Buck Hill Ski Racing Club

Program Director
Erich was born and raised in Austria. A former Austrian National Class racer, he placed in the top three in the National Championships and in the top ten in what are now World Cup Races. As a pro racer, Erich placed several times in the top 10 at the Pro World Championships. Erich is a US Ski Coaches Association Level IV Master Coach and is a fully certified ski instructor and former ski examiner. Erich has coached more than 15,000 young racers in the United States. Erich has also run the Erich Sailer Ski Racing Camps in Colorado, Oregon and Austria for the past 20 years. Some of his protégés have won Olympic medals, National championships, college and Junior Olympic titles. Erich has coached many National team members. Erich has been named “USSA Domestic Coach of the Year,” and has also been named “USSA Development Coach of the Year” 3 times. In 2006, Erich was inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame.

Assistant Program Director
Colby was a member of the Central Division A Team, as well as a member of the University of Colorado Ski Team. Colby has 23 years in coaching experience, and is a certified Level I Coach. Colby is also an attorney in private practice in Minneapolis.

Head Coach
Tasha returns to Buck Hill where she was a member of the Team for 8 years. Tasha is a former US Ski Team member (7 years) and a 2-time Olympian, representing the United States in Alpine Skiing. She was also a member of the 1999 US World Championship Ski Team. Tasha is proof that you can make it to the top of the sport from Buck Hill. Tasha returns to our coaching staff at Buck Hill this year as the head FIS coach.

Coach
Uros Pavlovcic was a member of the Slovenian National team from 1987-1994 and then from 1999-2003. Especially in the last four years with the Slovenian Team he had many outstanding accomplishments. Those include 8 top 15 finishes in the World Cup races. He represented Slovenia at the World Championships in 2001 in St. Anton and Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City 2002, finished third at the World Cup race in Kranjska Gora, and had three times the fastest second run time at the World Cup races.

From 1995-1999 Uros was a student athlete at Sierra Nevada College. During his college years in the United States he competed at domestic competition against the U.S. Ski Team members many times. He earned three medals at the U.S. National Championships, won giant slalom at World University Games in Korea, was United States Collegiate Ski Association individual champion all 4 years, and had four victories at Continental Cup events.

Coach
Kirsten grew up racing on the Buck Hill team and was a nationally ranked skier at St. Olaf College.  She's coached for the team since 1998, and especially enjoys working with younger racers.  Kirsten works as a career counselor at St. Olaf, and has two young boys--Tommy(1) and Ryan (4) who will hopefully be joining the team in the future!

Head Age Class Coach
Brad was a member of the Junior National Team, as well as a member of the Central Division A Team.  Brad won 2 FIS races and many Age Group titles.  Brad has over 20 years coaching experience and returns to the team as the head Age Class Coach.

Coach

Coach
Robbie joins the Buck Hill coaching staff this season. Robbie is a former Buck Hill Ski Team member who was a top Central Division skier & Team Central member. He skied for Montana State University from 2003 to 2007. Robbie has coached for Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club & Bridger Ski Foundation. He is a Level 2-certified ski racing coach as well as a PSIA-certified ski instructor. This will be Robbie’s 1st year coaching at Buck Hill.

Coach
Pat is a former Buck Hill Ski team member who will be once again joining the staff for his 10th season of coaching. Pat is a former Captain of the team, and was a regular Mid-Am skier and qualifier for the Junior Olympics. Pat is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and works for Aon Benfield (the world’s leading reinsurance intermediary and full-service capital advisor) as a Reinsurance Broker in their Minneapolis office. Pat plays on one of the top amateur baseball teams in Minnesota during the summer, and greatly enjoys golfing, fishing, and waterskiing in his spare time. He and his wife Anna reside in Lakeville, MN.

Coach
Martina is joining us for her 10th year coaching the team and has a total of 17 years of ski coaching experience.  Martina ski raced competitively from the age of 7 for a total of 16 years, most of those years representing the Buck Hill Ski Racing Team.  Career highlights include:  1994-95 U.S. Ski Team member, 1995 Canadian Junior National Slalom Champion, NCAA National Champion University of Denver Ski Team Member (scholarship athlete), and 1999 and 2001 World University Games U.S. Ski Team Member.  Martina earned her JD and MBA from the University of Minnesota in 2005 and currently practices law at a major Fortune 100 corportation.  Other than coaching, Martina enjoys spending her time running, training for marathons, triathons and nordic ski races and with her husband, Jesse Cook, her dog and team mascot, Rudi, and her ginormous cat, Willi.

Coach/Dryland Director
Maria is a graduate of St. Olaf College with a physical education degree and received her M.A. in Kinesiology/Exercise Physiology from the U of MN in 2002.  Maria currently teaches physical education at Oak Grove Elementary School in Bloomington and has been coaching at Buck Hill for 16 years.  Maria was a top ranked skier in both the Central Division and Collegiate National levels.  She is certified as a Level 200 coach and specializes in organizing dryland training for the BHSRC.

Coach
Jacob will be returning to Buck Hill for his 6th year of coaching with the team. He grew up in northern Michigan in the small town of Petoskey.  He learned to ski when he was two years old at Nub's Nob Ski area and has been headed downhill ever since.  He raced for the Petoskey Northmen where he earned two team state championship titles as well as two slalom titles as an individual, he was also a member of Team Central.  After graduation from PHS he attended St. Olaf College where he played varsity soccer and skiing while earning his B.A. in Philosophy and Ecomonics.  His crowning acievements at St. Olaf include being part of the 2004 season MIAC championship team for soccer, and earning USCSA All American honors on the St. Olaf ski team in his rookie season.  After graduation from St. Olaf he put his college degree to work by entering the lucrative and prestigous world of coaching.  In addition to coaching he is completing his Comm. Arts/Lit. teaching certificate through St. Mary's University of Minnesota.

Coach
Hilary is a former Buck Hill Ski Team Member where she was a member of the Central Development Team. She returns to Buck Hill from Colorado where she skied for the University of Colorado. Hilary coached for Lake Eldora Ski Team after graduating from CU while working as a writer for Ski Racing Magazine. Hilary returns to Buck Hill as a 4th year Coach.

Coach
John is a former Buck Hill Ski Team Member where he had great results as a mid-am racer.  John relates really well to all age groups and will return this season as his 5th year coaching, focusing largely on the J3-J5 age group.  John is also training to become a firefighter in the Twin Cities.

Coach
Connor joins the Buck Hill coaching staff as a recent St. Olaf graduate where he was a two time All America Captain of the Ski Team. This will be Connor's 3rd year coaching at Buck Hill.  Connor is also the former Captain of the Buck Hill Ski Team where he was a regular top mid am skier.