Durango’s Charlie Mickel was on the world stage for millions to see at the Winter Olympics in Italy, but his journey to get there took countless sacrifices from himself and his family years before his Olympic dreams became a reality.
Whether it was moving to Park City, Utah, to be with Charlie during high school while balancing being business owners or watching from home as their son traveled around the country and world to ski as a teenager, Charlie’s mom, Molly, and dad, Alex, have sacrificed a normal life as a parent to a young adult to see their son chase his dreams.
The work and sacrifices have paid off for Charlie. He made the United States Winter Olympic team as a mogul skier. Charlie finished 12th in the men’s moguls and then finished sixth in the dual moguls. Charlie’s success in Italy affected his parents; Molly felt like she went from being Molly Mickel to Charlie’s mom, the kid who went to the Olympics.
“I was just so happy for him,” Alex said. “He’s worked really hard and made a lot of sacrifices along the way. Whether it was moving to different schools and high school so he could get to places where there was more infrastructure for the training to not having a regular kind of life in some ways. To see the hard work and the dedication pay off was super rewarding for us.”
Alex and Molly are the parents of Benji, Trudy, Charlie and Freddie. Alex and Molly own Mild to Wild Rafting & Jeep Tours. Being business owners has helped them have flexible schedules, which has helped their kids chase their skiing dreams.
All of the Mickel kids have had success on the slopes, and it all started with Alex coaching them at Purgatory and Chapman Hill. Purgatory is still one of Charlie’s main sponsors. The times Alex coached the kids on the two mountains were some of his favorite memories as a dad. Every time he drives by Chapman Hill, it’s a trip down memory lane.
After Molly found out that Charlie made the Olympic team, she was in disbelief that her son’s journey would get to the biggest stage in the world for skiing. She teared up driving by Chapman Hill, and it’s still funny to her how if school was canceled due to bad weather, they could still make it up to Purgatory.
“We would go three nights a week to Chapman and be out there training,” Molly said. “I’d be at the bottom of the hill with snacks and Alex would be up coaching. Or I’d be chopping the jump. There were so many fabulous memories. Chapman is such an asset to Durango. It makes me happy that it’s here for the community.”
From the beginning, Alex could see that Charlie naturally excelled at skiing. He showed a lot of talent and started competing against older ages early in his career. But once Charlie reached the high school level, his work ethic started to take him to the next level. Alex knew that his natural talent would only take him so far, and as the other kids caught up, Charlie really dedicated himself to the sport.
Alex was proud to see Charlie’s strong work ethic really take off when he was 17. Charlie would put in the time off the hill, working out, focusing on the mental part of the sport and studying it analytically. It paid off with Charlie winning the national championship.
Once Charlie started taking it seriously and progressed in his training, steps and sacrifices were taken to continue his upward trajectory. He moved out to Salt Lake City with Alex when he was 17 so he could train in Park City. Charlie ended up also living with his older brother, Benji, while Benji was at the University of Utah.
As the second youngest of four kids, Charlie grew up being pulled along with his older siblings, chasing his older siblings and his friends. But Charlie really started getting out of his older siblings’ shadow once he moved up to Salt Lake City and did online school to finish high school, as he improved his skiing.
Once Charlie made the move up to the Salt Lake City area, Alex and Molly made it very clear that if they were going to make this commitment, Charlie needed to be 100% committed. He has, and the results have followed with podiums in the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup before making the Olympic team.
Charlie has been so committed that it’s been about 1.5 years of Charlie with the pedal to the metal to get to the Olympics. Molly worries about burnout; she wants her son to recharge with kayaking, tennis and biking. However, she and Alex know that Charlie realizes there is life after skiing. He has goals of going into business at some point after the skiing is over, whenever that point is.
“It’s up to him,” Alex said. “It’s his journey; it’s his choices. People always say, ‘Oh you must be so proud of him after going to the Olympics.’ I’m proud of Charlie for the process that got him there, the work he did to get there and how he conducts himself along the way … We’re here to support him.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
