Dad was really cognizant of the injury factory factor and so he wanted to make sure that we were as strong as possible.

So when I was 13,

he sort of challenged us. Like he's, he said ah, like how many push ups can you do or how many sit ups can you do? And so then we got into the,

to a conditioning program where, you know, he set it up, he made charts for us so we could keep track of it. And plus we were really strong because we trained on the rope toe all the time and we had to be strong to hold that rope and, you know,

and make the lap.

Speaker F: Yeah, someone was telling me about how with a rope toe, I mean, obviously you're not sitting between runs, but there's ankle strength getting developed and there's a lot of benefits to a rope, to rope toe training that probably, you know, wasn't on your father's radar.

It was more that he, he wasn't building a chairlift, but all these like knock on effects.

So when we were looking at Cochran's today was, is what is the lodge today? Was that your house?

Speaker D: The house that we grew up in is,

is still there. And when you first turn into Cochran's,

that's a house on the right and that's where we grew up. You know, it'd be so much fun to have him come back and visit and see what's there because that, what's there now is more than what he envisioned.

Speaker C: Tell us a little bit about that. So in 1961 it was open for you, your family and some, some ski friends. When did it transition to Becoming a business and who owns it and operates it now.

Speaker D: So it always was public. People could come and ski when we were open, and that's a piece that I'm not really sure about. So it always was a business, but it was his hobby business at first.

Speaker F: For someone who's never been to Cochrans, can you just give them a description of what they would be driving up to when they come to ski there?

Speaker D: Yeah. So they drive up to the upper lot and then you can see that the lodge is up on the hill behind them.

And what they'll see, they'll see the T bar comes down to the bottom of the hill,

depending on how you divide it. Four or five, maybe six trails, if you really exaggerate a little bit,

and three lifts. There's the T bar, a rope toe and the Mighty Mite. The Mighty Mite is on the lower part of the hill, which is our beginner area.

What they would see there is lots and lots of kids. We have snow making there, so that saves us because we are pretty low elevation.

If we had to rely on natural snow like we did when I was growing up,

there'd be times that we wouldn't be able to be open much at all.

It's not real big, but it's a lot of fun.

Speaker F: And is there still night skiing?

Speaker D: There is. On Friday nights, there's night skiing for the public. I think it's Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

There's night skiing for training for various high school teams and the Cochrans Ski Club. But the public can ski on Friday nights. On the weekends, we're not open on at night.

Speaker C: We were looking at the website at Cochrane's and we saw the statement that no child will be denied the opportunity.

Speaker A: To ski or ride.

Speaker C: What is Cochran's view on getting kids skiing?

Speaker F: We are.

Speaker D: The price of skiing at Cochrane's is very inexpensive. It's $19 for an adult for a day ticket,

and it's, I think, $15 for a child for a day ticket.

A family pass includes everybody in the family, and that is 295 for the family.

It actually was a vision of Jimmy, my nephew, who is the general manager there.

A few years ago, he said he would like to see if we can sell more season passes if we drop the price.

And so we dropped it from 395 to 295.

We've sold more family passes and made more money from the family passes than keeping it at the higher price. We have programs that the Boys and Girls Club comes once a week during the winter.

For eight weeks or something like that at no charge. Like, they, we, we have them use equipment. They,

they, they come, they don't pay for a ticket. And we get volunteers that will work with them to teach them how to ski.

Speaker F: And so it's a, it's a nonprofit, right? And so.

Speaker D: Nonprofit, yeah. So we do, we end up,

we, we do, we apply for grants, we apply for fundraising or have fundraising.

That we do. And so that's one of the ways that we try and offer these programs.

Speaker C: We love the stories of the mountain and your somewhat humble description of your skiing. You know, that you weren't the fastest one in the family,

but you are a gold medal winner.

So I think we're kind of, as they say in journalism, we're burying the lead a little bit here,

that we're, we're deep into this talk.

You know, apparently you got really, really fast chasing the,

the siblings.

So that was in, in 72. And do you, do, you know, we don't see the, the medal in the background. We're talking to you. Is it, is it somewhere at the mountain?

Do you keep it close?

Speaker D: Once Ryan won his medal, then I dug it out from home. So I dug it out from home and brought it. So it's in my bedroom.

Speaker F: So tell us, what was your Olympic experience like?

Speaker D: My response was always the same. And I think this really helped me because it became an affirmation for me. And I knew nothing about affirmations,

but what I would say is, like,

I don't know if I'm going to win at the Olympics, but what I do know is that I'm capable of winning.

