Peggy Shinn

Peggy Shinn is a freelance writer who grew up skiing in Vermont. After graduating from Amherst College in Massachusetts, she set off for Colorado in a used Subaru that she convinced her parents to buy. Out west, she tried to figure out her career path, but mostly skied, biked, and hiked almost all of Colorado’s 14-ners. She earned two graduate degrees—one in engineering—but ironically, found her career passion after moving back to Vermont.

Over her career, Peggy has contributed to all of North America’s ski magazines, including SKI. She’s the founding writer for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s website TeamUSA.com and has covered eight Olympics. Her favorite memories include watching Mikaela Shiffrin win her first Olympic gold medal in 2014 and Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall win the U.S.’s first gold medal in cross-country skiing. Her worst memories? The food in Sochi and all of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.

Her second book, World Class: The Making of the U.S. Women’s Cross-Country Ski Team, was published in 2018 — two weeks before Jessie & Kikkan won that gold medal. The book won the International Skiing History Association’s Ullr Award and NASJA’s Harold S. Hirsch Award. Peggy’s also won five other Hirsch Awards for ski writing, as well as the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame’s Paul Robbins Journalism Award.

When not at her desk or skiing, Peggy is out mountain biking, paddleboarding, hiking, or just racked out on her screen porch. She’s skied so many resorts in North America & Europe that it’s easier to count the places she hasn’t skied. A former bicycle racer, she’s competed in such suffer-fests as the Leadville 100 and Mt. Washington Hillclimb, finishing on the podium in both. Peggy now shares an empty nest with her husband in Rutland, Vermont.