Meet Snowbird's Official Ambassador of Speed

Rewind the clock 15 years. Little Cloud Chairlift was a creaky, yellow two-seater, the Peruvian Tunnel didn't exist and a tiny ski patrol shack defined the top of Hidden Peak, rather than the luxurious Summit. Olympian Jared Goldberg would have been the 12-year-old skiing by you at warp speed down the Regulator Johnson black diamond ski run. Today, as one of Snowbird's newest Team Athletes, you might spy Goldberg mobbing down Mount Baldy or Great Scott.

Snowbird's official Ambassador of Speed is a two-time Olympian focused on dominating the disciplines of downhill and super-G in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Goldberg joined the U.S. Ski Team's development program in 2010 at the age of 17 and subsequently finished 11th in the alpine combined and 19th in giant slalom at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Goldberg regularly nabbed top 30 finishes on the 2015 World Cup circuit and returned to competition in 2017 after tearing his Achilles tendon. Kicking off 2018 with the PyeongChang games, Goldberg went on to earn 9th in Italy's Val Gardena Downhill race (his first top 10 finish) and three additional top 20 finishes in Bormio, Italy and Wengen, Switzerland.

Goldberg discovered his knack for speed at an early age. His family left Boston and the slopes of Killington, VT for Utah when Goldberg was just four. While his father Don worked as a ski instructor at Snowbird and his mother, Annette, patched people up in the Snowbird medical clinic, Goldberg kept busy exploring Snowbird's nooks and crannies. He trained and raced with Snowbird's Devo Team, competing at an elite level by age 14. Of his time with the Devo Team, Goldberg reflects, "We had this amazing group, like a big family with a strong sense of camaraderie. Compared to other teams, we were just powder hounds. If it snowed, we were out there hucking cliffs, doing backflips and just having fun. We skied bell-to-bell wherever we traveled as a team."

Snowbird's varied terrain, cliffs and steeps offered the ideal proving ground for Goldberg and his teammates.

"The big long runs have helped me with strength and fitness. The terrain of Snowbird makes you tougher and able to focus. Standing atop the drop of the Elevator Shaft, Baldy or Great Scott... all these runs prepared me for standing in the start gate at Kitzbuhel."

Goldberg's experience, honed at Snowbird made the intimidating pitches of the World Cup courses in Europe less daunting, a crucial advantage in high-stakes races.

Goldberg's favorite and strongest discipline is the downhill category. He confesses that super-G is trickier; it's a more difficult task to figure out when to apply speed, where to be conservative and to make decisions in fractions of a second. In the coming seasons, Goldberg will sharpen the skills he needs to throw down a solid super-G run in Beijing's 2022 games.

Downhill is Goldberg's passion. When he speaks of it, the enthusiasm in his voice is palpable: "I have so much fun in downhill, it doesn't feel like I'm out there ski racing, it's something I want to be doing. I compare my downhill races to my time spent free skiing around Snowbird or downhill mountain biking. Downhill racing forges a connection to the mountain, to me it feels more like racing the Tram from top to bottom alongside the Snowbird Devo team."

The Community and terrain of Snowbird sculpted Goldberg into a formidable athlete. He truly is a product of the wild Wasatch mountains and we can't wait to watch him prepare for gold in Beijing. Goldberg sums it up best, "Growing up at Snowbird, I became accustomed to throwing myself down the mountain as fast as I could." We trust that his Snowbird roots will make Utah proud in 2022.

About the Author

Born in Utah of hearty pioneer stock, Lexi didn't have much choice in the matter of becoming a skier. With her father busy in the Snowbird Medical Clinic most weekends, Snowbird was treated as free daycare for Lexi and her sister, Andi. The two ran amok on the mountain, completing thousands of laps down Mini Miner's Camp and basking in the sun's last rays on the old Peruvian double chair. In her work as the Director of Freeride for the International Freeskiers & Snowboarders Association (IFSA), Lexi travels the globe to assist with competitive Freeride skiing and snowboarding events. Snowbird remains her favorite resort.

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