Wiley Maple’s Inspiring Comeback at 33

Featured Photo Courtesy GEPA

Fun with racing and veteran’s inspiration contributed to Aspen downhiller’s comeback 

Inspiration from Johan Clarey’s Olympic medal at age 41 and the physical ability gained from a lumbar spinal fusion surgery have filled Aspenite Wiley Maple with confidence as he approaches this season. However, he remains fully aware of the challenges that confront an independent racer.

Maple, 33, tried retirement following a horrific 2018-19 season, both professionally and personally and a 2019-20 season that never got off the ground. He shifted focus to finish his degree at Westminster College but, with a diploma in hand, decided he wasn’t ready for a desk job.

Maple recently revealed that a bit of success on the World Pro Ski Tour and the opportunity to forerun a 2022 FIS downhill in Aspen opened his eyes and made him exclaim, “Damn, I forgot how fun that was.” These factors played a significant role in his decision to make a comeback.

During an August camp in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, while enjoying a brief respite at home and before departing for Corralco, Chile — where Maple and Will Gregorak, acting as coach and technician, are spending the next three weeks — he shared details of his current quest.

Returning to the gates is a decision he doesn’t take lightly.

“The window of high athletic performance is short, but with Clarey, Brady and athletes like that showing the window can be open into your 40s, I figured now is the time,” Maple said, before shifting into third-person mode: “And you’ll regret it if you don’t at least test yourself in the arena again.”

His summer season included ample time working on conditioning at Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, according to Alpine Director Johno McBride.

“Wiley has been coming to work out at the club and has been diligent with his fitness and addressing his back, which has been a hurdle in the past,” McBride said. “He has designed a program from his past experiences, and I am sure in conjunction with what he has learned from conditioning coaches.”

Will Gregorak said neither Maple’s age nor his back surgery is prohibitive to success.

“I’m sure his spinal fusion limits his mobility to a degree, but in downhill, you are more often than not trying to maintain posture rather than pull off wild moves; the real athleticism comes in subtlety.

“For that reason, many speed skiers have the best part of their careers in their 30s. If he were a GS or SL skier, I’d say (it’s) fairly unrealistic, but luckily, that is not the case,” Gregorak said.

‘Asset and Liability’ 

Johno McBride knows free spirits, having coached Bode Miller and from his regular encounters with the ski club kids.

“I believe free spirits can be an asset and a liability,” McBride said this week. “Part of what makes Wiley a great skier is his free spirit, and part of his struggles can be attributed to doing things ‘his way.’”

McBride added, “I believe Wiley has had to look through a different lens now and has changed his preparation and gained new insights on what is important to be competitive.”

Adequate funding is critical to being competitive.

Maple said, “It certainly has been an eye-opener to see how expensive and hard-to-come-by speed training is for an independent athlete and just how expensive it is for kids to ski race in the U.S. these days.”

He’s budgeting $100,000 for the season after hearing AJ Ginnis and Lila LaPanja say they were looking at between $100-150,000 each for their annual expenses.

“As I’ll be preparing my own skis for the most part, I’m hoping to get away with closer to $100,000,” Maple said. “Between NorAm, Europa Cup and WC races, budgeting a season is much harder, especially with performance dictating where I may race.”

He balanced training and work over the summer, hopes to host a fundraiser in early November, and will likely continue to ski instruct, paint, write his newspaper column and possibly bartend between competitions.

Gregorak said following a South America Cup race series, the plan is for Wiley to spend November training at Copper Mountain, “and then the season will be underway.

“If possible, I will join him for some races during the season, but it is more critical to have support during the prep period, as that is when most of the work goes into getting the skis fast and the movement pattern dialed in,” Gregorak added. 

Stifel USST Head men’s speed coach Burkhard Schaffer could not be reached for comment about course access at Copper. But a team spokesperson provided the criteria list for making the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team.

Johno McBride said he is “hopeful the national team will give him the opportunity to qualify against other team guys. I believe there are plenty of quota spots in DH and SG, so my guess is if he is skiing fast, he will be given the chance to qualify for a start right.”

When asked what Wiley’s biggest strengths as a competitor are, Gregorak cited “tactics and finesse.”

“While fundamental technique is required to be a factor in the game, good results ultimately come to those who can imagine and execute a line when it counts,” Gregorak said.

“Many racers fall into the trap of trying to repeat a memory of their best skiing on race day; Wiley stays in touch with the moment and what the moment requires,” Gregorak said. He seemed cautiously optimistic about how a healthy Maple could develop into his potential.

“A big part of the reason he’s strapping the skis back on is because his body feels better now than it did at any other point in his career. He wants to know what he is capable of because now the stars have aligned in such a way that he can find out,” he said.

A respectable return could help Maple rid himself of 2018-19’s demons when the season unraveled through circumstances often beyond his control.

These challenges included a Lake Louise headwind that forcefully pushed gate panels uphill to the snow during his run. A broken hand endured in a freeskiing collision shortly after Beaver Creek. And then, officials yellow-flagged him to stop during runs at Wengen and Kitzbühel.

The latter “was perhaps the hardest blow after being the fastest American the day before, as well as in the midst of my best run on the track, which looked promising for a career-best,” Maple said.

Despite all the challenges during that eventful season, Maple kept his head in the game, even skiing two decent training runs in Garmisch before the weather canceled the race.

“Flying home with my tail stuck firmly between my legs…and I was out of funding since at least a portion of my budgeting came from potential prize money,” he recalled.

One month later brought the cruelest assault: his best friend, technician and lifelong friend Sam Coffey, died suddenly.