From Racer to Coach: Madeline’s Life on Mt. Hood

The morning starts in a blizzard. By afternoon, it’s 80 degrees and sunny. That’s a workday for Madeline — coaching on Palmer Glacier in June, long after most of the country has put its skis away.

During a strong snow year, Mt. Hood skis nearly nine months of the year — a rhythm you only find in a handful of places.

A Coaching Family

 

She got here by the most natural route imaginable. Madeline grew up in a ski coaching family, racing on a small hill in Wisconsin with her dad and aunt as her coaches. Becoming a coach herself wasn’t a decision — it was something she always knew was coming.

It came during her first year of college, when she started coaching a local ski team on Mt. Hood. She’s now heading into her sixth season.

 

Why She Stays

 

What keeps her there isn’t complicated. She loves having a winter weekend job that pulls her away from screens and back onto skis, and the hill draws every kind of person, all there for the same reason. Above all, it’s the community that makes it special.

 

The Best Days Aren’t Race Days

 

Some of her best days have nothing to do with racing. Coaching U14 girls and younger is always an adventure — they’re funny, they’re chaotic, and on powder days Madeline gets to take them off the race hill just to ski. No gates, no times. That’s when she actually gets to know them, and when the team gels.

“Watching our youngest girls charge into waist deep powder with total determination always brings me joy.”

 

More Than Technique

 

“What keeps me coming back each winter are the athletes.” Over six years she’s built deep connections with her racers and feels responsible for where they’re headed — not just as skiers, but as people.

That matters more than it might sound. Women are still scarce in ski coaching ranks. Madeline was lucky — several strong women coached her growing up. But for many girls on her team now, “I am the first woman who has ever coached them.” That changes what the job is: not just refining technique, but showing young athletes what a confident, resilient leader looks like, on snow and off.

What the Mountain Taught Her

 

She didn’t always see it that way. Early on, Madeline was focused on proving herself — stacking up certifications, assuming credentials were the fastest way to earn respect.

She’s changed her mind: “Eventually, I realized that true success comes from forming genuine connections, starting directly with the racers and their families.” When a kid falls in love with skiing and parents see what the sport builds in their child, the whole mountain feels it.

Race days have their own small rituals. At the start gate, while the athletes wait and the nerves build, Madeline and the other coaches run group games — Ninja, the screwdriver game — anything to crack the tension before the course.

 

Have Grit

 

Her advice for anyone thinking about the ski industry is two words long: “Have grit!”

Early mornings. Changing conditions. Long seasons. It isn’t glamorous. But it’s community, it’s time on snow, and it’s a front-row seat to the next generation finding their place in the sport.

Six years in, she’s still coming back for more.

About Madeline

 

Madeline is a ski coach on Mt. Hood, heading into her sixth season. She grew up racing in Wisconsin in a family of ski coaches, and now works with young athletes — building their skiing and their confidence in equal measure.

 

Credits

Story: Madeline, with Arctica

Photography: Madeline / photos provided by Madeline