Johnny B: Hello skiers! This is Johnny B for AltaCam.com. Today, I will be talking with former bump skier turned powder-hound, Julie Keller. Hello Julie. Good to see you.
Julie Keller: Hey, Johnny. How's it going?
Johnny B: Good, real good. Thanks for coming on here. You know, people want to know, Julie. We've seen you skiing around Alta, just ripping. Tell us how you ended up in Alta. Fill us in. Share with us the story of how Julie Keller became an Alta powderhound.
Julie Keller: It's a long story. But, basically my dream of going to the Olympics, to the Nagano Olympics, didn't happen. I missed by 0.5 when I was training at Colorado with the US Ski Team and my coach advised me to take off and go and ski powder so I came to Alta and never looked back.
Johnny B: Really? I mean, tell us about those early days. What's one of your fondest memories of when you first came to Alta, you know, big powder day, you know, who'd you meet? What was it like? Fill us in.
Julie Keller: One of the most memorable days for me was I was living in Park City and I'd driven over to Alta and the car I was driving broke down halfway up the canyon. And so, I was hitching and the boys from GravityFed.com picked me up and we skied all day and they introduced me to so many cool people and they were my first true friends in Alta.
Johnny B: The GravityFed boys.
Julie Keller: Yes.
Johnny B: So, let me get this straight. They kidnapped you, somewhere's down at Snowbird and they brought you to Alta. What was that day like?
Julie Keller: It was so much fun. We just laughed and skied hard all day. We were Interlodged that night. We stayed at the Cliff and skied hard again the next day.
Johnny B: Alright!
Julie Keller: It was so much fun.
Johnny B: So, big powder day with the GravityFed boys.
Julie Keller: Yeah.
Johnny B: YES!!
[Laughter]
Julie Keller: My introduction to Alta, fantastic!
Johnny B: Sweet! That sounds like a great introduction. It's one that many of us have had. Julie, you're one of the smoothest skiers in Alta. Where did you develop that style? Who were your mentors growing up?
Julie Keller: Well...
Johnny B: Where did you grow up?
Julie Keller: Bonny, Scotland.
Johnny B: Wow, alright! Scottish business.
Julie Keller: So, yes. In Scotland, you just ski ice. It's very exposed and windy so, you know, and I loved it and knew that I always to live at ski resorts. I did a couple of seasons in France and that was great. Then, I wanted to come to America to ski powder and I actually ended up skiing moguls and my biggest mentor, I think, my first person that I respected the most in the ski industry was Donna Weinbrecht.
Johnny B: Wow!
Julie Keller: She was just incredible and she was so modest and she just won everything that she entered and she was just a smooth neat skier and a good person as well.
Johnny B: Very interesting. Donna, what was her last name?
Julie Keller: Donna Weinbrecht.
Johnny B: I remember her. She used to rip at Killington. She was from Jersey, right?
Julie Keller: Jersey girl.
Johnny B: Alright. So, that's...
Julie Keller: Long blonde hair, she won the gold in Albertville.
Johnny B: That's right.
Julie Keller: And, she was one of the first skiers, women skiers, who inspired that I can do that, too.
Johnny B: That's impressive. So, that's where you got your buttery smooth style.
Julie Keller: That's where I got it, from skiing bumps. You know, the only way to ski bumps and enjoy it is to make it a smooth ride.
Johnny B: That's right. Who wants to be jolted around? Tell us this, Julie. When did you leave moguls behind? How has powder changed things for you?
Julie Keller: Pretty much, during the day of the olympic qualifier, which was in La Plagne, France where I missed it by 0.5, as I said, that was really the last big day for me skiing bumps. I coach. I still coach a bit.
But after coming to Alta and being with skiers who you can just feel the atmosphere of everyone loving the sport and the weather and the conditions and once you've done that in Alta, you don't want to go back to rock-hard bumps everyday.
Johnny B: I'm glad you came to your senses, Julie. Who knows where your back and knees would be if you hadn't been introduced to the powder snow?
Johnny B: There you have it, folks. Julie Keller, former mogul ripper turned powder ripper, Alta icon, one of the smoothest female skiers you'll ever see in Alta. Hopefully, you'll get a glimpse if you're lucky. This is Johnny B for AltaCam.com with Julie Keller. Thanks for joining in. You'll hear from us next week.
Julie Keller: Thanks, Johnny.
Johnny B: Alright. Good to see you, Julie. Thanks for your time. We'll talk to you soon. Let's go ski-riding.
Julie Keller: Let's go skiing.
Johnny B: Yeah!
[Laughter]
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