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SENATE TRIBUTE TO
RYAN COCHRAN-SIEGLE
Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, the State of Vermont is remarkably proud of Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who won a silver medal at the Winter Olympics in Beijing in the men’s super-G. This achievement is especially impressive considering it occurred just 13 months after Ryan underwent surgery to repair a broken neck. His comeback is truly remarkable.
It is not merely his success that Vermont honors, but the history of his family. Family is important in our State, which values community and continuity—both of which are embodied in family. Families—people who are linked by a shared home life, by a closeness to one another, by a mutual supportiveness—are at the heart of what our small State is about.
Ryan’s mother, Barbara Ann, won the gold medal in Slalom at the Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, in 1972, nearly 50 years to the day before her son’s medal. Barbara Ann was Ryan’s first ski teacher, and he learned where she did: at the small, family operated, nonprofit Cochran’s Ski Area in Richmond, VT.
Cochran’s was founded by Barbara Ann’s parents, Mickey and Ginny Cochran, who were a remarkable pair of people. Mickey, who would become the alpine director of the U.S. National Ski Team, was not himself a champion skier, but an engineer and former University of Vermont football player, who valued family—and eventually skiing—above all else. Likewise, Ginny was dedicated to family and skiing. When they first established Cochran’s Ski Area, it was a small, backyard operation. Today, it has grown into a center where generations of Vermont school children could learn to ski, still located on the small family hill.
Ginny and Mickey had four children, Barbara Ann, Marilyn, Bob, and Lindy. All were champion skiers and made the U.S. Olympic Team.
Among their many other skiing accomplishments, Marilyn Cochran Brown was a national champion three times, Bob Cochran was the first American man to win a World Cup in giant slalom, and Lindy Cochran Kelley won national slalom titles and was All American at University of Vermont— and, of course, Barbara Ann, Olympic slalom gold medalist and two-time national champion. That tradition of family skiing excellence continued into the next generation, Mickey and Ginny’s grandchildren. Lindy’s children, Jessica Kelley, Tim Kelley, and Robby Kelley, all raced on the U.S. National Ski Team and all competed in World Cup races. Robby was the U.S. National Giant Slalom champion.
Two of Bob’s children were skiers: Jimmy Cochran, who won the U.S. Slalom competition three times and competed in the Olympic games; and Amy Cochran, a successful collegiate racer. Marilyn’s son Roger Brown was on the U.S. Ski Team, winning the 2002 Slalom championship and her son Doug Brown was on the varsity ski team at St. Lawrence University. Together with two of their cousins, Doug and Roger have gone on to found another Cochran family business, Slopeside Syrup and Untapped. And of course, Barbara Ann’s son, two-time Olympian and one-time silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who has also competed in the World Cup.
Clearly, the impact of the Cochran family is not only their world-class skiing. Cochran’s Ski Area is a bright spot in making skiing accessible and fun for all Vermonters. As a nonprofit, they welcome children from across the region to learn in a safe, judgement free environment where the love of the sport is what matters, not the brand of your gear. The “Skiing Cochrans” are truly a Vermont legacy. “Bravo!”
Sincerely,
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