Resi Stiegler the free-spirit, express-yourself-at-any-cost wild child from Jackson Hole Wyoming lives life with all-out reckless abandon.

Whether battling the International Olympic Committee to allow her to wear her trademark Tiger ears on her slalom helmet or breaking her arm, foot and knee (twice!), this girl needs protective gear more than anyone.

But while this unbridled wild nature could be seen as a liability, it is also one of her greatest strengths. Just taking a look at Resi Stiegler’s personal blog reveals just how passionate she is about what she does. Whether the calm before the storm at the start gate, or her windsurfing adventures on Maui, she lives life to its fullest and charges. Her blog features interesting perspectives and amazing photography. Check it out.

She may not have stepped up the podium yet, but it’s exactly that zest for life and adventure that might just put her over the top one of these days.

Stiegler was winding up to strike her first podium victory, when shortly after her 3 top-10 finishes in slalom (including a 4th place finish), she crashed on December 28th, 2007 in Lienz, Austria. Having caught and edge, she uncontrollably slid off course and under the safety netting, only to come to a crashing halt against a tree. The season-ending damage was done: fractured left arm, ligament damage to her right knee and bruises all over, including her face. Rehabbing and working out on Maui had her well on her way to recovery, but as Resi’s luck (or unbridled craziness) would have it, she reinjured her knee when she collided with another player during a recreational soccer game back in Jackson Hole.

More than a year after her initial injury, she debuted at World Championships in Val d’Isere and promptly came in with an impressive 19th place finish in slalom.

Beautiful, determined, wild, Resi chooses Slytech Nervous Shin and Arm Guards to bang those slalom gates out of the way.

Highlights:

• Olympics 2006; Worlds: 2003, ‘05, ‘07
• 2008: scored points in six races before Dec. 28 injury
• 4th in 2007 Super Combined (in 1-2-4 U.S. finish)
• 4th in 2006 World Cup Finals slalom (’07 Worlds course)
• Five other SL top-15s in ‘06
• 6th in 2005 World Championships slalom
• Combined silver at 2005 Junior Worlds, SL/CO in ‘03
• 10th in CO at ‘03 Worlds at 17

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There’s no girl quite like Lara Gut out there on the World Cup Ski Race circuit who could be more duplicitous. On the one hand she charms and mesmerizes boys with her cute smile and sweet demeanor and on the other she routinely dishes out whippins to her competitors, making it obvious that her cut-throat, take-no-prisoners approach to ski racing is for real.

Born April 27, 1991 in Sorengo, Switzerland, she began having success in the minor leagues (FIS and Europa Cup races) at the ages from 15-17, winning…

• downhill silver in the Youth World Championships 2007 in Altenmarket, Austria
• the Swiss National Championship in Super-G (second youngest champion of all time);
• 2nd in Europa Cup downhill standings in 2007;
• 4 consecutive Europa Cup races January 2008;
• 3rd place in her FIRST EVER World Cup downhill race at St. Moritz (in which she had a spectacular rash across the finish line);
• the youngest ever World Cup Super G race at the age of 17 and 237 days.

And those who follow ski racing won’t soon forget Lara’s 2009 World Championship silver medals in both downhill and super-combined, having achieved this feat 2 months before her 18th birthday.

Lara uses Slytech Nervous Shin Guards, Arm Guards and Slytech 2nd Skin as she hurls herself down the mountain at speeds of up to 70MPH. Lulling her competitors into a false sense of security through her charming smile and chatty means, she turns it up on the hill and comes in at the head of the pack more often than not… beauty and beast.

Watch her next winter season on the Audi-FIS World Cup circuit as well as the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

 

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