By Heidi Voelker
Photo above by Mike Dawson – Stifel U.S. Ski Team

When I met Mikaela, she was this adorable little girl, about six years old. I was signing posters at an event and I had been introduced to her parents because I was from Pittsfield and her mom, Eileen, was from Lanesborough. Eileen was a masters racer and I had been on the U.S. Ski Team. That was the connection. No one knew then that Mikaela would be the phenomenon that she is.

I’m the youngest of four. My sister is almost 10 years older than I am and then there are two boys; I’m seven years younger than the second one, so it’s a pretty big gap. We grew up at Bousquet. It was kind of our babysitter. My dad was a skier, and taught at the ski school under Court McDermott, who was a fixture at Bousquet for decades.

I got into skiing because it was either stay at home or go along and keep up. So I kept up, or I’d entertain myself at the finish area. My sister tells a story from when I was about seven. Our parents dropped us off at Bousquet. My siblings were going to ski club, and there was also a race. My mom said to me, “Absolutely do not enter that race”—back then, you didn’t need waivers or to have anything signed. At the end of the day, we were all meeting back up at the car, and I was acting weird. And everyone’s like, “Heidi, what’s going on?” I had the trophy stuffed up my coat. I had gone to the race and won.

Left: The Voelkers in 1974: Craig; parents Alison and Larry; Gayle; and Eric. Heidi is in front of her mom. Right: Voelker was cheered on by thousands at a 1988 parade in Pittsfield.

I went to Stratton Mountain School for four years—going away to school to ski was just what my family did. I really didn’t have the dream of being the best skier, until when I was around 15 and I made the U.S. Ski Team. I realized, “Wow, I guess I’m a little bit better than I thought.”

When I was at Stratton, there were far more males than females. I figured that if I could keep up with the boys, and also with my brothers, I was doing okay.

So that day when I met Mikaela more than 20 years ago, I looked down at her big eyes, and I said, “Do you like to ski?” She said yes, and I said to her, “Always be faster than the boys, and you’ll be fine.” And I wrote it on her poster. And by damn, she took it to heart.

ABFTTB is written on the back of her Atomic racing helmet, and people all over the world associate that phrase with Mikaela. It’s an inspiration for girls everywhere, which is fitting because Mikaela just keeps achieving things that seem impossible. I’m in awe of her.

The siblings—Gayle, Eric, Heidi, and Craig—hiked up Bousquet in their father’s memory on the day of his memorial service in 2015; their mother passed away in 2008.