Julia Cunningham: Finding Her Own Line
For the young Team Palisades Tahoe Racer, ambition begins with joy and reaches beyond the finish line.
Long before Julia Cunningham wore the colors of the United States, she was the girl who
couldn’t bear to waste a lunch break indoors when there was still snow to ski.
Ask which part of Palisades Tahoe feels most like home, and her answer comes from years of repetition: Julia’s Gold, specifically the short stretch she calls “half Exi.”
Julia knows that little chairlift so well, she says she could probably close her eyes when she
gets on and open them just before it’s time to get off. She remembers laps, drills, and her
father watching from below. When skiing was limited to weekends, lunch was precious time
away from the snow. While friends lingered over food and phones, Julia would grab a snack and head back outside. There was more skiing to do.
Today, the 18-year-old Truckee athlete has represented the United States at the 2026 FIS
Alpine Junior World Championships in Narvik, Norway; earned Far West Skiing’s 2026 Jinny
Glass Outstanding Junior recognition; and become the inaugural recipient of the Lindsey
Those accomplishments deserve attention. But in conversation with Julia and her mother, I
found myself drawn to something that preceded all of them: how much she simply loves
being on skis and feeling the rush of wind in her hair.
The Feeling That Brings Her Back
Julia remembers returning to the mountain after two weeks away, around age 11 or 12, and
telling her mother how much she had missed it. Years later, skiing on a summer glacier in
Italy brought that feeling back.
“The start of the season is just like that feeling of, ‘Oh, I remember why I do this now.’”
That joy has survived the growing demands of competition. Sometimes, skiing alone with the wind around her, Julia sings at the top of her lungs. She wears no headphones; the music is in her head. The word she reaches for is freedom.
Choosing What Matters
Pursuing that freedom requires discipline. Moving from the Bay Area to Tahoe meant leaving
friends, soccer, and a familiar life behind. Julia attended Forest Charter School in Truckee
throughout high school, making travel and racing possible while giving up much of the
conventional high school experience.
She is candid about the cost. “Quite frankly, it isn’t always balanced,” she says of fitting
school and friendships around training, competition, and travel. During the winter, she is
away from home much of the time. She took summer courses at a local community college
for transferable high school credit and committed to working for a couple of hours on flights,
even when watching television sounded better.
One person who helped her make it work was her supervising teacher for all four years, Dan Hurley. Julia says he pushed her academically while finding ways to lighten her winter
workload.
“Mr. Dan is one of those teachers who can be firm when you need him to be, but more so
feels like a friend.” Through the highs and lows, she says, his support has meant a great deal.
Her father has helped her navigate that path, reaching out to coaches, asking questions, and seeking advice. Julia clearly values that willingness to learn from others. Behind her
individual effort is a network of people helping her find the next step.
At Palisades Tahoe, she also finds encouragement in the athletes who have come before her. Being surrounded by that history makes the possibilities feel close enough to pursue.
Representing the United States at Junior Worlds brought a similar sense of possibility. The
weather in Norway was difficult, and the downhill—her best event at the time—was
canceled. Even so, Julia describes the experience as deeply motivating. Training and
competing in that environment helped her see a way forward.
“I can see obstacles on the road, but there’s a path forward.”
Trust Yourself and Go
Following that path requires more than physical ability. When asked what goes through her
mind before a race, her answer came quickly:
“I just need to trust myself and go.”
It’s a simple sentence that contains a great deal of work. For Julia, confidence begins long
before the start gate: in summer conditioning, training, preparation, and the effort to arrive
knowing she has done everything she can. Then comes the difficult task of allowing her body to do what she has trained it to do.
She is still learning that balance. One of her clearest memories of an early successful race is of chatting with the start referee, appreciating the beautiful day, and feeling unusually free of overthinking.
Helping Another Skier Find Her Edge
That ability to simplify matters has already helped another skier. At Mount Hood this
summer, Julia noticed a younger girl struggling and growing frustrated. Her advice was
direct: “Just force yourself to be clean.” According to Julia, the girl improved so noticeably
that a coach asked what she had said.
It was a small exchange, but one worth remembering. Even while working toward her own
goals, Julia had something useful to offer someone else. When asked what she hopes younger Team Palisades athletes see when they watch her race, she says she wants them to see someone working hard and enjoying the process. “Skiing takes time, and like anything in life, you have to enjoy it if you want to go far.”
Belief That Travels With Her
Named for Erich Sailer, Lindsey Vonn’s longtime coach and mentor, the Erich Sailer Ski
Scholarship supports young female alpine racers pursuing their ambitions. As its inaugural
recipient, Julia becomes part of a legacy built on recognizing potential and helping it develop.
The financial support matters to her continuation in the sport. So does the confidence that
came from being invited to Utah to speak before 340 people who believed in her. More
personally, she says she is grateful to carry a small part of Sailer’s legacy. “Erich Sailer was
dedicated to creating champions in skiing and in life.” Her scholarship carries that
connection between generations.
A Life Measured Beyond Results
Julia has big goals. She hopes to compete for the United States on the World Cup circuit and at the next Olympics. Asked about gold, she answers with a laugh: “Always going for gold; aka infinite Wildflour cookies.” Wildflour, the local cookie shop at Palisades Tahoe, promises unlimited cookies to Olympic gold medalists.
Yet when the conversation turned to how she hopes to be remembered, Julia looked beyond skiing. A successful racing career matters to her. So does being a positive person, a good person, and someone whose actions reflect her faith. She spoke about following Jesus and wanting the way she lives to express what she believes. Her answer was thoughtful and personal: “I believe in God.”
“I’ve received immense support from World Cup Dreams Foundation, the Cameron Cain
Scholarship, The Smaine Fund, the Palisades Tahoe Community Foundation, the Lake
Tahoe Ski Club Foundation, and the Far West Masters. I’m not sure there’s another community with so many foundations supporting the dreams of young athletes. It truly is a blessing.”
For all the attention paid to results, she understands that life is measured in other ways, too.
Finding Your Own Line
There is another place on the mountain at Palisades Tahoe Julia loves: Enchanted Forest on KT. She remembers hiking through fresh snow, sometimes breaking the trail herself, then
noticing others following her tracks.
For now, it is a memory of a good day on the mountain. But after listening to Julia, I found
myself thinking about those tracks.
Every young person eventually faces a mountain of their own. The line may lead through a
racecourse, a classroom, a studio, a workshop, or someplace no one else has thought to go. What Julia’s story reminds us is that excellence begins by finding what makes you feel fully alive, then giving it your effort, your courage, your trust, and your heart.
You don’t need to follow someone else’s tracks forever. Learn from those who came before
you. Prepare until you can trust yourself. Then, when the moment comes, choose your line—
and go.
Michael Kennedy is an Olympic Valley resident photojournalist.
His work has been featured in Tahoe Quarterly Magazine, Palisades Press, Moonshine Ink, and Sierra Sun.
And his photos have received national attention in USA TODAY.
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