Team Home
Coaches
Mountain Zone

Men
Rob Berney
Tommy Czeschin
Dustin DelGiudice
Bill Enos
Jeff Greenwood
Lael Gregory
Zach Horwitz
Mike Jacoby
Rob Kingwill
Tom Lyman
Shannon Melhuse
Manuel Mendoza
Thomas O'Brien
Steve Persons
Ross Powers
Jimi Scott
Dan Smith
Women
Griselda Gonzalez
Stacia Hookom
Lynn Ott
Cammy Potter
Sabrina Sadeghi
Listle Stokstad
Annemarie Uliasz
Sondra Van Ert

Height: 5-5
Weight: 140
Birthday: Feb. 23, 1974
Birthplace: Eugene, OR
Hometown: Bend, OR

Halfpipe whiz Lael Gregory, by his own admission, went from the throne room to the classroom last season. This winter, having "learned a big lesson last season," he's planning to reclaim his spot at the front of the FIS Grundig freestyle parade. "It was a real wake-up," he said. The irony, of course, is that at the beginning of the '96 season, Gregory - who'd won four of the five 1994-95 World Cup halfpipe contests - was pointing to teammate Ross Powers as a major threat. Powers went on to oust Gregory as World Cup halfpipe champion and was gold medalist at the World Championships (although Gregory took silver).

Along the way - and although he still was on the podium twice and took that silver medal at Worlds, ever-candid Gregory said, he learned he has to remotivate himself. It's not a question of talent; as Coach Peter Foley said, "He's probably the most gifted natural athlete on the team."

Comment: "I rode so badly. I just lost my concentration. I'd spent a winter, summer, winter, summer and then back on a winter. Come wintertime, I was like, 'Oh, my God.' I knew I wasn't in that good a shape. Going into the season, my brain was going, 'Oh no, I'm not in shape' ... I think the pressure I felt was all me. The only pressure I have is to do the run I've planned without falling. If that's good enough to win, great."

Start-up: An "okay" alpine skier, Gregory started snowboarding when he was 14, at about the same time he was learning to skateboard. He was offered lessons and a board for $20; adios skiing, buenos dias snowboarding.

He made a national splash in '93 at the national championships, winning the J-I (age 17-18) halfpipe title, collecting bronze in GS and finishing fourth in slalom.

Changes: To help re-focus, he turned his back on snowboarding during the offseason, racing motocross (he's got a 600cc motorcycle and has raced street bikes for several years) and playing golf.

Pluses: "One of the best parts of being on the team is getting to use all the assets of the U.S. Ski Team, like training at the Nike Campus and being able to travel ... There are so many possibilities..."

Tattoo: A gargoyle tattoo covers most of his shoulders. "It signifies all the mythical stuff. It scares away evil."

Name: "Lael" goes back to ancient Hebrew.

Philosophy: "Speed and creativity [his 'pipe artistry] go together. The faster you go, the higher you can go. The faster and higher you go, the more the adrenalin pumps."

Besides 'pipe or bike riding: An ex-pitcher ("They cut me when I hit three kids in the head; I was about 10"), he loves soccer.

Other Fun: Surfing