If you have a question, please e-mail it to Nancy. If she thinks it is of general interest she will put it on this page.

Questions

1. When did you start skiing? What is the best age to put a child on skis?
2. When did you start ski racing?
3. When did you get serious about racing?
4. How many Olympics did you go to?
5. What equipment did you use?
6. Which events did you race? What was your favorite?
7. Did you start the Nancy Greene Ski League?
8. Where is your favorite place to ski?
9. How have the Olympics changed since you competed?
10. What are your favorite foods?
11. What is your favorite movie?
12. What are your favorite sports?
13. I read somewhere that you 'broke the clock' at the Olympics. How did this happen?
14. I'm at an advanced beginner/intermediate level of skiing. What's your recommendation for a brand of skis to purchase? Obviously at my level, I do not need a very expensive set?

1. When did you start skiing?
What is the best age to put a child on skis? I started skiing when I was three years old. My parents were founding members of the Red Mountain Ski Club in Rossland, BC where I grew up and so they got all us kids skiing very early. I think three is a good time to start - at leat it worked for me and for our sons. I know some people get their kids started earlier - it all depends on the parents interests and their patience.

2. When did you start ski racing?
I started ski racing when I was in Grade 8 (age 13). In Rossland one of the biggest events in our high school was the annual Inter High School ski meet with teams coming from all over BC and Washington State. Making the High School Ski Team was a big thing, and we got to go on ski trips to other races. A big motivation for me was to go on the school ski trips! Today most kids are introduced to ski racing before the age of ten.

3. When did you get serious about racing?
When I was 14 our club hosted the Canadian Junior Ski Championships and all of a sudden I wanted to be in the race, but I didn't qualify. At the last minute several girls on the BC team got injured and so I got to race - and I did really well, placing third in the slalom and second in the downhill. My sister Elizabeth won both events. I guess we had the home town advantage - Red Mountain was a pretty tough hill and many of the other racers were psyched out. That same winter Lucile Wheeler of St. Jovite, Quebec won the World Ski Championships and there were two racers from Rossland on the team with her. I heard all about racing in Europe, and started to dream about racing in Europe.

4. How many Olympics did you go to?
I raced in three Olympics, the first in 1960 in Squaw Valley when I was 16 years old. I was fortunate to room with Anne Heggtveit of Ottawa and she won the gold medal in the slalom. Anne was the team veteran and I was the rookie. She was really kind to me, and taught me lots of things such as doing exercises every morning before breakfast. She had great technique, but I realized that if she could do it, I could do it. That's when I decided that one day I would win a gold medal too.

5. What equipment did you use?
When I started racing I used wood skis and leather boots. Our bindings were called 'bear traps' with the boots pushed tightly into metal two pieces and leather straps wrapped around and around and cinched up tight. There was no way they would release in a fall, so sometimes it was a choice between breaking a ski or breaking a leg. Fortunately a few years later 'safety' bindings were invented which reduced injuries. By the time I finished my racing career we were using fibreglass skis and plastic ski boots. Our clothing had gotten very streamlined, but with stretch wool not the nylon and lycra they have today. For slalom we raced in stretch pants and we had a great looking red sweater with a strip of maple leafs down the sleeve.

I won my medal on Rossignol Strato skis that were 207 cm long. Today women race that even on 180 cm skis. I used 200 cm skis for slalom and today they use 150 cm. We raced downhill on 215 cm skis and today they use skis just a little shorter. I used Lange ski boots which were the first really successful all plastic boots. The Canadian Ski Team helped to design the boot in 1966.

6. Which events did you race? What was your favorite?
I raced in all three events, slalom, giant slalom and downhill. I liked them all, and won World Cup races in all three, but I won more giant slaloms than anything else. When I raced there was no SuperG, and Giant Slalom had only one run but it was much longer. My winning time in the Olympics was 1:51.97. Today there are two runs and they are usually just over a minute.

7. Did you start the Nancy Greene Ski League?
No, it was started in 1968 in Ontario by Al Raine (now my husband) and Kell Antoft. I had won the World Cup the year before and so they asked if they could use my name on the program and I agreed. After I won the Olympics I visited Ontario and skied with the first winning Nancy Greene Ski League team. Steve Podborski was on that team, and he went on to be one of Canada's top downhill racers. The Nancy Greene Ski League is still going strong today and is offered by ski clubs across Canada. I have always been the Honourary Chairman but it is hundreds of volunteers all across the country who run the program.

