Superstars in Portillo

The stars are out in Portillo this month, and I don’t just mean those tiny specks of light floating overhead. The hotel is full of incredible athletes at the moment, creating this sort of surreal experience, allowing your average skier to rub elbows with Olympic medalists and big-mountain superstars.

Last week, Chris Davenport and Ski Portillo teamed up to present a week long camp aptly titled “Ski with the Superstars 2010.” The camp is designed to give advanced/expert skiers a dream vacation while challenging them on some of the most amazing terrain in the Andes. The coaching staff was basically a “who’s who” of big mountain/free skiing greats. The camp featured Chris Anthony, Ingrid Backstrom, Chris Davenport, Mike Douglas and Wendy Fisher. If you don’t know who these people are, Google them. They’re awesome.

I’m not sure what was cooler… getting to ski a few runs with some of these guys or dancing on tables and taking shot skis with some of my idols. I got to hang out with some of the best skiers in the world! Only in Portillo…

This week is just as exciting. The Austrian ski team is here training, Spyder is here doing a photo shoot and the Warren Miller crew is filming. Keep in mind the hotel only holds about 450 guests. That means that we actually get to see these amazing groups. I chatted with Daron Rhalves and Tommy Moe at the weekly welcome reception and sat near Julia Mancuso in the living room! These guys are not only Olympians and world champions, but also super cool people.

I know I sound like a star-struck teenager, but these past 10 days have possibly been some of the coolest in my life. There is nothing quite like meeting the people you have watched on TV and in movies and realizing they are actually amazing people. Not only are they world class athletes but they are genuinely nice individuals.