True Vermonters: when they are not training Robby (front), Tim (at the wheel), Andrew and Tucker help out at the Cochran sugarbush just
Photo courtsey Tucker Marshall
off the family’s Richmond ski slopes.
team—the coaching, the logistical support, the training facilities, the equipment technicians and more. Even with the pay-to-join fee, most athletes would never think of turning down an offer from the U.S. team; it’s every ski racer’s singular objective. And, if it comes with a bill, well, you scratch together the money from family, sponsors and friends and you do it. When decision time came, Robby conferred with coaches, mentors, family and friends. He knew the pros of being with the team. He added up the cons of going it alone. In addition to the coaching, off-slope training, physical therapy, ski and equipment preparation and behind-the-scenes support, he’d miss intangible psychic and emotional benefits of working shoulder to shoulder with the best skiers in America. With Tim and cousin Ryan Cochran-Siegle moving onto the U.S. squad, the choice to go it alone was even more difficult. “It made sense for them. Ryan is coming off an injury and Tim has World Cup starts all season,” Robby said. For Robby, it came down to money and the desire to design his own season and train independently and with the two remaining Rednecks. “I’m going to be getting more runs in, I’m going to be able to listen and respond to my own body,” he said. He would be able to rest and heal when he needed to, without worrying he might lose standing with the coaching staff. “I will be able to have total control over my race and training program, and I will be able to focus on slalom,” rather than following the national team’s training and racing script.
ROBBY’S O.P.
When asked about Robby’s decision, his long-time friend and Mt. Mansfield Ski Club coach Scott Moriarty replied: “Expected. Robby is and always has been O.P. (on his ‘own program’). He’s always been committed to his own ideas and he has always followed through on his own ideas.” Since he was a teenager, Robby has had a reserved, soft-spoken manner about him, Moriarty says. And an inner intensity: He took all his sports very seriously. He’d fight for the wins, and take losses hard. “Robby and Timmy are kids with roots who are humble and engaging,” said Lori Furrer, the director of the Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy where both Kelleys were students. “They never made a fuss or complained about how hard anything was—they put their heads down and got it done.” Robby has set a goal of raising a little less than $20,000 to cover all his expenses for the 2015-16 season. He’ll train with Mt. Mansfield Ski Club (MMSC) and at Cochran’s—perhaps getting occasional coaching from his aunt, Olympic gold medalist Barbara Ann Cochran, and the mind-boggling web of other champion family members, such as cousin Jimmy Cochran. So far, the independent thing is working. “I’m able to work with different groups and I had a lot of help throughout the summer and fall,” Robby reported in late October. “I had two weeks in France with the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club, a month in Australia with Mt. Hotham Racing Squad and am currently in Pitzal, Austria with Race Center Benni Raich, which was set
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