We Went to the Winter Olympics! And Here's Everything You Need to Know

Nicole and Sarah spent over a year planning seven days in the Dolomites for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and it was 100% worth every chaotic, confusing, cowbell-confiscating moment. In this episode, they break down everything: decoding the ticket matrix, hunting down hospitality packages on two separate platforms, navigating snowy switchbacks from Venice with skis on the roof, and what it's actually like to stand in the finish area for some of the most historic women's Alpine races in recent memory.

The ski racing delivered in a big way! Federica Brignone won gold on home snow to a stadium full of tiger-suited superfans. Mikaela Shiffrin closed out the women's events with a gold in the slalom that had Nicole in tears. Paula Moltzan won the second run, finished eighth, and later handed out uterus pins in the center of Cortina.

Start planning earlier than you think, use miles, go with another family to split costs, and bring really good shoes. 

Quotes:

"I think it was a complete bucket list trip of a lifetime. It was a tremendous mix of experiencing another culture in a really fun way, having intense American pride while you're there." 

"It was a hundred percent worth it. And we got very lucky with amazing weather, smooth travel — all those things went right."

This is also that sweet spot where the SKI HAUS deals get really good. Note: Store hours are changing due to in-store inventory going on, so check before you head over.

They’ve got locations in Woburn & Framingham, MA and Tax-Free Salem, NH. Head to skihaus.com to check store hours and directions.

Spring family fun in Ulster County:

• Earth Fest at the Ashokan Center/April 19
• Kingston Point Beach for the Hudson Valley Kite Festival /May 17, 
• Hudson Valley Faerie Festival/May 30 

For more ways to get outside together this spring, head to VisitUlsterCountyNY.com and start planning your spring getaway.

If your child lives for trail time and is constantly pushing limits on two wheels, we’ve found the summer experience that checks every box. Woodward PA’s Mountain Bike Camp is redefining what an action sports camp can be — blending epic adventure with professional coaching and a whole lot of fresh air.

Ski Moms can save $150 off summer camp. Use code skimoms www.woodwardpa.com/summer-camps/moun

Celebrate your love of the laid-back ski life. Shop cozy gear made for the mellow skier:
 👉 Shop the Slow Skier’s Club

Transcript

Nicole: 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.

Today, Sarah and I are diving into one of the most unforgettable trips we've ever taken. The Olympics in Cortina. In this episode, we're focusing on two things. How to actually plan an Olympic ski trip and what it was like experiencing the Games across different venues in the Dolomites.

We'll walk you through what worked, what we'd do differently, where we stayed, and how we navigated transportation between events with family in tow. We'll also share what it felt like to be there in person for some truly historic performances.

From Team USA's standout moments in the women's Alpine events to Federica Brigone delivering for Italy on home snow, the energy in the finish area, the pride of the local crowd, and the magnitude of those wins is something we'll never forget.

If you're ever wondering whether an Olympic trip is doable, how far in advance to plan, or whether it's worth building a vacation around the Games, this episode will give you the inside perspective.

Ski tips and Dolomites deep dives are coming very soon. I think it was a complete bucket list trip of a lifetime. It was a tremendous mix of experiencing another culture in a really fun way,

having intense American pride while you're there.

And as a couple, I think my husband and I, we're going to just become like Olympic people. We're going to just chase the Olympics. I think that's going to become our personality in older life.

Sarah: You know, it took a lot of planning. This was not a.

A few weeks before we came up with this idea. We've been planned. We planned this for well over a year.

It took a lot of research.

It was a hundred percent worth it. And we got very lucky with amazing weather,

smooth travel, like, all those things went right.

Nicole: So the Olympics span a little over two weeks. For us,

seven days was pretty perfect. I mean, I think from a financial outlay standpoint and also from a timing standpoint, trying to get two weeks off would just seem a little bit extraordinary.

So we went for the second week, we focused our planning around the women's tech ski events because those are the events that we follow the most closely and we're the most excited about.

