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He has always skied for no other reason than "the fun of it." His father was encouraging but not insistent. Dave Mahre sadly quit apple growing 22 years ago and took a job managing a ski area in order to support his burgeoning family, which numbers nine children. The Mahre kids were customarily dressed from the lost-and-found at the White Pass lodge, but the scenery was rich. Although school was an hour and a half away, the ski lift was just outside the door. "We finished our homework on the bus," Phil says, "and were off skiing and hiking as soon as we got home. We've spent the major part of our lives in the snow." By the age of nine, the twins were the joint terrors of the Buddy Werner League races, the local punt, pass and schuss contest. Exactly when Phil slid slightly ahead is unclear, but Steve imagines it was at the starting line. "I was born four minutes later," he says, "and I've been trying to catch up ever since."
As sibling rivalries go, theirs is peaceful. In 1981, when Steve momentarily skied away with the points that would have clinched Phil's first World Cup, their smiles stayed intact. On the last day of the season, Phil prevailed. When one breaks a bone, the other does not say ouch. But Steve says, "It really is like he's a part of me. At the Lake Placid Olympics, I ended up falling, but knowing that he was ahead after the first run made me feel great, almost as if it were me."
A skier's closest relationship is with the mountain. "I love to be on the hill in the morning when it's still dark," Phil says, "to make three or four runs just waiting for the sun to come up." Because of a bleak December and dismal snow in Europe, the brothers came home early from the World Cup tour to Yakima for practice over Christmas. So far, their best finishes have been a third for Steve and a ninth for Phil, who says, "It's funny sometimes how quickly everything can just click in. When everything's going right, it's like a joy ride."
Tamara McKinney started the new season better, with a second-place slalom finish to Erika Hess of Switzerland, but she has yet to reach 1983 form. Christin Cooper, 24, who wrecked a knee during a training run a year ago, has recovered her health and exuberance: "When you can take off and go where you want, you can go through trees. It's magic." Last season had been forecast as a watershed year for Coor per, but it was McKinney who made history. During 16 years of World Cup competition, only twice before had one country swept the overall titles, and no American woman had ever won. McKinney beat Hanni Wenzel. In all the Olympics, U.S. women Alpine skiers have gathered twelve medals, with Gretchen Fraser (1948), Andrea Mead Lawrence (1952) and Barbara Ann Cochran (1972) earning gold.