Heather McPhie’s 18-year mogul skiing career is chock-full of athletic accomplishments: 15 World Cup podiums, two National Championship titles, three World Championship appearances and two Olympic games. Through the highs and lows, McPhie stayed true to herself and what she believes in, ensuring those years of her life would be something she could look back on and be proud of.
As she fully transitions into U.S. Freestyle Ski Team alumnihood, McPhie reflects on some of her favorite memories as a competitor, shares her thoughts on the future of freestyle skiing and her plans to stay connected to the sport while creating a future for herself off the hill.
USSA: How did you get into mogul skiing?
HEATHER MCPHIE: I was a gymnast growing up. When I was done, my parents knew I loved moguls, so they signed me up when I was 12. I was absolutely terrible. I actually went around the jumps the whole first year. Once we could flip in moguls, I started doing well. I love being upside down.
USSA: Tell us about your Olympic experiences.
HM: Leading into Vancouver was a fairytale experience. I went from 27th to second in the world in 2.5 months. I had just started working with a mental strength coach in August of that year. It was the last piece of the puzzle I needed to start performing really well.
I ended up qualifying third, but then crashed in finals. But it was still probably one of the fastest, cleanest runs I’ve done in my whole career. It was really big highs and really low lows. But we really came together as a team and had a blast.
I had set a goal for myself after Vancouver that—if I qualified for the Olympics again, I was going to throw backfull and D-Spin in my run, which is something no woman had ever done at that level before. My last run in Sochi, I threw those tricks, and I was so proud of that run. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted score-wise, but I was thrilled with what I had done.
McPhie competes at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
USSA: What is one of your favorite memories with the team?
HM: K.C. Oakley and I were invited to a fellow World Cup skier’s wedding in Spain last fall. It was so much fun to explore a foreign place by ourselves. There were probably 10 mogul skiers from all over the world at the wedding. It was cool to see how the world comes together even when you’re in a sport where you’re head-to-head.
USSA: How important is it for mogul skiers to push the limits of the sport?
HM: With everything that’s happening in freeskiing and the array of events in those competitions, I’m kind of worried for our sport if we don’t encourage progression of the jumps. If amplitude and difficult are not rewarded, I feel our sport will fizzle. For me, I always wanted to be exciting and different to watch. I believe our sport should stay “freestyle” and promote innovation and progression within the parameters of being as safe as we can.
McPhie celebrates with teammates Eliza Outtrim and Hannah Kearney after sweeping the podium at Deer Valley Resort in 2013. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
USSA: What achievement in your career are you most proud of?
HM: After Vancouver, my coach and I decided I was never going to throw a 360 again. I started competing D-Spin every event. I started to really stand out as an innovator in my sport, and that’s something I’m really proud of.
Another thing I’m incredibly proud of is landing a Red Bull sponsorship, largely because I was seen as someone who was pushing my sport. It was really validating for me and the experiences I’ve had with them are unbelievable.
USSA: What advice do you have for athletes pursuing mogul skiing?
HM: I think a part of training that gets overlooked a lot of the time is the mental side of the sport. I think athletes should be open to working with a sports psychologist or a mental strength coach. You spend all this time training your body, so why wouldn’t you train your mind?
Maintenance is also important—the warm ups and the cool downs. You take those for granted as a young athlete because you can, but as you get older, you have to go through those steps in order to stay in the sport. The earlier you get in the habit of doing it the better because you can prevent injuries that way. The sport that we do is quite taxing. There are tools available through the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team that can help athletes have a really long, healthy career.
McPhie poses with a young fan on the World Cup tour.
USSA: When and how did you make the decision to retire from mogul skiing?
HM: It’s a really intimidating thing to think about being done with something I’ve been doing for 18 years. But I promised myself I’d never ski because I didn’t know what else to do. You’re most likely to be successful, safe, and happy if you’re competing because you really want to. Also, our sport has undergone a lot of changes in the past few years, and I felt I wouldn’t be able to excel in the way I wanted with those changes. I’m also not willing to take the hits I used to, and you have to be willing to take hits to be at this level.
USSA: So, what’s next?
HM: I just recently got engaged, so I’m really excited about that. I’ll also graduate next spring with a psychology degree from Westminster College. I’m leaning towards heading into a graduate sports psychology program. Although I really miss working out for a living, I love stretching my mind.
I’ll stay involved with sport, but I’d like to get beyond it as well, especially working with young girls with confidence issues. I’ve had the opportunity to do some really cool things lately, including a TedX talk in Bozeman. I’m hopefully going to be doing a mentoring program with the freestyle club I came from where I can be a sounding board. I want to be able to lend my skills and knowledge freely to those involved in the sport. You always keep a little part of you as a competitor, but now I can share anything I want with those athletes to help them be better.
Thanks, Heather!