When Sarah and I wear our ski journalist hats, which is rare,

we get to go to some of the races in the United States and in North America,

so we know the athletes pretty well. So that's where we started that we wanted to see those events.

And it wasn't that easy though, because you can't start with tickets. So Sarah, I'll let you take it from there.

Sarah: Well, also, the week we went aligned with our kids school break.

So we did get very lucky. And it also fell over President's Day, which many companies and schools have off as well. So we're, we weren't taking our girls out of school for the whole week, which I think was helpful.

I would say even before the tickets, you have to find the schedule.

And when you find the schedule,

good luck reading the matrix. I would really call it like, was like going into a matrix, trying to figure out where the events were going to take place. Cause remember, this Olympics was spread over many locations, right?

From Milan,

Cortina,

and we knew that the women were going to be in Cortina.

But when you look at the location on this ticket matrix, it's called the Topane Skiing Alpine Skiing Center.

So each little data point,

each piece of this puzzle took a lot more time and energy to figure out than most people would imagine.

Other thing I really liked about the schedule that was published on the Olympics website was there were no dates.

It was just day one,

day two,

day three,

and we had to back into what dates those were as well.

So each one of these things, had we gotten it wrong,

you know, it'd be very easy to think that day 12 is February 12th.

It is not. Nope.

So you could really get things wrong if you're not really.

At least in the way that these, the Italian Olympics were communicated to attendees,

I think it was really, really unclear.

And that first piece of just even figuring out when and where were the events that we wanted to go to, even that was a journey in itself.

Nicole: And then as soon as the frequent flyer miles were released and the plane schedules were released,

which is 11 months out,

at least on Delta,

we booked flights and we used. I'm not sure about what you did, but we used a mix of frequent flyer miles and cash to pay for our three tickets.

So we all had alarms that the, the day that Delta released the flight schedules,

we booked that day. I think you did the same thing.

Sarah: Yes. Yeah, we used all miles and we were able to get them. I think it was pretty reasonable about 30 or 35,000 miles round trip because we did it in advance.

Maybe the system didn't even realize yet that it was the Olympics.

One thing to do well in advance, you could probably do this like two years out, I'm thinking,

is start getting on the emails to get into these ticket lotteries.

I don't know if every location does it differently,

but we did not prepare far enough in advance to get into like the first lottery. We got in the second lottery, which was still about a year out.

We, we never once saw just a general admission ticket for either of the women's Alpine events. And we ended up paying for hospitality tickets.

That meant we had assigned seats in the state in the bleachers, which were quite nice. It's unclear what came with this hospitality package when we, when we purchased it, but it also had access to food and drinks at a little restaurant in Cortina, nowhere near the Topane Alpine skiing center,

a good 30 minute walk outside of the venue where we could go in the evening walk around Cortina.

And that was part of the package that we bought. We, we didn't know what we were getting. We, we did pay a lot more probably than what the general admission tickets would have been.

We never saw those for sale and we knew that we really wanted tickets for these events. We would go in and check and every once in a while, like one ticket would become available and one of us would buy it.

And over time we accumulated the six tickets that we needed. But it was very time consuming and confusing. Even the emails made no sense that you would get.

Nicole: And it was two different, we were managing two different platforms. There was the hospitality platform and then the general platform. So I think the overall highlights are join as many email lists as you can for the upcoming Olympics, be it LA or the France Winter Olympics.

And then you're gonna have to just do a lot of website scouring and you know, France will have probably have the same challenge that there was a lot of translating from Italian into English for us as well, which we certainly handled, thankfully for with Google Translate there.

I do want to talk about the lodging.

Sarah and I started looking at lodging in Cortina, thinking that that's where we should call home base. The there was going to be. The sliding center is there,

the Alpine skiing was there and curling.

And we looked on vrbo, we looked on Airbnb. The places were dismal and a lot of money and we were looking a year out.

