Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
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TALENT PATROL Simi Hamilton during a cross-country sprint at the Winter Games New Zealand in 2011. looks the part; it's easy to imagine his visage on a Wheaties box. contender At 25, Hamilton is poised to hit his peak as a medal in the freestyle-sprint event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Born and raised in Aspen, he began skiing at age 2. By the time he was 13, he was a standout Nordic athlete in the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club. By 18, he'd swept nine junior national championship titles and three Colorado high school INSIGHT Daily training schedule: Wake up, pound coffee and granola, roller ski or run, lunch, nap, bike, strength train, dinner, sleep. Inspiration: Bill McKibben —a friend, environ mental activist, and the world's most passionate cross-country skier. state championship titles. He went on to Middlebury College in Vermont, where he raced Division 1, earning three top-10 fin- ishes in the NCAA championships. In 2010 Hamilton was selected for the United States Olympic Team and competed in the Van- couver Olympics, where he placed 29th in the classic sprint. "It takes a long time to develop into a racer," he explains. "It has very little to do with natural talent or genetics." nating: His Hamilton's family legacy is just as fasci- great-grandfather, D.R.C. Brown Sr., was one of Aspen's first pioneers, arriving in 1880 by covered wagon. His grandfather, D.R.C. Brown Jr., was president of Aspen Skiing Company for 22 years and helped place Aspen on the map as a world-class ski destination. His grand- the fast track AS HE ALSO PREPARES FOR RUSSIA'S 2014 OLYMPIC GAMES. BY ALISON BERKLEY MARGO W hen Simi Hamilton walks into Victoria's Café on a quiet fall afternoon, he isn't three feet past the door before someone calls his name. "This is our future Olympic gold medalist, Simi Hamilton," an older woman says, introducing the young athlete to one of her friends. With his broad face, wide smile, and athletic build, he already 80 ASPENPEAK-MAGAZINE.COM OLYMPIC CROSS-COUNTRY SKIER AND LOCAL LEGACY SIMI HAMILTON SETS HIS SIGHTS ON WORLD CUP COMPETITIONS mother, Ruth Brown, was the namesake for Ruthie's Run on Aspen Mountain and one of the town's most prolific philanthropists. Hamilton's father, Skip, is a competitive ultra-runner. His mother, Ruthie, is also a competitive marathoner, and it was the family's dedi- cation to fitness and a healthy lifestyle that influenced Hamilton's path toward Nordic skiing. In fact, with his good looks and youthful energy, Hamilton could single-handedly raise the hip factor of cross-country skiing during this next Olympics. "When people think of cross-country skiing, they think of old people with wooden skis and bamboo poles," he says, "But it takes a crazy amount of balance and skill. People don't recognize how hard it is." Still, Nordic skiing is an underdog's sport, especially in terms of tele- vised coverage and sponsor dollars. Fortunately, the community that Hamilton's family helped build is indeed giving back. With his sights set on Russia in 2014, he hopes to repay them by bringing home gold. AP PHOTOGRAPH BY GETTY IMAGES