From driveway skiing ... to the Olympics
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Olympian Chelsea Marshall autographs a little ski for a fan at her send-off party at Snowshed Lodge in Killington on Monday. Cassandra Hotaling / Rutland Herald |
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BY Cristina Kumka Staff Writer - Published: February 9, 2010
KILLINGTON — It all started in the mid-1970s in a mailroom at Killington Resort.
Don Marshall worked there part time for a ski pass and his wife, Barb, worked there too.
A few years later, the couple married, moved to Vermont full time and built their home in Pittsfield.
Then, they had babies.
Babies who, by the time they were 2, were skiing down the driveway and the mile down Route 100 toward town before ever even hitting the slopes, Don Marshall said.
On Monday, Don and Barb Marshall, and the many locals who grew up in the snow with the family, got the chance to revel in the culmination of years of opportunity, hard work and determination.
Dozens bid adieu to one of four ski-racing stars that bear the Marshall name — 23-year-old Chelsea — who will be racing downhill in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games Friday through Feb. 28.
Yes, Don is a ski instructor.
And yes, Killington Resort was his kids' playground, Marshall said at his daughter's Olympic send-off party held at the resort's Snowshed Lodge Monday night.
But that's not all it took to get three of his children on the U.S. Ski Team — from which Olympians are chosen — and his fourth child in the running.
"They had to have a love for the sport," he said. "It is their passion."
Just last month, the Marshall kids — Cody, Chelsea, Jesse and Tucker — were skiing Killington together, coming off a tragedy that nearly shattered their collective Olympic dream.
Cody Marshall, 27, plunged off an escalator in Utah last summer and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
He's nearly recovered and back on skis again.
"I am going," Cody Marshall said when asked about his own Olympic spot in the future.
Neighbor Noel Gluck started crying when asked if she was proud of Chelsea, the hometown Olympian.
"The family is dedicated to skiing," she said.
Richard Gluck said, "(Chelsea) used to trick or treat at our door."
Don Marshall said although he spent 32 years as an instructor and brought up his kids around a love for the sport, he felt it was "pretty much unbelievable" his daughter was one of the top 100 skiers.
Chelsea signed autographs for locals Monday while Don talked with tears in his eyes.
A painting contractor in the summertime, Don Marshall ironically earned his Level 2 ski instructor certification from the Professional Ski Instructors of America the day of his daughter's Olympic party.
"We're appreciative of all the opportunities," Don Marshall said of Vermont's ski racing programs.
"The powers that be saw the talent and offered scholarships … there is strong support behind these kids."
Chelsea Marshall said she doesn't feel she was destined for the Olympics, but it was one of her goals.
"As a little kid, I watched the Olympics and all the athletes' excitement," she said.
"It's a dream come true."
Chelsea said had some of one of her favorite moments on skis were at Killington, the mountain she had been skiing since she was 2.
Marshall is the third Olympian to call Killington their home mountain — New Jersey's Donna Weinbrecht won gold in 1992 and Massachusetts freestyle skier Michael Morse is headed to the Games this year with Marshall — Tom Horrocks, Killington's communication director said Monday.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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