And by saying it that over and over and over again, by the time I got to the Olympics, it was like I knew I could ski with the best of them.

That was no,

no problem in the slalom,

that was the last race at the Olympics that year for the women.

And,

and I had drawn number one. That was number one was my favorite number to get. I love going first.

And,

and I didn't, I didn't get number one very often, but I, I know the first World cup race I ever won, I had drawn number one.

But I do remember after the first run, I, I won the first run by three hundredths of a second.

I started get really nervous because I started to think, oh, you know, like,

I could win this race. You know, I, I,

I, I could.

But, but what if I make a mistake? What if I fall? What if I, you know, like,

but it was like, how do I, how do I stay ahead of everybody else. That's. I started to think about,

you know, getting the results I wanted. And that started making me really nervous.

And I could feel myself choking.

So I remember thinking I was. I was studying the course for the second run,

and back then, we used to start from the bottom and hike up through and memorize the course from the bottom to the top, which is the best way to memorize a course.

So I could feel myself choking. And so I said,

come on, ba.

In my head, I was going, all right, come on, ba. You've got to change how you're thinking, because right now this is not working.

And so I did. I started to think, okay, number one, I'm just going to do the best that I can. That's all I can do, is put my best effort into it.

Number two,

if the French girls can win, because they were the strong team up to that point, they didn't do very well at the Olympics, but up to that point, they were the team to beat.

I said, if those French girls can win, I can do.

And the third. Third thought I had was I thought of my dad because two years before at the world championships,

again,

I. I hadn't. I hadn't won the first run. I was in the top 10, but I was, I don't know, seventh or eighth or something like that.

And I was getting really nervous because I wanted to do better than that.

And so after I.

I memorized the course for the second run,

I went to the.

The top. I was at the top. And my dad, I knew, was in behind the fence, that they. They had all the spectators off, but I knew he was there.

And so I went over to him and looked for him. And he saw him. He came over and I said, dad, I'm just really nervous for the second run.

And he was so calming. He just said,

I always thought you were the cool cucumber in the family.

And when he said that, I went, oh, yeah, I am.

So then it changed my thinking. It was like I wasn't worried about how I was gonna do or anything. I was just going, okay, I'm the cool cucumber in the family.

And so that's what I thought about at the Olympics, too. I'm the cool cucumber in the family.

Speaker C: I love that you were doing positive self talk back before,

you know,

all the sports psychology has come to that point, that that is, you know, one of the key things for athletes, and I love that. I was just listening to a podcast about this and that said it's even more effective if you talk to yourself and use your name or a name that you,

you know, call yourself. And I love that you were saying,

come on ba, you've got this. Because you're so far ahead of your time with the, the sports psychology.

Speaker D: It's really interesting now that with my business and I've learned a lot about sports psychology,

I go, okay, like there's a lot of stuff that happened back when I was racing that was good stuff that I didn't even know. I didn't know about affirmations. I didn't, I don't really know about positive self talk.

I didn't know,

you know, but. But I learned a lot from my dad and he was like, to me, he, he just had a knack for saying the right things.

And one of the things, like when Ryan went to the Olympics in 2018, I wrote him a letter. And in that letter I wanted him to understand that to me it was all about putting in my best effort.

And I said I was just as proud as the 11th place that I came in in Jaisalm as I was when I won.

So that I think was.

I wanted him to understand that. And he said that was a pretty powerful statement for him to read. And then in 2018, he came in 11th in the giant slalom.

Speaker C: And what about Ryan? Were you his early coach or no? No, you passed that off.

Speaker D: I was his early teacher on how to ski. You know, just when he wasn't quite three, he was within a month of turning three and he got it on his own.

And that was like so nice because then it was like you didn't have to ski with them between the legs anymore.

Speaker F: It's back breaking.

Speaker D: Yeah. And I would like. One of the things I wanted to find out was,

okay, when you guys are in the start,

what are some of the things that you're thinking there? And for Ryan, he was like 5 years old when I did this.

His response was, I can't wait to go.

And I thought that is perfect.

Speaker F: I just had a question about Ryan though. So all through high school, did he.

Speaker D: Ski for Cochrans as a freshman? He went to Mount Abe Union High School and he, and he actually raced for Mount Abe that year as well as Cochran's.

And then when he was a sophomore he went to Mansfield Academy and so went the next three years to Mount Mansfield Academy.

I just felt like it was, I couldn't imagine just sending him off at a real young age. I was pretty protective as far as how much he could go other places.

Speaker F: And then did he go and ski in college.