Cortina did a sort of traffic calming situation where they were not going to let people with cars come in to the Cortina area. So those. All of that lodging became very premium.

And I also think a lot of it got absorbed by athletes,

family of athletes, coaches, those sort of things. So there was very limited stock in Cortina.

I think we spent the most time on tickets and lodging.

We did get a rental home,

which was lovely,

and it was about 45 minutes outside of Cortina. And we were thinking, okay, we want to see these events at. In Predazzo, which was where the Nordic Combined events were going to be in ski jumping and then Cortina.

So we were sort of positioned between the two of them, but it did mean we had to rent a car.

And then we had to deal with parking at both locations, which was another website,

another set of emails, and another thing that we had to unlock. I highly recommend that you, you know, get a notebook, start a Google Doc, maybe a whiteboard when you're doing all of this planning.

And then Sarah and I were checking in frequently, especially when it came to buying the tickets. There was one time she's like, you got to pull over. She called me in the car, like, there's one ticket available on the hospitality, and I'm on 89 going to Boston, like Noah Khan said.

I pull over at a rest stop.

Fortunately, I had WI Fi and I scooped up that ticket. It was a lot of work, and our. Our families were very appreciative, but I don't know if I would have wanted to do it or could have done it without a partner in crime.

Sarah: We both had three different car rental reservations, and Hertz,

which had the day before on Friday, sent me an email that said,

you know, do your paperwork and.

And do that. Which I had done canceled my reservation when we were in the air. So luckily I had backup reservations.

But that was unexpected,

and they definitely lost a customer with that one, for sure.

Nicole: I'm glad we brought skis, because that would have definitely been a hassle. We'll get more in detail on our Jolemites skiing later. But we did bring skis, which did make the rental cars a little more complicated because we needed a bigger car.

And I will say the drive from Venice to Cortina or where we were staying closer to the Araba base area.

Beautiful.

Just a stunning drive,

but it is switchbacks. So if you're not super comfortable driving in snowy conditions, I would say if you can find transportation to your location,

do that, because I'm sure Chamonix is going to be the same thing.

We were Fortunate that the, the. Our car had winter tires on it, which was great.

And we did get a ski rack that we could install on top, which was a little exciting because my husband was trying to read the Italian instructions on installing the ski rack in the Venice car rental lot, and it didn't fall off.

It was a very exciting drive because it started snowing on our way. So we really did test those snow tires. And then, Sarah, you got chains. So you learned how to put.

Put chains on your tires.

Sarah: Well, I did have winter tires, but what we learned is that only about 20% of the cars in Europe, this is what our ski guide told us. Only 20% of the cars in Europe are actually all wheel drive.

And the winter tires are important. And then they throw chains on for extra. So I did learn how to do that,

but I didn't have to use them. I think,

I think I would prefer not to drive. I'd prefer to try to take public transportation,

stay within the village and use car service or Uber. There was Uber ski, which I had never seen before. Driving around Cortina,

that would be something that I would probably consider instead of the driving.

Nicole: And we did take taxis. We took taxis around quite a bit.

Sarah: I would also say it would be great. Like, to us, the. Our first day going to the event was the women's giant slalom. We did not want to miss that. And we really didn't know what to expect, where we were going, what we could bring, what we couldn't bring.

And it would be great to arrive, you know, maybe a day earlier and go to, like a practice event. I think we had tickets for maybe Skeleton.

What was it that day? I think it was Skeleton. We ended up selling those and because we weren't going to be there in time. But when we did get there that day, you know, it was just confusing.

We had to get through a security line and you have, you know, a QR code and everyone needed the app on their phones.

And I think some of the websites or emails said you couldn't bring bags, but everyone had pretty large backpacks. What could be in them? That seemed to vary by who was patting you down.

Some people weren't checked at all. Some people were stripped of everything.

