Picabo Street

Picabo Street (born April 3, 1971 in Triumph, Idaho) is a champion alpine ski racer, having won a two Olympic medals for the U. S. Ski Team. She is now retired and splits her time between homes in Birmingham and Park City, Utah.

Street, one of eight children born to Dee and Stubby Street, was named "Little Girl" at birth, then named for a nearby Idaho town when she was two. She was raised on a small farm several miles southeast of Sun Valley, Idaho, where she learned to ski and race, joining the Hailey Ski Team for competition. She attended Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School in Salt Lake City and participated in its ski academy, Rowmark. She first joined the U.S. Ski Team in 1989, at the age of 17. She primarily competed in Downhill skiing and the Super Giant Slalom.

After her silver medal performance in the downhill at the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, France, a run was named after her at Sun Valley. On the Warm Springs side of Bald Mountain, the expert run formerly known as "Plaza" became "Picabo's Street." Street joined Christin Cooper and Gretchen Fraser as Sun Valley Olympic medalists (their named runs are on Seattle Ridge). She extended her fame with a successful appearance on the reality show, "Gladiators".

By winning the 1995 downhill title, she became the first American ever to win a World Cup season title in a speed event. Street returned to win a gold medal in the Super-G at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. She became a spokesperson for a variety of products, including Mountain Dew and ChapStick. Shortly after the Olympics, she careened off course while racing in Switzerland. She crashed, snapping her left femur, and tearing the ligament in her right knee. She was in rehabilitation for two years following the accident. In her autobiography, Nothing to Hide, Street revealed her struggles with pressure from sponsors, which she believes contributed to the accident.

After rehabilitation, Street returned to ski racing, but with less success. She retired after the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City with nine career victories. Since then she has worked as a ski resort manager and motivational speaker. She was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2004 and the National Ski Hall of Fame in 2005.

Street married heating and air conditioning executive John Reeser at Prospect Mountain near Hanceville on October 25, 2008. She has one son, Dax, with him, and another, Treyjan, with former partner N. J. Pawley. Reeser also has a son, Eli, from a previous relationship. A feature film based on her life and career is in development.

References

• Street, Picabo with Dana White (2002) Nothing to Hide. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill ISBN 007140693X
• "Picabo Street" (December 28, 2009) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia - accessed January 12, 2010
• Segrest, Doug (February 13, 2010) "Picabo Street finds love, home in Birmingham." Birmingham News

External links

• Picabo Street at ski-db.com