Heil seeks new hills to jump

Jenn Heil roared across the finish line of her illustrious mogul skiing career Sunday with zero regrets to go with a massive hardware collection.

Olympic gold and silver medals. Two FIS world championship titles. An impressive 58 World Cup medals - 25 gold, 25 silver and eight bronze - in 98 career starts. Five Crystal Globes as the World Cup overall champion.

"I have nothing left to do on the hill," she said. "And that's a beautiful ending for me."

Her final bauble, a silver, came Sunday in the dual moguls event at the final World Cup of the season in the Norwegian town of Myrkdalen-Vos.

"I felt close to tears at the top of the mountain," she said later from the relative quiet of her hotel room away from the madness.

"When everyone was cheering for me - all the Canadians - I choked back a few tears. It's a real emotional day."

At 27, Heil is hardly over the hill. In fact, the reigning world champion sees no physical reason why she couldn't compete for another three years and sign off on her career at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

But off-the-mountain challenges - such as completing her university degree in management and political science at McGill University and raising $1 million to help young women in developing countries - beckon.

Read full article: The Gazette, March 22, 2011