Training With the U.S. Ambassador in New Zealand

OHAU SNOW FIELDS, NEW ZEALAND (August 19, 2015)—The U.S. Alpine Ski Team has been chasing snow in the Southern Hemisphere. Since early August, both the men's and women's teams have been back in gates at their training camp homes in Ohau, Coronet Peak and Roundhill, New Zealand. The camps have been productive: Mother Nature cooperated with her fair share of snow, and the men’s speed team even got the chance to show U.S. Ambassador Mark Gilbert a thing or two on the mountain this past weekend at Ohau Snow Fields.

Gilbert, who has been ambassador to New Zealand for six months, was joined by his wife Nancy and daughter Liz at the Ohau Ski Lodge late Friday afternoon for their visit with the U.S. Ski Team’s 26 athletes and nine coaches and staff members.

The U.S. Ski Team trains at Ohau. (Ola Thorsen/US Embassy)

Gilbert and his family got a taste of the amazing training the men have experienced while at Ohau. Though he started skiing later in life, Gilbert is a keen skier and has skied all over the United States, but this was his first time on New Zealand snow. Gilbert’s first taste of New Zealand snow was a success, as he praised everything from the conditions to the lodge and staff, telling the Otago Daily Times, “I've loved it here.”

There’s something special about Ohau. As Gilbert said, “It's one of the reasons why the ski team trains here.'' It’s an intimate, mom and pop-style ski area with top-notch snowmaking and support staff that Head Men’s Coach Sasha Rearick stumbled upon a few years ago while driving around New Zealand.

Ambassador Mark Gilbert poses at Ohau in New Zealand. (Ola Thorsen/US Embassy)

Gilbert and his family not only spent time with the U.S. Ski Team on the hill, they also hosted a dinner for the athletes and staff. The whole team enjoyed it and Rearick also spoke highly of Gilbert and his family. “Was a great pleasure having Ambassador Gilbert and his family join us,” said Rearick. “They’re a lovely family who we really enjoyed sharing a bit of our lives with at our training center in Ohau, New Zealand. Mark took more runs than all of us, for sure, and was totally going for it. Good thing he’s a great athlete!”

Ambassador Mark Gilbert talks to the men's speed team. (Ola Thorsen/US Embassy)

While the women’s speed team has concluded their New Zealand training camp, the rest of the team continues to train across all three venues. New Zealand camps will conclude at the end of August before the team returns to the states and prepares for camps in Chile.