Speaker D: Well, when he was a senior in high school, he actually, he came in sixth in the Super G at nationals and he won the junior national title for that. And that sort of put him on the radar for the US Ski Team.

I was a single mom, I was a part time teacher, school teacher,

and then I taught at Cochrane's.

And then I do a little bit of the mental coaching for athletes,

but it's like I didn't make a lot of money.

But that year he actually,

for his birth year,

he was ranked fourth in the world in Super G and seventh in the world in giants long and in the country, in our country, he was ranked first in,

in the U.S. in I think, four out of five events. And so the U.S. ski team really wanted to, to him to, to join the ski team.

I didn't have the money to pay for it. And so,

so I remember getting this email from the US Ski Team that said, congratulations. Ryan Coconcillo has been nominated for the development team for the US Ski Team.

And if he chooses to accept, we need $5,000 by June 1st, which was the first installment. There'd be, there were four installments, so $20,000 to be on the ski team.

That's going,

you know, I wasn't,

I was making probably $36,000.

You know, I didn't, I didn't have that kind of money.

And, and so I declined. I said, you know, thank you for the nomination.

But Ryan Cochrane Siegel declines the nomination. And I gave him two reasons. One was that,

that I didn't, I didn't have that kind of money. And the other thing was that, you know, the first year that he was out of school,

he was going to do a PG year.

He could have time to actually get a job and work and earn some money to help pay for his skiing.

And then Mo at Stowe was saying he was talking to the coaches and seeing if he could stay at Stowe but be named to the team,

which would have been really helpful because then he could get the insurance,

the health insurance with the ski team.

And they wouldn't let him do it if he was going to be named to the team. But then they did. They came up with a lot of scholarships for him so that he could do it that way.

So he made the development team as a senior in high school.

Speaker C: Well, as we're wrapping up, we did want to ask a little bit about your coaching program. So are you still actively,

um, with your, the, the mental fitness portion of it, are you still doing that business and what ath, what types of families are you looking would be a good match for you?

Speaker D: Yeah, I, I am still doing that and actually this year during the winter, it always was tough because I, I ran the ski school at Cochrans and this year was my last year I retired from that.

So now I feel like, oh, good, now I can have more time to, to do that because during the winter is when I get the most interest.

People want me to want to work with me. But there's, there's some athletes that I'm working with now.

I mean, the athletes that, that just feel like,

especially the athletes that feel like they train better than they race, which is a lot of athletes,

then those are ideal candidates that the youngest I've worked with is a 10 year old and that, that's a little bit challenging. I feel like, I feel like she definitely gets something out of it.

But I think to start like at least 12, but high school age is,

I'm working with a lot of kids that are high school age or beyond that. I mean,

like, even at the World cup level, there's some that, that I still work with at the World cup level program. I call my program how to Gain the Competitive Edge.

And when I work with an athlete, there's a workbook that I've written that I send digitally to the athlete. And then,

you know, like, I want them to understand mindset. I want them to understand,

you know, what the growth mindset is, which is really what I described what my dad's philosophy was and what the fixed mindset is. Because most of the athletes that I work with are,

they tend to focus on the results or they focus on things from the past or from the future. It's like what they want to do in the race,

like who they want to beat or who they don't want to have beat them or,

and where.

Speaker C: Would families get in touch or athletes get in touch with you?

Speaker A: To find out more, they can go.

Speaker D: To my website, which issports success coaching.com.

Speaker C: Do you have a favorite apres ski drink or snack? Or maybe it's, you know, maybe it's even something that that's served in the lodge there.

Speaker D: I,

I, I love that question that you had.

And I was thinking about it, I was going, yeah, it's like I love getting hot chocolate afterwards.

That's my favorite. Coming in for hot chocolate and how.

Speaker C: Much is the hot chocolate at Cochran's? Because I know you, I think there's an $8 one that you can get at Deer Valley. What do you do you Try to keep it affordable there.

Speaker D: Yeah, it's A$50.

Speaker C: We are so incredibly thankful for your time, and this is going to be an incredibly challenging podcast to edit.

We're going to want to keep it all in there, but thank you so much. So many great stories from your history and then so many great tips for athletes who are in the thick of it right now.

And thank you for keeping Cochrans a resource for Vermont families to ski. To learn to ski, to learn to fall in love with skiing at a. At a price that is attainable for just about everybody.

Speaker D: Well, you're welcome, and thank you. I'm so impressed with your podcast and,

and what you do. I. I went and listened to it to some and it's like, I just. I'm amazed at what you're doing.

It's awesome.

Speaker A: Hey, ski moms.

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