Nicole: They clearly did not want you bringing meat and cheese in because they would

Sarah: take your meat and cheese and your water.

Nicole: Huge pile of sandwiches that looked delightful. Cowbells were confiscated one day, but not the next day.

Sarah: And yeah, it was sad that they took our cowbell, but the way it worked was you took a photo of your item and at the end of the day, you'd go in, it was like a little shop, and you'd pull up the photo and they would give you back your cowbell or your portable

Nicole: charger or your meat and cheese or

Sarah: your meat, which didn't look as good at the end of the day for sure.

Nicole: But I will say the volunteers were amazing. Everybody was super smiley,

very friendly. They were trying to move people through with efficiency and really a general sense of upbeat positivity.

And that I was very happy with. You know, once we arrived to the venue,

I would say it is not ADA compliant. If you had any sort of injury,

any, like small children, it was definitely a mile of walking to get to the venue, plus a gondola and there was no way around. And maybe there was some way they were bringing up people in wheelchairs, I'm not sure, but I didn't see anybody.

We did see people definitely struggling with smaller children there. If your kids are sort of 8 and above,

I think they would do great.

One tip is dress as if you are skiing on a very cold day because you are outside the entire day. There is no warming center.

They did have the hospitality tickets in the bleachers, did have bathrooms that were pretty nice. I think they were heated. They were sort of like those fancy porta pots you see at weddings.

The general public was just in regular porta potties and they were standing on snow for eight hours with no place, absolutely no place to go to warm up. So we were lucky.

Both of the events that we saw were in the high mid to high 30s at the warmest. But it started the day in the 20s. You know, you were in your, in the shade at the beginning and then the sun came out.

So we did have, you know, we had all of our layers on, we had heated socks,

we had hand warmers in.

We definitely were super happy to have our sunglasses with us. And we did take some layers off as we walked around, but we were happy to have them at the end of the day because by the time the award ceremony was done,

you know, it was 3:00' clock in the afternoon, something like 3:30.

So they had very limited food. It was sort of ham and cheese sandwiches, excellent coffee. David and I loved the cappuccinos that we were getting in the espresso that was fantastic.

But the food I thought was a little disappointing.

Sarah: Yeah, but it was very reasonably priced.

So that, that was actually very surprising.

Very limited, but very reasonably priced.

We also, I would say on top of sunglasses, we all had little sunblocks. Because it was pretty sunny and we were exposed all day.

And everyone had to have their own phones to have the ticket on their own app because if we got separated,

there were different checkpoints for the tickets that we had.

So it was very important that everyone had a phone and the app and the ticket, which, which did take some logistics to get that all through.

And the other thing that definitely could vary at different Olympics.

But at the, but at the Milan Cortino Cortina Olympics, it was a visa only event.

Visa or cash.

So if you don't, didn't have a Visa and you only brought your Amex, you would not be doing, you know, you wouldn't be able to get anything.

Nicole: And the merchandise was very cute.

That was a long, long line.

So it was upwards of an hour of waiting in line. So in between the two runs,

everybody would race over to the swag shop, to the merchandise shop. So my hot tip would be go there first thing in the morning. There was no line before the event started.

And then at the end of the day when everybody was funneling out of the venue,

the line was much shorter as well. And they did run out of some things.

I thought the merchandise was pretty well priced and super cute.

I checked my Apple watch at the end of the day. It said I climbed 38 flights of stairs that day and we had walked when I got back. I also looked at my, the steps.

I had 12 or 13,000 steps.

There was no workout. I didn't go for a run at any point during that, that day. It's just a lot of walking. So be prepared for that. Wear comfortable shoes.

Oh, complete endorsement for moon boots.

Bought them before the Olympics.

My husband made fun of me. My daughter and I wore them. Our feet were so warm in those things.

No arch support. I mean, you're definitely like floating around in there,

but unbelievably warm.

Do you have any gear endorsements, Sarah?

