INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM Anna Furney steps off the slopes to talk to us

Author: Ryan Reese

The Campus: How long have you been skiing?

Anna Furney: I've been skiing since I was two and I grew up skiing at cochran ski area in vermont. I started racing when I was 6 and then I moved over and competed on the club team at Stowe. I went to the Winter Academy in Vermont for high school and raced with them until I came to college at Middlebury.

Campus: What would you say your role on the team is?

AF: [She laughs.] Moral support…no not that. We're a really deep team and we've got great athletes. I think that the role of a team member in any sport is to push one another to do their best.

Campus: What event would you say is your specialty?

AF: Skiing? [She laughs.] I'd say GS (giant slalom) right now. I've always gone back and forth between GS and slalom.

Campus: How many hours a day are you at the mountain on any given day during the season?

AF: Well, most days we get in the van around 7:15 and are up at the mountain and skiing before 8:00. We don't usually get back until around 1:00 to get to our classes in the afternoon. On top of that, we lift three times a week and I usually run a few times a week as well.

Campus: What's the coolest place you've ever skied?

AF: I love skiing in Hintertux, Austria, or probably Zermatt, Switzerland. Zermatt's pretty cool because you can ski down into Italy for lunch or something. It's weird because as an alpine athlete, you find yourself training in really affluent European cities. For that reason, training in Chile was great. It was a really different setting and the way of life was so much different than what you're used to seeing around a ski resort. But, I'd probably still go with Hintertux.

Campus: What kind of equipment are you currently using?

AF: I'm sponsored by Dynastar and they hold control over the boot company Lange and the binding company Look. So, you usually say that I see ski Dynastar/Lange/Look.

Campus: Do you have any pre-run superstitions?

AF: I'm thinking here. Actually, I don't really think that I have any. Maybe we'll come back to that.

Campus: What song goes through your head the most when your skiing?

AF: When I was younger, my Dad used to drive us to ski races and it was always a big family thing. Our theme song was Sheryl Crow's "All I Want to Do." It was always the last song we listened to on the access roads on the way up to the mountains.

Campus: So, have you ever had frostbite? If so, where?

AF: My two big toes are black right now as a matter of fact. I'll send you a picture of them if you want. There have been times when I've skied in thirty-below weather and had to duct tape my goggles on from my nose to my chin. Even after doing this, it seems like all the girls were coming down the run with black streaks on their faces.

Campus: If you were trapped in the backcountry with anyone on the ski team, who would you pick?

AF: I think that if you're caught in the back country and you were a good skier you wouldn't really have to worry about surviving. But…I don't have a really a great sense of direction so I'd probably get lost. I'd probably choose Scotty Coriell. He's pretty funny. [She pauses.] Yeah…he's such a joker. Good entertainment.

Campus: How do you feel about G.S. suits?

AF: Oh…they are sexy…totally sexy. Very few people have the opportunity to wear full-body spandex without being considered insane. We get to do it everyday. Dark colors are definitely preferable as well. What else… Yeah…GS suits are great.

Campus: What's your favorite way to pass the time on the chairlift?

AF: I love grape Bubblicious and I chew it all the time. We have big time bubble blowing competitions.

Campus: Has anyone ever triple-dog-dared you to stick your tongue to the chairlift?

AF: Heavens no…we're not that stupid.

Campus: So, back to the pre-race rituals, what about them?

AF: I've been trying to think about it. I guess I just don't have any.

Campus: They're saying that this U.S. Ski Team is one of the best ever. Are you excited to see how they do in Torino?

AF: I think that it's going to be a great Olympics and they're always fun to watch. The U.S. Team has high expectations this year and I think that they'll do pretty well. We'll definitely take home a respectable number of medals, but its always hard to compete with the European countries.

Campus: What do you think about the debacle that came of Bode Miller's interview on "60 Minutes?"

AF: Everyone in the skiing community has known that Bode has skied drunk quite a bit. He's always been a kind of a rebel and has caused problems with the U.S. team in the past. He usually just travels by himself in his own RV and doesnt really associate with the team that much anyway. This huge press deal is pretty intense, but I guess that it had to come out some time. It's unfortunate that all this had to blow up right before the Olympics. Still...you can't argue the fact that he's an incredible skier.

- Ryan Reese, Sports Editor