In this week’s interview episode on the Skiing is Believing podcast, we had the pleasure to speak with former US Ski Team champion, Barbara Ann Cochran.

She shared her incredible story of growing up with her father, a huge sports enthusiast with her two sisters and brother and how they would all go on to be part of the national team and retire at the same time. Cochran told us that Cochran’s Ski Area was built in 1961, when Barbara Ann was 10 and that it is still going strong, season after season.

When Babara broke on to the alpine skiing scene, she was 17 on debut in March 1968 before taking World Championship silver in Val Gardena in 1970. She told us that she wasn’t always extremely confident but liked to think she had a chance of winning any given race, which she quite often did.

In 1972 in Sapporo, she became the Olympic slalom champion, something she talks, in detail, about in this interview.

It was only 2 years later that Barbara decided to retire, aged 23. This was a decision that is always difficult to make, but as her father didn’t hold his position as alpine director, all four of his children decided that the time had come to let the Cochran’s leave the team.

Barbara has done many things in her retirement. She was a teacher for many years before mothering current US Ski racer, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who, like his mother, is an Olympic medallist. In this conversation, she shares her pride for her son and that she feels he has always been in very good company in the team, while also giving us some insight on what Ryan was like growing up.

Please let Alan and Matt know what you thought of this episode in addition to any of their episodes throughout the last 12 months. This weekend Alan and I are heading to their first World Cup race, so why not follow our experience on Instagram, Spotify and YouTube @skiingisbelievingpodcast or email us via mattgarcka.skiingisbelievingpodcast@gmail.com