Sarah: Well, just really good shoes. So I bought a pair of Helly Hansen very thick soled, cozy shoes. And for this trip specifically, and I think that was definitely worth the investment.

And my daughter also got a new pair.

So just really good shoes. Because one day,

one day I think we clocked close to 20,000 steps.

Nicole: And I think talking about Cortina,

that is where the hospitality room was and it was called Club 26. This was one of the most confusing portions of our planning. So we thought it was going to be up at the venue and then we were going to be popping in and out to warm up, have a little snack between runs?

Absolutely not. It is, as Sarah said, a 30 minute walk away. It's a cute walk. You're walking downhill the entire time. So you kind of get to see the outskirts of Cortina.

It's very safe. You know, there's not a lot of cars on, on the, the walk there.

And Sarah and I, of course, had our apparels. The girls had sparkling water. You could get anything you wanted there. And then they had pizzas. They had so much wonderful cured meat and cheese.

So we made it dinners, two nights. Because our hospitality visits were timed, this was also not made clear when we bought our tickets. So we had a six,

an 18 o', clock, which is 6pm start time.

And they had wonderful fire pits outside. So we were, we would sit perched outside by one of the fire pits and we were drinking our aperol and we were eating our pizza and we were seeing different teams go by.

We're like, oh, there's a skeleton race racer from Slovakia in their jacket. We saw Ali n walk by. Sarah had to hold me back. She's like, no, Nicole, no, you cannot go say hi to Ali Nelmeyer.

But I'm like, but I'm the ski mom,

she loves me. So Sarah had to restrain me there. But you were seeing all of the.

The Olympics just go by you with all of their different jackets and fun fact.

Speaking of the Olympians, how many condoms did they tear through in the. The first week? Thousands. Thousands. They ran out in the first week.

I mean, I know some people are taking them as Olympic souvenirs, but I think many of those were getting used in the best possible way. I hope in the Olympic Village because there were some beautiful athletes walking around that definitely make time to walk around the Olympic town, wherever you're staying.

Because we had so much fun. We ran into Paula Molson. Sarah didn't have control of me.

She won the bronze medal with Jackie Wiles at the team combined. We didn't get to see it, but we knew all about the win.

So she's from Vermont and I'm with the two teenage girls. And I'm like, girls,

we're going for it. So I raced over. Paula's with her husband Ryan. And I was like, paula,

these girls are from the Green Mountain Valley School.

Can we get a photo? Ryan, you went there. And Sarah doesn't even know what's happening. So I'm organizing Paula. She's flanked by our two teenagers. I get a couple shots,

the girls are smiling. Paula doesn't even know what hit her. And then she, like, Races off, but I got the photo. And then she comes back and we're like, oh, my God, she's coming back.

And she said, do you guys want some pins?

And we were like, yes, we want pins. She pulls out the most amazing pins. So you tell us what the the pins were.

Sarah: The pins were about, I'd say 2 inches wide. And they were little uteruses covered in flowers.

And Nicole's denying this, but Nicole was over excited and had possibly been overserved slightly at clubhouse 26.

And when Paula said this is a uterus pin,

Nicole said, we were just talking about your uterus.

That is absolutely true.

Nicole: I think in hindsight that, yeah, we'll admit to this.

Sarah: And I don't think Paula even heard it, but I did think that was an interesting thing to say. But I think Nicole was just so caught up in the moment, anything could have come out.

Nicole: Well, she is sponsored. The reason for these beautiful pins is she's sponsored by a pre reproductive health company. And one of her passions has been talking about reproductive health in these athletes.

They're hitting their peak. Federica Brigone won at 35. So Paul has been talking about her journey of freezing eggs,

hence the pin, and hence why I was talking about her ovaries or uterus or both. I mean, it could have been both. I could have said both. Who knows? I was so excited.

And so she had these amazing pins made up to hand out. And I'm gonna wear that pin with pride. It is on my ski mom's lanyard and it's gonna be with me as an amazing Olympic memory.

