Featured Athlete: Amy Taisey 

 
What would you do if you won the lottery?

Pay off my student debt & mortgage, pay off my friends & family's debt, invest what I need to maintain my simple lifestyle, and volunteer my time as a healthcare provider. And probably buy a big boat to live on and sail it cool places to ski.  

Breakfast of champions?

Fresh farm eggs, zucchini and tomato from the garden with feta cheese.

Favorite chairlift and why?

West Mountain Chair at Sugarloaf.  One of the oldest lifts on the mountain, it's kind of a last chair standing when it comes to the slow replacement of lifts. It has that old mountain feel, reminiscent of the days of my childhood growing up skiing at The Loaf. It also goes really high (which always throws some butterflies in your stomach), is super long, runs slow, but always has little to no one on it and never a line.  The ability to hop on at mid station can shorten the trip some, but I enjoy the peace and quiet of the ride, the views of the top of Sugarloaf from a different perspective, and the untracked terrain beneath it. 

Highlight memory from filming with WME for this year's film?

In its entirety, the amazing group of people. The folks at Warren Miller are some of the nicest, hard working, honest, and talented groups of humans beings. Our first day of on snow filming, definitely stands out as we had a unique experience with just myself & Phil filming with director Chris. It was an awesome time going around the mountain, finding small little stashes, getting after it and getting to know each other. 

Gear you are loving right now, on or off the ski slopes, and why?

The Keyway, Amalgam Skis new backcountry ski. I’ve been loving this new profile we added to the line up this past season. It truly is a ski that doesn’t sacrifice the down for the up.  A full carbon lay-up with Maine spruce core, this ski feels light on the way up, but has the downhill performance that holds up to the toughest windblown, heaviest mashed potato, or sloughiest corn snow.  My intent was to only use this ski only for backcountry adventures and was surprised when I found myself bringing it to the resort as well.  They feel like an extension of my body, a profile that carves with ease and solid underfoot, instilling trust with each turn. 

How did the 2020/2021 ski season look different for you than your usual season?
This past year was a challenging time for many to navigate thru. My work as a healthcare provider is often stressful, but this year especially. I have always used skiing as my happy place.  A place were I can truly let go of everything and be in the moment; every milisec. I love this innate feeling and the connection to the elements that skiing gives me. I have always felt extremely grateful to be able to experience winter and skiing this way. This year I was especially appreciative of that. We didn’t have much for snow fall and I missed our skiing community, but I had a lot of fun getting back to the roots of skiing, exploring the backcountry, and escaping the hospital.

 

What do you do to calm your butterflies before a big line/race/moment? 

Take a deep breath, listen to the sounds around me and just feel alive.  

Favorite classic ski film and why?

The Blizzard of AAHHH’s. A Greg Stump film of the late 80’s was the first ski film I ever saw and one that changed the way I thought about skiing. The extreme lines, skiers and terrain in that film, introduced me to a world of skiing I never new existed.  I knew that I had to make skiing a big part of the rest of my life.   

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Don't miss Amy in our 72nd film, Winter Starts Now, dropping Fall 2021!