Golden sunset for Jennifer Heil

She grew up here, learned to ski here, had her parents drive her eight hours from their home in Spruce Grove, Alta., to this snowy oasis on the western edge of Calgary. And now, Olympic gold and silver medalist Jennifer Heil gets to say farewell here.

She gets to race her final World Cup moguls event in Canada on her home hill at Canada Olympic Park. It's a certainty, she acknowledged Tuesday. After more than a decade of hurtling down a bumpy hill and flinging herself sky over heels, Heil has come to the decision it's time for her to finish off the 2010-11 season, then slide into retirement at 27.

After Heil competes at next month's world championships, and then a handful of World Cups, she will return to Montreal, where she is enrolled at McGill University. She is working on a management and political science degree and is still attempting to raise $1-million from the corporate sector for amateur sport.

Read full article: The Globe and Mail, January 25, 2011