But we are so proud of her.

Now let's get into the athletes a little bit.

Vermont delivered. So Paula coming home with the bronze.

And then we've got Ben Ogden winning two silver medals in Nordic skiing. Absolutely amazing.

He's from a maple syrup farm in Vermont. You don't get any more Vermont Y than that. And he grew up from the down the road from the last guy to win an Olympic medal in Nordic skiing, this guy named Bill Koch, who started a league for little kids in New England.

That is what Ben Ogden was raised on.

So absolutely amazing that we had Paula, we had Ben Ogden. And then from one of our favorite hills in the entire world, Cochran's Ryan Cochran Siegel delivered with his second silver medal in super G.

And I know Cochrans did a party. They had a watching party with the famous pancakes. And I'm sure he had a hero's welcome when he came home.

Sarah: And also Michaela brought home the gold and she did Go to Burke Mountain Academy for a little bit. So I know that Vermont likes to claim her. A lot of places like to claim her.

But for us, we can put her in the Vermont pile as well.

Nicole: Saw GS was our first event and we absolutely love Federica. She is in the World Cup. The oldest woman to have won World Cups. She had an injury at the end of last season and it was sort of questionable whether she was going to be able to make it back.

It was a pretty rough injury.

So she didn't race much in the World Cup.

And then she sort of appeared on the circuit two or three weeks before the Olympics. And I had a theory. I was telling Sarah, I was like,

I think she's holding back for the Olympics. I think she's going to have a huge Olympics. This was not Monday morning quarterbacking. I was talking about this. Heading into the event.

She had the perfect day. We had amazing seats. The sun was shining.

Her first run, she was absolutely smoking the competition. She came down and the fans went berserk. So there's Federica fans that wear all Tiger suits. It's kind of hard to explain.

She has a big tiger on her helmet. She has tiger gloves.

It was so fun to be in the stadium when she came down.

Sarah: Yeah, there was a group of like five or six guys just wearing big Tiger shirts.

And there were people wearing tiger patterned cowboy hats and cowgirl hats. And I guess maybe that's her nickname. I think they were calling her the Tiger.

Nicole: Yeah. They were yelling, tea great. Tea great. Yeah.

Sarah: And for her to come down in that second run and win.

Nicole: And then when they played the anthem, when she was on the, the podium,

we were, we were in tears for her and for her country. Italy absolutely slayed the Olympics. They had their best performance ever. So it was so exciting to see a host country getting to experience so much joy in, in the moment.

And we were there for all of it. So just a quick other mention. Sarah, Hector and Thea Louise.

It's a Norwegian last name. Help me. Sternzund.

We're gonna say that's good enough. They tied for silver.

So they were on. They had a shared Pontia moment and they were super cute together. So no bronze is awarded because there was a tie for second.

And there were so many ties that

Sarah: day at a medal ceremony that these women would come out holding a box in front of them and they're in these matching long coats with these little form, like little hats on.

And the whole,

you know what, you know, procession is kind of formal and and, and really fun to see.

Nicole: People really stuck around for the, the ceremony. It was nice. You had to wait sort of an extra 45 minutes. But it's the Olympics. I mean, you want, you gotta see the awards going down.

Sarah: And the other thing that was different than say a World cup race is that you have these athletes. So,

you know, maybe in the World cup there's 60 to 70. Usually this went up, I think one day up to over 90 athletes.

And you will have ski racers from South Africa and ski racers from the United Arab Emirates and so many places. There was a young woman who went to school with our older daughters that was skiing for Trinidad.

And so that's really fun because you get to see a much wider range of countries represented in these races than you do in a typical in, in, in a World cup race.

Nicole: So shout out to Emma Gatcliffe. I would also like to say Emma completed two runs in the GS.

She does race in college for St. Lawrence, so she is used to high level racing, but to be on an international stage in the same starting gate that these World cup athletes are coming down.

