Andrew Weibrecht

By Sandy Caligiore

It’s Wednesday afternoon and Andrew Weibrecht can be found on the first floor of his family’s Mirror Lake Inn Resort and Spa, behind the front desk and the display of his two Olympic medals, learning the hotel’s reservation system.

But if it’s Friday, the Olympic silver and bronze medalist enters the weekly marketing meeting and takes his seat with six other colleagues, including wife Denja, whose father, Jay, was an Olympic ski jumper. Together, the group plots the resort’s future course and branding initiatives.

On the weekend, husband and wife move about The View Restaurant inside the Mirror Lake Inn during breakfast hours, meeting, greeting and seating guests, pouring a fresh refill and engaging visitors on topics ranging from skiing (naturally) to hiking to fishing to just chilling out.

But it could be any day of the week when Andrew can be found skiing with hotel guests at nearby Whiteface Mountain, guiding them around the greatest vertical drop in the East. It’s where the 33-year-old learned his craft together with brothers Jonathan and Ethan, and where Andrew started his ski racing career with the NY Ski Educational Foundation as a grade school student.

He’s also keen on spending time at Whiteface Mountain with Denja and oldest daughter, Adalina, now approaching her fourth birthday. And one day soon, they will be joined on the slopes by 18-month-old, Silje.

This hardly sounds like retirement. Rather, it’s the new life of the War Horse, as he was known in his racing days. Sixteen years with the United States Ski Team, highlighted by the two Olympic medals in Super G, ended in the spring of 2018 after his third Olympic appearance. Time away from a growing family and numerous injuries (shoulders, knees and ankles) that prevented him from training and preparing properly, made the decision easy.

The years of rehabbing, racing, packing, traveling and moving in and out of hotels took their toll; his competitive skiing days ended shortly after the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.

Andrew followed that decision with the completion of his bachelor’s degree at Dartmouth College. At 31 years of age at the time, he pondered sitting in classrooms with 18- and 20-year-olds. “I’m anxious to see what’s going on in that world,” he quipped at the time. He completed his degree just fine and graduated in 2018 with a degree in Earth Sciences.

However, even before receiving his diploma, Andrew was beginning to transition, taking a more prominent role in the iconic Four Diamond inn that has been nurtured by his parents Ed and Lisa Weibrecht since the late 1970s. “I’d been involved at the Mirror Lake Inn in a small capacity prior to retiring when I was off the road,” he said. “Since I’ve retired, I’ve picked up on that and started doing some really interesting stuff with the crew here, helping out with marketing and guest services.”

But retired or not, skiing is never far from his reach. Andrew continues to offer summer clinics at Mt. Hood in Oregon, in collaboration with his friend and former teammate Ted Ligety, himself a winner of two Olympic gold medals. Andrew can also be found in far-flung places such as Sugar Mountain in North Carolina where he conducts clinics each December. He has also been hired as a personal racing coach in the summer for American youth in the Southern Hemisphere.

But it’s the special “Ski with Andrew” program, started by the Mirror Lake Inn last winter, that is most near and dear to him. The resort partners Andrew with hotel guests – at a premium charge – for an exclusive skiing experience at Whiteface Mountain. Guests can book him for a full or half day, in groups not greater than five. You see, at the family inn, personal experiences and exclusivity are integral to the brand. Ski with Andrew is no different. His skiing guests, with all that one-on-one time at Whiteface Mountain with Andrew, inevitably want the reluctant celebrity to regale in his competitive past.

Andrew introduced himself to the ski racing world on Nov. 30, 2006 with a hell-bent run in the Beaver Creek, Colo. World Cup downhill. Starting near the end of the field, Andrew plunged and launched his way down the Birds of Prey course to a 10th place finish. The War Horse had arrived.

Andrew qualified for his first Olympic berth four years later in Vancouver. While the Olympic media was transfixed on established team stars Lindsey Vonn, Bode Miller and Ted Ligety, Andrew went about his own business as he has most of his life – that is, under the radar. 

