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‘He did it for his mom’ — Kinsella nabs a win at world’s biggest youth ski race

VAIL — Local 15-year-old Kellen Kinsella notched a win and a second-place finish at Europe’s premier youth ski race this week.

Taking place in Austria this year, the Seven Nations Cup has become the biggest and most significant youth race on the planet, where a group of the top ski racing nations sends a group of their top 14 and 15 year olds to compete against other kids their age.

Kinsella said after getting crushed at the Seven Nations last year, he was seeking redemption in 2017.



“I’ve been working hard all summer,” he said of his training with Ski & Snowboard Club Vail.

After winning the GS on Wednesday, Kinsella finished second in the slalom on Thursday.

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“I’ve heard a lot about how the U.S. is not developing athletes, so I just want to prove that wrong and say we’re here, we can ski and we’re going to be good,” he said.

Kinsella had other motivations, as well. Pete Kinsella, Kellen’s father, said the morning of the race, Kellen sent a text message to his mother.

“My wife recently had cancer surgery, and she was unable to come over,” Pete Kinsella said from Austria on Thursday. “On the morning before the first race, while she was still asleep, he sent her a text message saying he was going to win the race for her. So he thought he could do it, and he just did it. He did it for his mom. It was incredible.”


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