Story by Mark Aiken
V
ermont may be a small state, but in the world of ski racing it is a heavyweight. As it has for the
past three Thanksgiving weekends, Vermont hosts the HomeLite Killington World Cup from
November 29 to December 1, 2019. Forget Kitzbuhel, Lake Louise, Åre, and other famous skiing
venues; the Killington event has drawn the largest and most enthusiastic—okay, let’s call it like it is…the
most rocking—crowds on the entire women’s World Cup circuit. 39,000 spectators turned out for the 2018
event.
One of those spectators has been sixth-grader Sofija Vanovac, 11, who races for the Mount Mansfield Ski
Club and Academy (MMSCA) in Stowe. “It’s so fun,” says Sofija. “I like seeing them come down, and I like
watching their technique.”
Sofija’s mom, Micheline Lemay, junior program director for MMSCA, has brought her children to all
three Killington World Cups. “For the kids in our club—not to mention my own kids—to see this talent,
this strength, in person is an unbelievable experience,” says Micheline.
Sofija’s favorite racer is Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin, who at 24 has won more than 50 World
Cup races. Mikaela feels similarly about Killington. “It’s more than a World Cup race,” says the world’s
best skier. “I think it sets the standard for the tour.” Mikaela often hears from children like Sofija that they
want to be just like her. “That is limiting,” she says. “They should shoot to be better. Most important, they
should always stay true to themselves.”
In the case of Killington, Vermont, that is exactly what happened. In 2016, when the
Thanksgiving weekend slot opened up on the World Cup calendar, naysayers argued that
Vermont was an unlikely World Cup host; that the mountains were too small, the weather too
unpredictable, and the infrastructure too underdeveloped. These doubters underestimated
Yankee ingenuity, motivation, and character.
8 VERMONT MAGAZINE