Remember all that goodwill Lindsey Vonn built up thanks to her feel-good book that’s just being released and her quest to become the best American skier of all time? Well, it all went flying out the window today when she let it slip on the Dan Patrick show that she’d like to see separation between skiers and snowboarders at resorts (Mad River Glen, Deer Valley and Alta are the last three that don’t allow snowboarders).
When prodded if she thought the sports should be separated, she just couldn’t help herself. “Uh, I mean, maybe. There are places that only allow skiers. The problem is, snowboarders are difficult because you guys camp out, adjust your bindings, your peripheral vision is terrible.” Ha! Vonn may have been trying to joke but didn’t exactly come off that way. You could almost hear the sounds of any core credibility she had left pretty much evaporating. Not that World Cup, downhill-style skiing is anything close to what the core of the skiing and riding population is doing these days.
Vonn has a habit of sticking the old boot in the mouth. At the ESPYs this spring, she made NFL pro-bowler JJ Watt turn bright red with this off-color remark. Last year she posted an interesting video to social media where she took a hammer to a pair of bindings in frustration with where she finished in a race. Her sponsors were not stoked. Someone probably should have taken a hammer to her microphone. But if you go on the DP Show you have to know Patrick and his peanut gallery are going to do everything they can to make you say something edgy. Vonn took the bait.