On the day of the Super G, Andrew wore bib number 3 and promptly raced into the early lead. “Then I watched the best ski race I’ve ever seen,” he chuckled. Andrew’s lead held up for the next seven racers until Bode Miller bolted down the Whistler course just .02 of a second ahead of him. Andrew held second place for another seven skiers, and then watched the legendary Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal defeat everyone.

Nevertheless, Andrew was an Olympic medalist. When he returned home, Lake Placid feted him with a Main Street parade; Sports Illustrated included him on a post-Games cover; and the Mirror Lake Inn displayed his bronze medal behind the front desk for all guests to see. Then the picture changed.

The blonde charger missed most of the following season with injuries to both shoulders. It marked the start of four seasons where he was beset by physical problems that impacted his training and racing. As the 2014 Games approached, Andrew was an after-thought. So much so, that his selection to the American ski team was not guaranteed. However, the coaching staff had faith in his current form and brought him to Sochi.

As those high-priced Olympics in Russia drew near, Andrew, in a pre-event camp with Ted Ligety, seemed to find something and brought it to the Olympic Super G on a warm, sunny morning. However, four years after wearing number 3, his ranking dropped and Andrew wore bib 29 on race day.

As he stood in the start house awaiting his run, the top three were already being celebrated in the finish area: first was Kjetil Jansrud of Norway, in a second-place tie were Bode Miller and Jan Hudec of Canada. As he looked up the hill, Miller, standing next to Jansrud, then stunned the Norwegian, “Weibrecht could win this right now.” Jansrud responded, “You’re not kidding, are you.”

Miller was dead serious and as Andrew attacked the course, he was faster than everyone at each intermediate time. An Olympic gold medal was in sight. But the warm, soft snow at the end of the track at Rosa Khutor created slower conditions and cost him precious fractions of a second. Nevertheless, Andrew was firmly in the silver medal position, and once again, shared an Olympic podium with his friend, Bode Miller.

The Sochi shockwave was palpable. The athlete considered to have no chance thrust himself onto the medal stand once again. In the post-race press conference adjacent to the race hill, Andrew was asked, “In light of all the injuries since Vancouver, did you ever contemplate retirement?” He responded, “Yes. As recently as last night.”

In the aftermath of the race, the Los Angeles Times wrote, Andrew “is only 28 but has had more body work done than a rent-a-wreck.” He was healthy enough, however, to receive another Main Street parade and have his silver medal placed next to the bronze behind the inn’s front desk.

It seemed the achievement, coupled with better health, created a second wind, of sorts, for the embattled ski racer. Over the next two seasons, he was a fixture in the top five of World Cup Super G events, highlighted by third place at Beaver Creek, and a runner-up finish on the famous Streif in Kitzbuehel, Austria. In fact, Andrew contended for the overall World Cup title in the discipline.

His career was such that he has been admired as a big-event athlete. Andrew is part of a small group of athletes who have won multiple Olympic medals. For his achievements, he was inducted last April into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum. In addition, Andrew was also inducted into the Lake Placid Hall of Fame, joining the likes of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team, figure skater Scott Hamilton, and others of similar repute.

In the meantime, he has further immersed himself in the Mirror Lake Inn that he came to know so well in his youth. Under his parents’ guidance, the property has expanded and flourished over the years, ultimately achieving the AAA Four Diamond Award of “Excellence” for the past 35 consecutive years. Similarly, the inn’s signature restaurant, “The View,” has earned the prestigious Four Diamond Award for 12 straight years.

While skiing has taken him to every corner of the globe, it was his longing for home that always brought him to this place, making significant contributions in various aspects of the family business with each passing week. When you call in your reservation, please pay attention. You never know who will be on the other end of the line.

Sandy Caligiore (sandy@mirrorlakeinn.com) is Mirror Lake Inn’s PR representative, who also handles the same chores for the U.S. Luge Team. He’s been to seven Winter Olympics in various media roles dating back to 1980, and witnessed Andrew’s two Olympic medals in person.