I was not an Olympian, but xc raced at a national class level both as a junior and d1. Putzed around Nordic combined but was not national class in that endeavor. Raced against and grew up with multiple Olympians in Colorado. Not a one was from Vail, or Beaver Creek. One was from Aspen. Several summit county, A bunch from Steamboat, and several from Winter Park. Winter Park was a hotbed of jumping until Intrawest tore down the jump complex 20 years ago. The Colorado Nordic and Nordic combined culture of the 70s and 80s was not at all as you describe-if not blue collar, certainly middle class. One of the better American jumpers of the 1984 games commuted to winter park from Denver. Many others did the same. The kids that lived in the mountains were children of miners, school teachers, ranchers and building contractors. Of the kids I raced against, I can't think of one I would consider rich or even upper middle class. And I was active in the scene for a decade. I'm no longer heavily involved, but still aware. By all observations, it remains a similar culture. The alpine side is a different story, but I can't remember any of the rich ones who made it past d1. Colorado snow don't make good technical alpine skiers.
Precious Roy wrote:
Skiing and snow boarding are definitely sports that are very expensive. Kids who compete need to get new skis/boards constantly as they grow and as equipment wears out. It is not uncommon for parents to have to fork out a couple thousand a year on gear alone for competitive kids. Then you will be out a couple thousand a year for private instruction, ski teams, and travel to competitions. If kids stay competitive into high school and are looking at skiing in college or trying to go pro, it just gets more and more expensive as you add trainers and specialized gyms, extended training stays at ski resorts, private tutors to keep them on grade level and a dedicated coach. You can easily see how the kid whose parents have a condo at Beaver Creek and have lots of frequent flier miles from work will be at a huge advantage over the kid whose parents have to drive them back and forth from Denver to Winter Park and are always on Craigslist looking for used skis or boards. The one equalizer is location and having parents who competed when they were young. Bryce Bennett grew up in Squaw Valley and his parents worked at the resort. His dad was a competitive telemark skier.