A Ski House with Character

The Ski House of the Day is Lindsey Vonn's new ski house in Vail, Colorado.  To state the obvious, Lindsey Vonn is the greatest American female skier with an unsurpassed and staggering number of wins in ski-racing....including Olympic gold. 

Lindsey Vonn's gorgeous alpine ski house combines a stylish flare with a rock-solid strength that seems a perfect representation of its owner.  It is strikingly beautiful, grounded and solid;  it's a house with character.

Constructed of huge timber frame and beautiful stone, this contemporary ski house is perfect for its setting in the Colorado mountains.  Out front is one of my favorite features...a  simple double chair from a ski lift that serves as a front yard bench and perfect welcome to this skier's home.  The spacious house has five bedrooms, an exercise room fit for an Olympian, an amazingly huge stone fireplace that also serves as a fitting display place for some of Lindsey's most prized medals (there's another huge trophy case for the rest of them), plenty of closet space (including an impressive custom-made shoe rack), and a special doggie-door for her three beautiful, beloved dogs.  To me this house exudes a warmth and character that is Lindsey's alone.

I offer no photos of this house because there's something more important than its appearance that defines this ski house.  Invisible to the naked eye, that "something else" makes this place even more inviting than the gorgeous ski house that it is, just like the "something else" that makes its owner even more powerful than the super-athlete that she is.  That "something" is Lindsey's principled strength of character.  (Merriam-Webster's defines character as "moral excellence," and Dictionary.com's example of the word is: "It takes character to face up to a bully.").   As evidence of her character, Lindsey Vonn recently told a CNN interviewer that she will be representing the American people NOT the US president when she competes in the 2018 Olympics.  And even if she wins a gold medal, she will NOT accept the customary invitation to the White House. 

Unlike some Americans that have been swayed by the loud noise and bombastic promises of an inexperienced, unprincipled, and uninformed political leader....and unlike some in government who seem blindly loyal to a person who recently marked the start of the new year by obscenely taunting the world with the size of his nuke button...Lindsey is not intimidated.  She refuses to be a follower down this dangerously slippery slope.  Who would want to represent a person of such vulgarity, intolerance and self-serving bias on the international stage?

Lindsey's self-reliant character was forged through goal-driven hard work, personal commitment and an uncompromising positive attitude even in the face of daunting adversity.  Her unencumbered independence should be an example to us all.  Yet, where is this principled level of independent thinking among more Americans?  And moreover, where is this level of character in Congress?   And why do our elected representatives seem intimidated by such a juvenile, small-minded and potentially dangerous leader? When will our elected officials take a lesson from Lindsey and realize that they too must become independent and principled?  Will they, like Lindsey Vonn, be representing the American people, not the US president, when they are put to the test?

I wish Lindsey well in the upcoming 2018 Olympics, which I will be following at every turn.  But, regardless of how much more Olympic gold she may add to her trophy case, to me Lindsey's Olympic gold is but a portion of her accomplishment.  Her golden example is in her principled character.  And, American pride in her is not limited to her performance on the slopes.

People Magazine (take the People tour) presents a wonderful tour of Lindsey Vonn's ski house (given by Lindsey herself), and Vail Magazine offers an interview and photos of the same.  But while taking the tour, consider this:  that the lovely character of the house is actually defined by the principled character of its owner.   This is a ski house with real character.