Chairlift | COACH COMES HOME

Coach Comes Home

Jesse Hunt, the former head coach for the U.S. Ski Team, is back home in Vermont and ready to launch a new generation of champions.

If you have watched the Killington Women’s World Cup in the past, there’s a good chance that you saw Jesse Hunt standing in the finish area, cheering on the U.S. Women’s Tech Team. Last February, after four years leading the overall team as the Alpine Director at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, and more than 20 years as a U.S. Ski Team coach, Hunt announced he was stepping down and returning to his home state of Vermont. Hunt’s new role is as Sport Director at his alma mater, Burke Mountain Academy the same school that has turned out Mikaela Shiffrin, Nina O’Brien and countless other World Cup ski racers. “There are few people with Jesse’s credentials as a competitor, coach and a program director,” said Burke Mountain Academy’s European Programs Director, Felix McGrath – himself a former Olympic ski racer.

First, what lift would you be on?

A surface tow at Burke Mountain, of course. One of the reasons you see so many smaller hills like Burke or Cochran’s turn out such good ski racers is that riding surface lifts lets skiers spend more time with their skis on the snow. Riding up helps develop a feel for snow.

You’ve had an impressive career with the US Ski Team, what brought you back to Vermont?

I spent 30 years in the West. It’s been a great career and I’ve enjoyed being out there. But my roots are here in Vermont and we still have the family farm in Bakersfield. I grew up here and graduated from Burke Mountain Academy. Having a great experience there as a student drew me to come back and want to give back some of what I’ve learned.

What were the highlights from your time coaching the national team?

For a period of time, the U.S. had a long drought with regard to World Cup results. The athletes I had a really great experience with were the Bode Miller, Eric Schlopy group—and then Darren Rahlves in the giant slalom and Casey Puckett in ski cross. We built a team that eventually became very successful with Bode winning the overall World Cup two times.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever gave Bode Miller?

My goal with Bode was to provide a supportive environment for him and help him achieve his goals. It was it was a lot of fun working with Bode—I learned a lot from him.

What did you learn from Bode Miller?

After a while, if a team isn’t getting results, it’s really hard for team members to believe they can win. Bode believed. That helped him take the steps he needed to reach the next level and it helped the entire team realize they could too. There were some amazing days when it wasn’t just one of our athletes who was on the podium, it was Bode, Eric and Darren. What was cool about that group is they helped each other. They were fierce competitors but Darren and Bode would share tips about equipment and race tactics and that made the team stronger.

What would be top on your wish list for the U.S. Ski Team now?

As I mentioned earlier, one of the reasons that kids who grow up skiing on small hills get so good – skiers like Ryan Cochran-Siegle or Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsay Vonn— is repetition. It’s about how much time they get on snow Last fall we took the Burke team to Europe to train at indoor slopes and facilities. There are about 12 or 15 of them worldwide now with ones in Latvia, Lithuania and even Dubai. The U.S. only has one of these, Big Snow in New Jersey but that’s really a recreational area and the slope isn’t long enough for training. If I could ask for one thing it would be an indoor training facility. Who do I ask for that? Santa? u