Taylor dominates the slopes
LOCAL SKIER WINS WORLD CUP, NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Atlanta resident Zoë Taylor, daughter of Michele and Kenneth, is a World Cup and National champion after an incredible first year as a U.S. National Telemark Skiing Team A member.
Taylor, 16, trains on roller skis in Piedmont Park for all but a few months a year in the winter, when she moves to Steamboat Springs, Colo. to compete. She spent two years on the USTSA Development Team before being promoted straight to the top squad for 2012.
In February, the Paideia School rising senior was the first U.S. telemark skier in 10 years (and the first U.S. woman in 12 years) to win a World Cup. Then, in March, she took the National Championship, determined by a four-race series that includes two classic races, a sprint and a giant slalom event.
Telemark skiing, actually the oldest form of the sport, incorporates telemark turns around giant slalom-style gates, distance jumping, a banked turn called a reipjlekke (Norwegian for “loop of rope”) and a skating section. This year’s incorporation of the head-to-head Parallel Classic race in the World Cup should significantly help telemark’s bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
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