Aspen, CO – Aspen’s Jake Zamansky, who was a member of the U.S. Development Team at 17 and a member of the 2010 Olympic Team, is retiring from the U.S. Alpine Ski Team. His last race was the Olympic giant slalom at Whistler Creekside in February.n”I didn’t intend for the Olympics to cap my career,” said Zamansky, after returning from a surfing trip to Nicaragua with fellow U.S. Ski Team alums Scott Macartney, Erik Schlopy and Bryon Friedman. “After Whistler, I still thought I had some fight left in me, but the way my body feels, it’s just the right time to move on.”

A product of Aspen’s Team Geronimo, Zamansky made the very first U.S. Development Team just before his 18th birthday and roped the opportunity into the 2001 Junior of the Year honor from Ski Racing Magazine. He then went on to capture U.S. Championship medals, NorAm titles – including the 2006 NorAm overall crown – World Cup points, and earn births on the 2009 Audi FIS Alpine World Championships and 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

“I look at my life right now and I am so thankful for the freedom that ski racing has provided. It’s a very special lifestyle and that comes from the people involved in skiing world,” he said. “I’ve seen so much of the world, I ride motocross, surf in the summer and then each winter, I’ve been able to do what I love the most and make a living doing it – that’s pretty special.”

Yet for Zamansky, the lifestyle didn’t come without commitment and struggle. Following the 2008 season, he fell short of a slot on the U.S. Ski Team for the following winter, yet his NorAm results were good enough for a 2009 World Cup starting spot in giant slalom. Zamansky wanted it and opted to fund his own racing.

That struggle became an integral part of the groundbreaking Audi documentary “Truth in Motion: U.S. Ski Team’s Road to Vancouver,” which aired during primetime on NBC two weeks before the Olympics. The is now available for free download from iTunes.

“Honestly, it was one of the best things to happen to my skiing career,” Zamansky said. “I was finally racing for all the right reasons. I was tuning my own skis, so I carried all the weight if they weren’t fast and the only expectation I had to live up to was my own.”

On top of that, there was an equipment switch to Fischer from Rossignol, and a summer of missed training due to a broken left collarbone.

“The guys a total fighter,” said Head Coach Sasha Rearick. “But he’s also professional and very well organized. He knew what he needed to do to get his skiing to the next level and he didn’t back down from that. He embraced it and got the job done. I respect that.”

Zamansky translated the pre-Olympic season into scoring his first World Cup points at the Alta Badia, Italy giant slalom, one of the tour’s toughest races. He then went on to score again in Adelboden, Switzerland directly after Christmas and earn a slot on the 2009 World Championships squad, which he followed up with his career best 15th in Sestriere, Italy.

“I was totally broke before Alta Badia and actually thought it was going to be my last race. Then I scored my first World Cup points and went back to the U.S. for Christmas, scrounged up some new sponsors and went back on the road,” said Zamansky. “The big results took a lot longer to achieve than I thought they would, but that didn’t make them any less special.”

He made the U.S. Ski Team again for 2010 and scored World Cup giant slalom points in Beaver Creek, CO and Val d’Isere, France to earn a spot in Vancouver.

“Jake was always one of the best technical giant slalom skiers through the ranks,” said teammate TJ Lanning of Park City, Utah, who joined him on the first U.S. Development Team. “He trained hard, skied hard and in my eyes had a great career. But he’s not done with skiing, we’ll see him around.”

And that’s Zamansky’s plan too. He’ll continue to work with Spyder, a longtime U.S. Ski Team and personal sponsor, through next winter and do some coaching with Team Geronimo with a goal to remain a part of the industry.

“Skiing is what I’ve known my whole life,” says Zamanksy. “Working with Spyder is great opportunity and I’m excited to do some coaching this summer. Like I said, skiing is a special lifestyle and one I will always appreciate.”