Bahrke on TV Tonight

By Alison Levy

Most people think that a skier's season ends when the snow melts and the lifts stop running. But that's not the case for U.S. Ski Team member Shannon Bahrke. In fact, summer seems to be more important to the spunky mogul skier than her winter training. "It [summer training] is probably more important to me than it is to a lot of other people on the [U.S. Ski] Team," says Bahrke while sitting in traffic en route to her new coffee business.

After winning the silver medal in the 2002 Olympic Games, she suffered a broken jaw during the 2003-04 season. Her bad luck didn't end there. Bahrke spent the summer recovering only to endure a torn ACL in the second World Cup of the following season. Despite this setback, the fun-loving skier kept on smiling and came back to compete in the 2006 Olympic Games. Shannon's 2007-08 season was cut short after yet another knee injury, which forced her off the slopes and back to rehabilitation.

Now that the snow in Utah is almost gone, Bahrke's knee is feeling great just in time to start her rigorous summer training program. The 27-year-old's fitness program will be highlighted on the June 30th (11 p.m. ET) broadcast of Lawrence of America, a Travel Channel show hosted by a quirky Brit who explores American culture and interesting sites, like the Utah Winter Olympic Training Center. POWDER recently caught up with Shannon to discuss her segment on Lawrence of America, her summer fitness program, and her goals for the future.

POWDER: How much of your off-season training is done as a team? Shannon Bahrke: The team does a lot together and I need my own space. I like to do a lot by myself. I'd say I do about 70 percent by myself. I have different trainers from the team and it really helps me to do my own thing.

P: What do you normally do during the summer for training? SB: I lift weights and do plyometrics and agility drills. I also do a lot of Yoga and the team has started to do a lot of gymnastics and trampoline work. I like hiking and mountain biking, and I started car racing. Car racing is so scary and it helps me mentally to break through scary situations. It makes everything else seem a little bit less scary. I think, "Well if I can do that [car race] then I can do this!"

P: What did you do with Lawrence during the filming of Lawrence of America?
SB: Well, he's a crazy British guy who travels across America and he came to the Olympic Park, which is where we train in the summer. The water ramps were closed so I took him through my training routine. I have a little mogul hill made out of dirt piled in my backyard, so we jumped down that. We went to the gymnastics gym to do some work on the trampoline. That was fun because I didn't feel so bad at the trampoline! I am so used to training with U.S. Ski Team guys, who are ridiculously good, so to see someone who wasn't as good on the trampoline was kind of fun for me. And then we went to the U.S. Team gym and did a workout. It was really funny, and he wasn't bad.

P: You have had your share of injuries, how do you find the motivation to recover and keep skiing? What keeps you coming back?
SB: I think that the biggest thing that keeps me motivated was being ranked second in the world two years ago, right before I got hurt. I went into the season having not done as well as I would have liked in the Olympics (10th place in 2006) and then came back the next season to win two World Cups and be ranked second in the world. That made me think, 'Yeah, I can do this.' It really gives me the fire to keep going. And my little brother [Scotty Bahrke] is doing well in aerials and I think he really has a chance to make it to the 2010 Olympics and it would be so cool to compete in the Games [Olympics] together.

P: Do you ever get sick of ski training? How do you keep skiing fun and fresh when you do it all the time?
SB: I don't let myself get too wrapped up in skiing. I do everything else that I love like biking and car racing and everything. And I just started a coffee business [Silver Bean Coffee], which has been keeping me really busy. Having the new business and keeping work and life separate from skiing is really important. You have to keep it in perspective.

P: How long do you plan on skiing and what do you envision doing post-U.S. Ski Team?
SB: After two years I am done and there's no hanging on. It will be my time to exit stage left. I hope to go to a third Olympics [2010] and do better than I have in the past [get the Gold], but then that's it for me. I need to take over a new part of my life. I hope to keep my coffee business afloat over the next two years and then hopefully after two years it will just take off and I can run with it.

With the experience of 10 years on the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, 22 World Cup podiums including seven World Cup wins, and an Olympic silver medal, Bahrke's summer training regimen and determination must do the trick. Watch for her fitness program on Travel Channel's Lawrence of America on June 30th (11 p.m. ET) and check out Bahrke's new coffee business at silverbeancoffee.com. Good luck Shannon!