Ryan Cochran-Siegle came home Saturday afternoon to a big parade in the tiny town of Richmond, and I have never been to a more pure Vermont event. Lifting the silver Olympic medal he won in the Super-G February 8 at the Beijing Olympics, Cochran motored down the middle of Bridge Street in a red VW Bug convertible, with his mother, 1972 Olympic medalist Barbara Ann Cochran, riding in the front seat. The street, about two miles from the Cochrans’ legendary neighborhood ski area, was lined with locals. And the cheering, the ringing of cowbells and honking of car horns did not stop until the caravan crossed the bridge over the ice-choked Winooski River and made the turn down Cochran Road toward the ski area. There, Ryan was toasted, and occasionally roasted, in the middle of a blizzard outside the ski lodge. Pure Vermont, even the weather. As Ryan said when he completed his medal-winning run: What’s up Vermont?
