Steamboat has produced more Winter Olympians than any town in North America. That might be why so many of them stayed or returned here, to make a life and raise a family of their own. If they weren’t born in Steamboat, they were promising young athletes who came here for the sole purpose of training with SSWSC, many of whom have stayed here to help carry on the tradition.
We caught up with four of Steamboat’s esteemed Winter Olympians to talk about life as a world-class athlete, and what happens when—and if—they hang up their skis. This is Caroline Lalive’s story.
Caroline Lalive
When it comes to taking care of a two-year-old, writing a blog for Steamboat.com, and running her own business, Caroline Lalive has had some serious training for taking on whatever challenges come her way.
Blood, sweat, and tears doesn’t even come close to describing the sacrifices Lalive made for her alpine skiing career. We’re talking about blown out knees, torn ligaments, a punctured lung, and a shattered femur and kneecap for a total of nineteen injuries, including 13 that required multiple surgeries (30 total surgeries).
Still, she kept pushing, enduring long and painful recoveries to compete at the World Cup level for 13 seasons and fighting with everything she had to remain a top ranked skier. She went on to compete in two Olympics Games in 1998 and 2002. She was supposed to have competed in her third Olympics in 2006, but had to miss it due to a severe injury.
“I had a great career and amazing opportunities, but there are those parts that were super painful,” she says. “There were a lot of great moments and a lot of heart breaking moments, but it has all defined who I am today.”
Lalive’s family moved to Steamboat from Hood River, Oregon when she was 16 so she could train with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. She made the US Ski Team at 16 and went on to become National Junior Champion, (World Junior Champion) National Champion and a top-ranked skier on the World Cup Tour. She was only 18 when she competed in her first Olympics as an alpine skier in Nagano, Japan at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, where she finished seventh.
“I was so young and had no expectations. I just went and lived in the moment, and I did really well.” She was at the dawn of her career and showing a lot of potential in her debut on the world stage. “I remember thinking, ‘the sky is the limit.’ It was such a cool time in my career,” she says.
Despite a successful run on the World Cup with a total of 15 top 10 World Cup finishes over the course of her career, the Olympics would prove to be her biggest challenge. As a top ranked skier who garnered a lot of attention from the media going into the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, the pressure to medal proved to be too much and she disqualified. She worked on her mental game after that, going into the 2006 Olympics feeling strong physically and mentally, when a freak crash during a warmup run resulted in a shattered femur and kneecap that ultimately ended her career. (She did try to come back again, but blew out her other knee the following season and officially announced her retirement in 2009).
She returned home to Steamboat where she met her husband, fellow Olympic skier Nelson Carmichael. The couple married in 2012 and had a baby girl, Freya in 2015. Lalive returned to SSWSC as the Director of Alpine Skiing but took time off when Freya was born. A professional makeup artist and medical aesthetician, she’s now in the process of launching her own business, Lalive Beauty and Makeup Artistry, and recently got a small retail space. “There really aren’t any great options for buying cosmetics in Steamboat. My dream is to build a full-service beauty boutique,” she says.
Looking back now, she is grateful from all that she gained through her struggles. “The one thing I’m always coming back to from my skiing career is the importance of living in the moment,” she says. “That’s something I really can appreciate now as a mother. Even the most challenging times are temporary, and if you stay present, there is so much to be grateful for.”
CLICK HERE to find out more about Caroline Lalive Beauty and Makeup Artistry.
