Kieran Hildreth, the 12-year-old son of Jeff and Jaime Hildreth of Montauk and Burke, Vt., won the Vermont State Tri-Council u-14 giant slalom alpine ski race held at Burke Mountain, defeating 77 competitors from throughout the state on Jan. 31.
It was the first time Kieran was age-eligible to enter a statewide competition, his father said, though last year he had won a u-12 northern region giant slalom alpine race.
The Hildreths began spending winter weekends at Pico Peak, part of Killington, 19 years ago, but moved farther north, to Burke, in 2020, so that Kieran and his twin 9-year-old siblings, Audrey and Baron, could get more advanced ski race training. A seventh grader, Kieran is a Burke Mountain Academy Junior Program day student; Audrey and Baron go the Burke Town School, a public school, where they are fourth graders, and train with the Burke Mountain juniors in the afternoons. The Burke Mountain Academy, a 9th-through-12th grade boarding school in which the Hildreth children may enroll, is considered the top alpine ski racing academy in the country.
Half a day skiing and half a day studying have yielded excellent results on both counts, their father said. “They’re working hard, in the classroom and on the slopes.”
The twins did well too on Jan 31: In a field of 146 entrants, Baron won the northern council’s u-10 giant slalom, and Audrey was sixth in the same race, competing against boys and girls
Asked what he loved about alpine skiing, Kieran said, “Your heart’s pumping, it’s exhilarating. Everything comes down to one gate or one turn. Your run has to be perfect to win.”
As for winning, “It felt good knowing that I was the best u-14 giant slalom racer in the state. It’s such a competitive sport that you need to know in your head that you can do it, that you can win and that it’s up to you.”
Undoubtedly, the Hildreth children have been rooting for Mikaela Shiffrin, a Burke Mountain Academy graduate (2013), the world’s most decorated alpine championship skier, who has been competing in the Beijing Winter Olympics, which are to end Sunday.
Shiffrin is reported to have said that while she learned to ski in the West -- she was born in Vail, Colo. -- she learned to race in the East, thanks to its mountains’ more challenging icy conditions.
Kieran, Audrey, and Baron surf, skateboard, and snowboard too, for fun, but alpine skiing, which they took up first and pursue 125 days a year, is their first love.