8. Where is your favorite place to ski?
Sun Peaks Resort! I live in our hotel right on the edge the slopes and ski almost every day. I never get tired of it. We have so much to choose from: long cruising runs, steep mogul pitches and wide open powder bowls. I love skiing in the glades and the powder is great! We have three high speed quad lifts up three different mountains, and there are no lift lines and the runs are never crowded. I'm spoiled.

I've skied all over the world and enjoyed so many places. When you get a magic day with fresh powder, sunshine, great trails and good friends to enjoy it with , you make memories that last a lifetime.

9. How have the Olympics changed since you competed?
The Olympics are much more commercial now, but I imagine the actual competition feels much the same. It's the one big event where the whole world is watching so it is very interesting to see who can handle the pressure and still per form their best.

In my day all the athletes were supposed to be amateurs, that is they were not supposed to earn any money from their sport. In reality even then many athletes were being paid (under the table) and the Russians and some other countries were being supported by their governments. I think it is much better today in that anyone who qualifies can compete, even if they are professional athletes.

The other change is quite negative. Today there are performance enhancing drugs available and some athletes succumb to the temptation and cheat. I am very hopeful that the new World Anti Doping Agency will do everything in their power to stop the use of these drugs because not only is it cheating, but they can be very harmful to your health.

10. What are your favorite foods?
I know you should always eat good, healthy foods and I grew up eating oatmeal for breakfast and fresh vegetables, meat, potatoes, etc. for dinner, and we didn't have soft drinks and a lot of junk food around our house, and I raised our children with the same discipline. But I must admit that I'm like everyone else and I really do enjoy eating potato chips and other junk food. It's a constant battle. Mentally, I know it's bad for you, but I still kind of get 'snack attacks'. Most of the time I eat healthy food and when I eat junk food I usually feel lousy the next day but fix it up with some good exercise.

11. What is your favorite movie?
My favorite movies are definitely the 'tear-jerkers', movies like Forest Gump and classics like "The Sound of Music" would be my picks over horror movies or movies with lots of violence. I like to see beautiful scenery in the movies, the recent movie starring Brad Pitt in Tibet was really great.

12. What are your favorite sports?
Right now my favorite sport, apart from skiing, is golf and I find it a big challenge. My husband and I also enjoy playing tennis, but we've definitely gotten hooked on golf. I also enjoy hiking (especially during the alpine blossom season here at Sun Peaks), cycling and sea kayaking. We enjoy watching major sports events on TV and watch ski racing whenever we can.

13. I read somewhere that you 'broke the clock' at the Olympics. How did this happen?
It's interesting how kids do their research these days -- about a year ago the 'breaking the timing clock' story started to surface and at first I couldn't figure out where it came from. It's definitely not true. I tracked it down and found it on the Sports Illustrated for Kids website.

Here's what actually happened. I skied the race of my life and was so far ahead when I crossed the finish line that for a second or two my time did not go up on the electronic scoreboard. In the place where my time should have been there were numbers that didn't make sense. I thought they had missed my time. Then all of a sudden all the lights on the board started to change and I saw 09 (my start number) then C-A-N go up at the top of the board and I knew I'd won. I was 2.65 seconds ahead of the next best time. Later I asked a man from Omega why there was a delay in showing my time and he told me that because I was so far ahead some sort of 'over-ride' kicked in and the time had to be confirmed by the Omega folks, which of course they did right away. Meanwhile, of course, my heart almost stopped! I've told this story many times, because people often ask what I felt like in the finish area and I tell them my biggest emotion was relief!

14. I'm at an advanced beginner/intermediate level of skiing. What's your recommendation for a brand of skis to purchase? Obviously at my level, I do not need a very expensive set?
I've worked with the Rossignol ski company for over 40 years and so naturally that's the company that I recommend. Their products are among the best and they are not the most expensive. Their website is www.rossignol.com and most good ski shops carry Rossignol.

In your case, I would recommend you concentrate on purchasing your own ski boots and making sure they're properly fitted. It's always best to purchase ski boots in a ski resort area as the shops usually have experienced boot fitters and if anything is not perfect when you go out on the slopes you can easily go back to the shop for minor adjustments. It's probably better if you rent skis for the first few years as it makes travelling easier and then you get a better idea of what type of ski you want to purchase. When you do purchase skis, if you are wanting good value, a good used ski may be much more cost effective than a low priced ski which may be of much less quality. Some people always feel they need the latest and greatest. I prefer to get something that is good and then look after it. The skis I am currently using have well over 100 days on them and they are still perfect.