Snowlines: Nancy Greene - a star who still shines

People just do not come nicer or more genuine than Canada's Olympic skier Nancy Greene. And rarely are celebrities as unpretentious and warm as the 1960s golden girl who won Olympic gold and silver at Grenoble in 1968 and was voted Canada's top female athlete of the century.

In town last week for what has become an annual sales mission for the Sun Peaks Resort, British Columbia, where she is the director of skiing, Greene was as down-to-earth as ever.

At an informal evening attended by a host of ski-resort marketing managers, Greene spent most of her time chatting to my teenage children about skiing, and to my wife who was so taken with the Canadian that she was almost convinced she should try skiing again.

Last weekend, at the Whakapapa skifield, Greene left her sales mission to voluntarily spend several hours with a squad of young ski-racers. She almost had to be pulled off the mountain.

When she won her millennium award, the executive director of the Sun Peaks resort described her as a people's champion.

"It is rare to find a prominent figure who is as approachable," he said.

"Her love for the sport has never waned. What sets her apart from other champions is that she continues to ski with the same passion 30 years after her Olympic win.

"She is one of the most warm and caring people in the industry."

Greene and her husband Al Raine own Cahilty Lodge at Sun Peaks.

The couple have raised two sons. Before moving to Sun Peaks, they were deeply involved in the development of the Whistler Resort.