COPPER MOUNTAIN — The question isn’t why Resi Stiegler keeps coming back after a run of injuries that is remarkable even in a sport that keeps orthopedic surgeons working overtime. That’s what ski racers do. They break. They get fixed. They come back for more.
The question is how Stiegler manages to be so cheerful and positive through setback after setback. The daughter of an Austrian hero who won three Olympic medals in the 1960s before moving to Jackson Hole in 1965, Stiegler’s personality radiates joy.
She’s been that way since she made her first World Cup start in 2002 at the age of 17. She was that way when she came back after a horrible crash in her father’s hometown of Lienz in 2007 (broken arm, broken leg, torn-up knee). Same thing after a preseason crash here in 2009 that put her on crutches for 18 weeks. In between those accidents she broke a tibial plateau playing soccer. And, she broke a foot falling off a step in France.
Even with her father battling multiple sclerosis, she remains Resi. The name rhymes with “rays,” as in sunshine.
“She is so innately beautiful, inside and out, and it’s irrepressible,” said her mother, Carrie. “She’s amazingly positive and she doesn’t allow others to get negative around her. I guess that’s a control mechanism and a protective mechanism. She’s not a controlling type, but she controls herself very well.
“She just has no room for negativity or self-pity. She’s never done that.”
Stiegler, 28, endured seven surgeries and missed five seasons, but she had a full competitive season last winter and will race World Cup giant slalom next Sunday at Beaver Creek with hopes of making her second Olympic team.
“I think I’m gifted with the ability to look at the positive side of everything,” Stiegler said. “I’ve also had great comebacks — great surgeries. I trained really hard; the training’s fun for me. I enjoy it. I enjoy seeing my body change. I enjoy working on something, the focus.
“All you can do is just work harder, and I have these little epiphanies here and there, that you’re doing the right thing.”
Resi’s brother, Seppi, has a personality much like his sister. Seppi was an NCAA champion for the University of Denver.
“They see the best in life, and they’ve been able to experience the best in life,” Carrie said. “If they weren’t positive, I would be wondering what’s wrong with them.”
One reason the Stieglers can keep things in perspective comes from hearing stories about their father growing up in Austria during World War II. Josef “Pepi” Stiegler was born in 1937, and there were times during the war when he went a week without food.
“You’re like, ‘Your story is so much more intense than mine,’ ” Stiegler said of her dad. “I grew up in Jackson Hole, ski racing. I had some tough times, but nothing like (Pepi).”
Resi has shown that, when healthy, she can be a contender. She finished second in a World Cup slalom in March 2012 and was sixth in slalom at the 2005 world championships.
Stiegler has been around long enough that she once called Picabo Street a teammate. Now she trains with Mikaela Shiffrin, the 18-year-old slalom phenom who seems ready to start placing on the podium in giant slalom as well.
“She’s a great person to train with, for many reasons,” said Stiegler, who competes in the same events. “Mikaela’s at such a different level, I’m not jealous of her career. Of course you want to do what she’s done, but being mature and having the career that I’ve had, there’s no jealousy. There’s no bad feelings. You’re just fascinated with what she’s thinking and how she got there. You’re like, ‘I never thought about that in my life, teach me.’ “
Stiegler asks a lot of questions of herself, too, especially when trying to make sense of the struggles she has endured in skiing. She wonders: How are you supposed to inspire other people? What is your purpose?
“Maybe it’s because I had a father who did race,” Stiegler said. “He won a gold medal. I go home and he’s not living in a mansion somewhere with a maid. He’s the most down-to-earth person, with MS, who doesn’t have anything but his love for life. I see that, and it’s more real for me. Things can go right and they can go wrong, but you have to figure out what it is that you’re meant to do.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnmeyer
Beaver creek women’s world cup races
Tuesday-Thursday: Official downhill training, 10:45 a.m.
Friday: Downhill, 10:45 a.m.
Saturday: Super-G, 10:45 a.m.
Sunday: Giant slalom, 9:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
Admission: Free
