Just before competing in one of the world’s most prestigious youth ski races in Austria this week, Kellen Kinsella texted his mother back home in the Vail Valley to say he would win it for her because she had cancer surgery two weeks ago.
Kinsella, 15, then shocked himself by winning the race, a giant slalom at the Seven Nations Cup on Wednesday in Hinterreit, Austria. His family lives in Edwards.
“It was really cool,” Kinsella said of making good on his promise to his mom. “I felt like I had to say something, so I said something big like, ‘I’m going to win this.’ Then it happened and it was crazy.”
Kinsella’s father, Pete, was in Hinterreit and on the phone with his wife, Tracy, when Kellen crossed the finish line in first place. He’d been giving her play by play through Kellen’s run. Kellen asked to talk to her and she cried when she heard his voice.
“He is the sweetest young man,” said Tracy, who could not join them on the trip because she’s still recovering from surgery. “It was so hard not to be there to support him.”
Kellen backed up his win with a second-place finish Thursday in slalom.
“I’m doing great right now,” Kinsella said from Munich, Germany, where he spent Thursday night before flying home Friday. “The first time I didn’t believe that I won. I was like, ‘This is just a prank, there’s no way.’ I’d been skiing good, but not like the best. When I came down in first, I felt just overwhelmed with happiness and enjoyment and relief. When I got the second today, it was like, ‘This is just great, what else could want right now?’ ”
Kinsella began skiing at age 3, commuting from Denver to Beaver Creek for 40-45 ski days a year, and was skiing double black diamond bump runs by age 4. He also skied the Birds of Prey World Cup downhill track there at age 4, a couple days after the races when it was still in race condition.
“It was icy and slick and he just flew down it and did a great job,” said his father.
The family moved to Vail in 2008. Kellen skis for Ski & Snowboard Club Vail but does not attend its associated school academy. He is a sophomore at Vail Christian in Edwards, where he led the football team in scoring this past season as a sophomore wide receiver.
“By putting him at Vail Christian he gets a break,” said Pete. “The kids have no idea what he is or who he is in skiing and he’s treated like a normal kid.”