And she did a great job. I mean, she, she looked absolutely like she belonged there and just had the presence to throw down a run that looked fantastic. And she didn't dnf she got her second run and her second run was even stronger and more clean.

So huge shout out to Emma. Her whole family was there. They had Trinidad and Tobago ski jackets and her brother was her coach. So we couldn't have loved it more.

So we did stay and we cheered on, you know, through number 80 and 90, because those athletes work really hard to get there. You know, many of them have trained in the US of course, and they sort of have a grandmother or grandfather that gives them the lineage to race for another country.

But they sold the wherewithal to be there to get the points, to qualify, to get into this race and then had the grit to come down these icy slopes at high speeds.

So hats off to them.

And then the big event was slalom. Mikayla has, she has gold medals already and she's won medals at two different Olympics. And then at the last Olympics, you know, it was a really big mental challenge for her and she's talked a lot about mental health, she's talked a lot about making each race just as important as the next one.

You know, not putting outsize importance on the Olympics versus a World cup race versus whatever she else she's doing.

She's definitely showed up for her teammates and she has been cheering along.

But this was, you know, the last women's ski event, and it was her big event, slalom. And we, you know, the night before, we were talking over our tea before we're going to bed.

Do you think she can do it? And we really want this for her and it's going to be so exciting.

And she threw down this beautiful slalom. It was textbook slalom, textbook shiffrin. She was, I think she was a second faster than the next person almost.

So answering all of the questions and just absolutely beautiful.

And one thing I would like to say about Paula, Paula Maltzen fan club here,

she had an outstanding first run until, like, the last six gates. But she kept, you know, she kept together. She finished her. Her first run,

and I think she finished in 28th after that first run. So on the kind of the bookends of the top 30, Michaela was in first first and Paula was in 28th.

So they flipped the top 30. So whoever had the 30th fastest time would go first on the second run.

So Paula was set up to be one of the first out of the gate on the second run. And we did get to see a bunch of her family and friends there.

Sarah: And Paula had an amazing second run.

Nicole: She.

Sarah: Did she win the second run?

Nicole: She won the second run.

Sarah: Yeah. Yeah, she really threw down. She finished in eighth place, which is quite pretty impressive. And it definitely showed just how hard this sport is. One, one little mistake,

you know, changed things for her. But then the way she kept it together and what they do is when you're in first place,

you sit in a special chair up front and the camera keeps looking at you and you're watching the next person come down, trying to look like a good sportsman but hoping they're not going to beat you, probably.

I've never sat in that chair, but I imagine that there's mixed emotions.

And Paula sat in that chair when she, you know, started that second run, she sat in that chair. For many,

many racers, it took a long time for them to catch her.

Nicole: And then it was Mikayla's moment. She was in. She was the last one to come down on the race. I mean, there couldn't have been more drama. And they.

A hush came over the crowd and then they had this. The stadium music was very dramatic as she was in the gate. And of course, you know, they have a closeup on her and she just looks so determined.

And again, she threw a run, you know, that was so controlled,

but also so fast and completely technical. And it looked like she had it the entire way there was no bobble. You know, once she was out of that gate, she just wanted it.

Sarah: And I did see an interview with her a few nights later. The,

the woman who had finished in second,

was she German? Was it Lena?

She went out on like the second or third gate and Mikayla had actually seen her do that.

So just think of like the mental strength you have to have knowing what's on the line and that's what you've seen. I mean I know we've heard our own girls talk about seeing someone fall on a certain gate and then you know, the next five girls all do the same thing but because that's what they watched the person in front of them do.

So I thought that was, you know, there was a lot of heartbreak as well.

People that were so close to that silver, that bronze and you know, two gates, two,

two gates out and they've,

you know, it's over for them.

Nicole: Seeing Mikayla take her spot on the podium was, I mean there were definitely tears in my eyes as the anthem started.

