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Sully Saturday: McKinley is mogul of moguls
By JIM SULLIVAN, Courier Sports Writer
Skip McKinley is king of his own hill.
He’s a mogul of moguls.
And, if you don’t like those two titles, consider the one McKinley heard while skiing competitively in Minnesota not long ago.
“The Iowa state mogul champion,” said McKinley, chuckling.
“It’s an unofficial title. The announcer said that, and everybody in the crowd was laughing.”
McKinley has a sense of humor about his sport. That’s fine. He also understands that all of those titles, facetious as they are, carry a triple crown of truth. He is the ruler of a very unusual domain.
Skip McKinley is a 56-year-old mogul skier from Waterloo.
Think about that. The Cedar Valley has produced a gold medal wrestler in Dan Gable. That makes sense. Iowa high school wrestling is a passion. Many of us watched a pro football player named Reggie Roby grow up. That’s logical, if rare. We love the game here.
But a 56-year-old man from Iowa, who works as a nurse at Covenant Medical Center fulltime, is a competitive mogul skier? That’s like finding a penguin waddling in the desert, a Red Sox fan wearing Yankee pinstripes.
“It’s kind of hard for people at work to understand,” said McKinley. “It’s a relatively unique sport. It’s not huge like football or soccer.”
It doesn’t stop there. McKinley, the son of former Waterloo mayor Bernie McKinley, has skied on a national level.
Recently, he competed at the U.S. Freestyle Championships in Park City, Utah, against a field that included 12-year-olds and members of the U.S. ski team.
In other words, a middle-ager from Iowa was darting and soaring over the same bumps (also known as moguls) as athletes who could be representing our country in the next Winter Olympics.
Did McKinley reign? No. On the other hand, he completed a rugged course. That was a golden moment by itself.
“I was scared to death,” he said. “But I had so much adrenaline, I could have done anything. I was so excited just to finish.”
Actually, McKinley’s course has been a long one, a journey that began over a quarter-century ago.
McKinley and his family spent some time living in Minnesota. That’s where Skip became interested in skiing. After graduating from college, McKinley continued to ski, and eventually moguls attracted his interest.
For those of us who watched Picabo Street and Phil Mahre sail downhill during the Olympics, moguls is a little bit different. While skiing over those relatively small bumps, the athletes are required to execute tricks. According to Wikipedia, one of those stunts is called a “screamin’ seaman.” Just the title is enough to make the typical weekend warrior abandon ship.
That’s not McKinley. He moved around a bit, including some time in Utah, and then came back to Waterloo. Yet he kept skiing.
Eventually, he discovered the Central Region. For competitive skiers, the country is divided into several areas. The Central Region is one of the smallest, covering states like Minnesota and Iowa. It was a doorway for McKinley to Utah and the U.S. Freestyles.
He went there with no coaches, no big sponsorships. And he finished.
“It took me about 30 years of practice to beat 12-year-olds,” said McKinley, laughing.
During his travels, McKinley has been noticed. After all, 50-somethings from Iowa don’t come flying down the slopes every day.
“Yeah, I’m an oddity,” said McKinley. “But all kinds of people have congratulated me. They just want to know how I’m doing.
“I’m getting all kinds of help from coaches all over the country. I was kind of a loner, but they’ve come up and helped me. Everybody was so, so gracious. It was amazing.”
By next week, McKinley will be back at Covenant. Sooner or later, though, the unofficial king of his hill expects to try again.
“I’ll be back at home working like a normal guy,” he said. “But I don’t know — I’m really into mogul stuff. I may have to train a little harder.”
Contact Jim Sullivan at (319) 291-1434 or jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com
He’s a mogul of moguls.
And, if you don’t like those two titles, consider the one McKinley heard while skiing competitively in Minnesota not long ago.
“The Iowa state mogul champion,” said McKinley, chuckling.
“It’s an unofficial title. The announcer said that, and everybody in the crowd was laughing.”
McKinley has a sense of humor about his sport. That’s fine. He also understands that all of those titles, facetious as they are, carry a triple crown of truth. He is the ruler of a very unusual domain.
Skip McKinley is a 56-year-old mogul skier from Waterloo.
Think about that. The Cedar Valley has produced a gold medal wrestler in Dan Gable. That makes sense. Iowa high school wrestling is a passion. Many of us watched a pro football player named Reggie Roby grow up. That’s logical, if rare. We love the game here.
But a 56-year-old man from Iowa, who works as a nurse at Covenant Medical Center fulltime, is a competitive mogul skier? That’s like finding a penguin waddling in the desert, a Red Sox fan wearing Yankee pinstripes.
“It’s kind of hard for people at work to understand,” said McKinley. “It’s a relatively unique sport. It’s not huge like football or soccer.”
It doesn’t stop there. McKinley, the son of former Waterloo mayor Bernie McKinley, has skied on a national level.
Recently, he competed at the U.S. Freestyle Championships in Park City, Utah, against a field that included 12-year-olds and members of the U.S. ski team.
In other words, a middle-ager from Iowa was darting and soaring over the same bumps (also known as moguls) as athletes who could be representing our country in the next Winter Olympics.
Did McKinley reign? No. On the other hand, he completed a rugged course. That was a golden moment by itself.
“I was scared to death,” he said. “But I had so much adrenaline, I could have done anything. I was so excited just to finish.”
Actually, McKinley’s course has been a long one, a journey that began over a quarter-century ago.
McKinley and his family spent some time living in Minnesota. That’s where Skip became interested in skiing. After graduating from college, McKinley continued to ski, and eventually moguls attracted his interest.
For those of us who watched Picabo Street and Phil Mahre sail downhill during the Olympics, moguls is a little bit different. While skiing over those relatively small bumps, the athletes are required to execute tricks. According to Wikipedia, one of those stunts is called a “screamin’ seaman.” Just the title is enough to make the typical weekend warrior abandon ship.
That’s not McKinley. He moved around a bit, including some time in Utah, and then came back to Waterloo. Yet he kept skiing.
Eventually, he discovered the Central Region. For competitive skiers, the country is divided into several areas. The Central Region is one of the smallest, covering states like Minnesota and Iowa. It was a doorway for McKinley to Utah and the U.S. Freestyles.
He went there with no coaches, no big sponsorships. And he finished.
“It took me about 30 years of practice to beat 12-year-olds,” said McKinley, laughing.
During his travels, McKinley has been noticed. After all, 50-somethings from Iowa don’t come flying down the slopes every day.
“Yeah, I’m an oddity,” said McKinley. “But all kinds of people have congratulated me. They just want to know how I’m doing.
“I’m getting all kinds of help from coaches all over the country. I was kind of a loner, but they’ve come up and helped me. Everybody was so, so gracious. It was amazing.”
By next week, McKinley will be back at Covenant. Sooner or later, though, the unofficial king of his hill expects to try again.
“I’ll be back at home working like a normal guy,” he said. “But I don’t know — I’m really into mogul stuff. I may have to train a little harder.”
Contact Jim Sullivan at (319) 291-1434 or jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com
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iacaugh1 wrote on Apr 7, 2008 6:51 AM: