189: Bode Miller, Ski Racer

Bode Miller is the most successful male American alpine ski racer of all time: an Olympic and World Championship gold medallist, he is also a two-time overall World Cup champion and one of just five men to win World Cup events in all five disciplines. 

Iain spoke to Bode about his unique career as a racer and about Peak Skis – the new range of skis that he has designed and is launching for sale in Europe.

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SHOW NOTES

Chemmy Alcott told me “Bode is unique: he’s an icon, because he doesn’t fit any mould” (3:30)

Bode learned to ski at Cannon Mountain ski area in New Hampshire (4:00)

At Carrabasset Valley Academy Bode had to snowmobile 6 miles and hitch 18 miles each day (5:45)

Bode initially showed promise as a snowboarder (8:00)

He cut a snowboard in half and put bindings on them (9:15)

He started racing pro at 18 and by 1998 was at the Nagano Winter Olympics (10:00)

Bode’s first podium was in 2000 at Val d’Isere (10:30)

Bode won two silver medals at Salt Lake in 2002 (12:30)

“It's the Olympics. If I had backed off and I came in fifth or sixth place, I think I would have been really disappointed.”

Bode’s autobiography is called ‘Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun’

“We should tell our kids to just have fun, participate and not get bent on winning or losing” 

Bode lived in a 9-metre long RV for much of his time on the circuit (16:00)

Bode’s training was unconventional and included a 700-lb squat machine built by his uncle (17:00)

Other sessions included 15-minute runs through the streams (21:00)

Watch the famous ‘60 Minutes’ interview (26:00)

At Vancouver in 2010 he became the first American to win Olympic medal in downhill since 1994 (30:30)

In 2014 Bode became the oldest Olympic medalist in alpine ski history, winning bronze in super-G (34:00)     

“Miller is skiing's mad scientist. There couldn't possibly be anyone who has thought more about what it takes to win a ski race” The Guardian, 2006

Bode set up Peak Skis in 2022 (38:00)

Race skis in Bode’s day looked ‘like a toothpick’ in comparison to today’s race skis (39:00)

Peak Skis use ‘Keyhole Technology’ (40:00)

Bode on ‘cooking’ skis to see how they are constructed (41:30)

View the full range of Peak Skis here (44:45)

Bode on ski radius (46:30)

Bode on ‘women’s skis’ (48:00)

Loc8 means Peak Skis can be tracked if lost (49:00)

Peak Skis are now on sale in Europe direct from the website (50:00)

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