And the other two women flanking her were Camille Rast, who's a Swiss racer who we absolutely love.

She is just, she never DNFs. That girl's just amazing and or woman and Anna Sven Larsen. And I will say, you know, Michaela's 30.

It's definitely was the Olympics of the women who were over 30 which made us super happy and all comes back back to Paula's ovaries. That you know, seeing these athletes make the decisions to, to make their sport something that can carry them into a more professional, long lasting career is fantastic.

And you know, we hope that we'll get to see.

Rumor has it that the Paul said she signed up for another four years.

I don't know about Mikayla. Sarah can smell baby fever and the athletes, she's really good at spotting the ones who are going to drop out. What is your sense about Michaela?

Sarah: Oh, I think she's going to stick around. I think she's sticking around at least for one more.

Nicole: At least for one more. Okay, good to know. So she could get to five Olympics.

Sarah: Yes.

Nicole: Okay, well you've heard it. She's that she's the baby whisperer. Sarah knows. I will say sadly we did miss the Nordic combined event. We were super excited about that. That was in Predazzo, Italy.

So it was about an hour and 20 minutes from where we were staying.

But the day of the Nordic combine of really, you know, the early morning there, we got a huge snowstorm. It was about a foot and a Half of snow.

And it was of all passes, you know, driving through the switchbacks to get down to Predazzo, which is in sort of a valley down from where we were.

And neither family felt confident driving in those conditions.

And it really did unlock the information that once you get there, it was a very.

Especially in the valley, it was a very wet, dense snow. We would have been standing outside in this wet, dense snow for six or eight hours to see both the Nordic Combined events.

So, sadly, we didn't get there, and I do feel sad about missing that. It looks super exciting,

but we did

Sarah: watch it by the fire with a glass of wine later in the day. Right. So we were still fans, but just from the comfort and dryness of our living room.

Nicole: And I think that's something that I. I would definitely mix my events.

I would definitely mix some indoor tickets, things like curling or. I really want to go see speed skating. That looks so exciting.

I think the Italian wood woman,

Francesca Lollobrigida, she won two gold. So exciting.

Sprinkling some indoor events with your outdoor, I think is a smart move.

Sarah: And sprinkling also in some. Some other activities as well. We did some days of skiing that we'll talk about later.

Nicole: It was such a. An experience.

If you'd love ski racing or you're passionate about a particular sport, be it Nordic combined or curling.

Getting to see the world's best in these venues and getting to see the heartbreak. I mean, we cried, we laughed, we cheered, we went through all of the emotions in one day.

We sold, and the energy was fantastic. We've talked to people from all over the world.

We really had this moment of feeling unity. You know, nobody talked about politics when we were there. We were just talking about our favorite athletes.

Sarah: Yeah, it was a really incredible experience,

and I think with the right amount of planning,

it can be done in.

In a way, you know, in a way that's hopefully doesn't break the bank.

I think the way that we use miles and also went with another family to. To.

Nicole: To.

Sarah: To split some of the costs really helped. And I definitely, you know, it's something we definitely want to do again.

Nicole: Yeah. So bottom line,

trip of a lifetime.

No regrets.

We're going to be back in a couple weeks. We will give you our Dolomite ski report. There's so much to share about that,

but please let us know in your questions if there's anything else. We can give you details about trip planning. Of course, every Olympics is going to be different,

so these are overall advice and our experiences but we hope you do it. If you were there, let us know how it went. Leave us some comments, drop us a comment a note on Instagram.

We'd love to hear from you and we are so proud of Team USA and the way they showed up.

Speaker C: Hey ski moms. We hope you enjoyed today's episode and got some great tips for your next family ski adventure. If you had as much fun listening as we did making this episode, we'd love for you to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on our latest episodes and don't forget to rate and review us.

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So whether you're on the slopes or just dreaming of your next snowy getaway,

Nicole: stay connected with us.

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