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Letters: Bill Danner, Hilary Lindh

Photo top: Bill Danner presents the Kneissl OP ski at a sales meeting.

Luck Had Nothing to Do With It

You can’t overstate what Bill Danner accomplished (“On the Right Trak,” September-October 2026). Foresight doesn’t explain how Trak overcame what to anyone else would have appeared to be overwhelming obstacles. Nor does luck. In the end, his sheer force of will, his unwillingness to consider anything but success, propelled Trak and, in turn, those of us who were lucky enough to work with him through many of those years.  

Chris Crosby
Saint Paul, Minnesota

Hilary Lindh’s Story Hit Home

“Hilary Lindh Leads by Example at Whitefish Mountain” (September-October 2026) resonated with me, as I retired before I should have from the Colorado racing world. Lindh raced after me so I did not know her, but it always interests me to see others’ burnout point and reasons for needing a reset.

I never heard it put that way until [Norwegian World Cup racer] Aleksander Aamodt Kilde did the same thing the past couple of years while recovering from a horrific race accident in Wengen. Having had my own really hard couch-surfing days and the depression that went with that territory, this article hit home. I really benefited from reading about her personal journey. It had a lot of good messages for racers who are caught up in the “white circus” of ski racing and the pressures, stress and travel involved. 

I also agree with Lindh’s belief on the positive impact of just free skiing, especially after a new snowfall, versus only skiing gates. It is something a lot of racers don’t do. So many ski racers lose sight of the pure joy of just free skiing and never continue to ski after their racing time ends.

My parents coached a long time, including several skiers who became Olympians. My dad ingrained in us the joy of free skiing to make it a lifelong passion. He felt the Europeans back in the day always understood that and were better off due to their pure joy in the act of skiing.

Lisa Brunson
Carbondale, Colorado

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