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 Chris Puckett’s story.
Chris Puckett
It takes a little while to get Chris Puckett to talk about himself. He’d rather tell you about his wife’s Pilates business or how his oldest son, Cole, 17, is now four inches taller than him. A Financial Advisor for Edward Jones, he almost seems like your average Steamboat family man—but most people already know that this former Olympian is far from average.
Puckett comes from a big skiing family. His younger brother Casey is a five time Olympian and X Games Skiercross Gold Medalist. His mother, Peggy, was a diehard skier who raised the kids in Crested Butte and helped start the Crested Butte Ski Club. “Crested Butte in the seventies was not a bastion of activity,” Puckett says. “You either go skiing or you stay inside.” He got serious enough about ski racing to attend Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont and made the US Ski Team when he was only 17. He went on to race on the World Cup and somehow managed to earn a degree from Dartmouth even when he was competing full time. He was a member of the US team from 1987-2001 and competed in the Olympics in Albertville, France in 1992 when he was 21.
“I used a brand-new pair of boots and the course was super steep,” he says of that first Olympic run. “I didn’t feel comfortable. The boots had more leverage than I was used to; I was chattering all the way down and I disqualified. It was a really tough day for me.”
Still, Puckett went on to rack up an impressive record and was known for being a well-rounded overall technical skier who was strong in all four alpine skiing events. He competed at the World Cup level for a decade and retired shortly after his first son was born, in 2001. He and his wife Wendy were living in Boulder and decided if they were going to raise a ski family, they would do it in Steamboat Springs.
Coaching for SSWSC was a natural fit for Puckett, who was eager to give back everything he’d learned during his storied career to future generations of ski racers, including his two sons, Cole and Cooper. Wendy opened her own business, Steamboat Pilates and Fitness, and Puckett knew he wanted a more secure financial future for his family. It turned out the Edward Jones recruiter for the western slope was an old racing buddy of Puckett’s who hired him on the spot. “We hadn’t seen each other in 20 years and it was like we hadn’t skipped a day. Within one hour of starting our meeting, I was on board with joining Edward Jones. The hiring process took a little longer than that, but the decision came easily and quickly.” That was ten years ago.
Puckett still coaches on the weekends and during winter, he doesn’t have a day off for six months. “Sometimes I’m more exhausted on Monday than I am at the end of the work week,” he says. “But I’ve got so much knowledge and experience, it’s important to me to be able to share that with the local kids.”
Both his sons train as ski racers with SSWSC, and both Cole and Cooper aspire to race on the World Cup, just like their Dad. According to Puckett, “They are both extremely motivated, and I am extremely proud.” Their futures already look promising. In 2016, Cole was presented with the Spencer Nelson All-Star Athlete of the Year by Colorado Ski Country USA.
As an Olympian, the real lessons Puckett has to pass on to his sons are about so much more than skiing. “I see people who didn’t get what they wanted at the Olympics but then took those lessons from skiing and applied them to life, and they’ve all been really successful,” he says, “You learn to keep going, to keep trying, to always find a way to better yourself. You learn to push through uncomfortable situations, because really that’s what ski racing is, learning to be uncomfortable.”
That, and never trying out a new pair of boots on race day.
CLICK HERE to contact Chris at Edward Jones.
