Beaver Creek — International Ski Federation communications manager Jenny Wiedeke lives in Zurich, Switzerland, but she has come home for the world alpine ski championships.
Wiedeke is a 1993 graduate of Evergreen High School.
“It’s kind of a homecoming,” Wiedeke said Monday. “We’ve come here a couple times for various site visits and for the World Cup, but to be here for the actual world championships is really great.”
Growing up, Wiedeke mostly skied Loveland, Arapahoe Basin and Winter Park. Now she travels the world overseeing FIS media needs across all disciplines.
Jenny Wiedeke. Denver Post photo by John Meyer
Vail/Beaver Creek has a long established reputation for staging top-quality ski races and is hosting its third world championships. Wiedeke takes a Coloradan’s pride in that.
“Everything is, of course, very well prepared, and it looks great,” Wiedeke said. “When we walked into the stadium, to see it compared to the World Cup (in December), it was just amazing — the wrapping, the huge stadium, the VIP tents. For me, what makes this organizing committee special is that they have that Colorado spirit. They’re just so positive and energetic and can-do. That’s been really great to work with, throughout the whole lead-up to the world championships. They’ve had this energy that’s almost infectious. Wonderful.”
Wiedeke is in her second year at FIS. She previously worked at USA Hockey and the International Ice Hockey Federation.
The first race of the championships is the women’s super-G scheduled for Tuesday.
“It’s been very calm,” Wiedeke said. “You can compare it to a duck, where it looks very calm on the surface and the legs are working underneath.”
