A career as a lightning-fast Olympic skier may be in the rear-view mirror, but Erin Mielzynski shows no signs of slowing down – on and off the slopes.
Since leaving the sport in 2022 with four Olympic Games and an historic World Cup slalom win under her belt, the Brampton, Ontario native has been as busy as ever. While she misses the rigors of competitive skiing on the world stage, she’s enjoying the prospect of tackling new challenges, including sharing her passion for skiing and snowboarding through the Canadian Ski Council.
“While I was skiing for Canada, life was very busy, but also regimented. I worked out twice a day in the summer for four to five hours. In the winter we would ski in the morning, workout in the afternoon, do video meetings, and media launches. We would usually change hotels every three days or so and travel all over the world.” Away from racing, she was involved in several projects including her podcast, online courses and working as an ambassador for Norwegian sporting and workwear gear manufacturer, Helly Hansen.
With the Olympics and World Cup competitions behind her, Erin now has the freedom to pick and choose projects. But how can post-Olympic life possibly be as hectic?
“It’s a different kind of busy,” says Mielzynski, who began downhill skiing at Ontario’s Georgian Peaks with her family when she was two and was racing competitively by the age six. She would become an award-winning competitive water skier as a teenager, before opting to focus on skiing on snow exclusively. Perhaps her most significant achievement on the slopes came in Ofterschwang, Germany, on March 4, 2012, when she became the first Canadian to win a World Cup slalom race since Betsy Clifford in 1971.
While Erin is open to the many trails this phase of life may take her along, the 32-year-old has many balls in the air, most of which are connected to her love of skiing and the outdoors. A common thread that connects them all is spreading enthusiasm for the sport and encouraging more Canadians – primarily young girls, women, and new Canadians – to try skiing and snowboarding, all the while spending time with family and friends and engaging in various hobbies such as cooking, photography, travel, do-it-yourself projects and, of course, skiing.
Her to-do list is nearly as long as an alpine ski course. Some projects are new, some were underway while she was a fiercely competitive alpine skier who 19 times broke into the top 10 on the world stage. Two pursuits that have kept her active most recently are public relations work for the Canadian Ski Council and working with Helly Hansen.
Last fall, Mielzynski appeared in dozens of media interviews to promote the Toronto Ski & Snowboard Show organized by the Canadian Ski Council, and she continues to spread the word about various Ski Council programs, including the Go Skiing Go Snowboarding initiative and Never Ever Days, which help beginners get onto the slopes for just $25.
As an ambassador for Helly Hansen, Erin appears in photo shoots and television commercials, including one that aired during the 2022 World Series.
Perhaps closest to her heart is Mielzynski’s A Ripple of Light; a pandemic project intended to connect with young women in ski racing world, and bring attention to the trend that for years has seen 33% of girls drop out of sports, compared to 10% of boys. Her mission is to help young girls overcome the odds and minimize the drop-out rate, through the creation of a community that celebrates the love of sport- specifically skiing. Next steps for Ripple of Light are to be determined, but the program has already delivered almost 400 ski bibs across Canada each year to up-and-coming female racers, each containing an inspirational and motivational message from Mielzynski, thanks to program sponsor Grayhawk Wealth.
“Creating the bib project is something I’m very proud of in my career. It was a sense of giving back, connecting with our Canadian racers, and adding some motivation during those tough COVID times. It filled me with an incredible sense of purpose,” she says, reflecting on the many life lessons she has learned as an athlete.
Sport has taught me how to be brave, how to get back up, how to stay motivated and how to chase my dreams. It taught me how to stand up for myself, to advocate for what I believe in, to deal with criticism and how to ask for help. I wouldn’t be who I am without the sporting community. So, if I can help keep just one girl in sport, if I can make sure that girl continues to love skiing forever and passes this love on to others, if she can use what she learns in sport to become happier in life, I will know that I ignited one other flame, and that is enough.”
Mielzynski was recently nominated as athlete chair for the Alpine Canada Athlete Council, where for four years she will give a voice to athletes in alpine, para-alpine and ski cross, on issues such as how to help skiers enter and exit the system, stay involved in the sport after retirement and find opportunities outside of skiing. She continues to host her podcast, Unspoken Bravery, where she introduces listeners to high-achieving athletes and business professionals who have mastered their trade, often after overcoming hurdles such as injuries or business failures. Her guest lineup includes bobsledders, water skiers, alpine coaches, and entrepreneurs. Look for it wherever you listen to podcasts.
As if all of that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, Erin also works as a special projects coach at camps offered by ski clubs and academies and continues to dabble in ski racing – though far less intense than the Olympic and World Cup circuit – as captain of a sponsored team that competes in the World Pro Ski Tour at various locations, including Colorado, California, and New Mexico.
On the home front, Mielzynski and her partner Lenny, a former member of Canada’s cross country ski team, are converting a school bus into a camper that will take them all over Canada and North America, to ski and see the sights. Down the road the couple hope to enroll in a university, likely in western Canada, to develop professional careers, she in kinesiology and he in engineering.
Many people dream of settling down in retirement. Not Erin Mielzynski! Now, and for the foreseeable future, she is certain she can juggle numerous projects thanks to lessons learned while skiing competitively.
“Skiing teaches resilience and motivation. It puts you in uncomfortable positions that you must overcome, and, in the process, you learn how to get back up after you fail. It’s an amazing character builder that teaches you all kinds of everyday life lessons that can be applied to all areas of lives – how to deal with family, how to engage in teamwork, how to think critically, how to deal with adversity at home and in business. Skiing teaches us more than most of us imagine.”
