Snowbasin honors Australian Olympic gold medalist

Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune
Lydia Lassila reacts to having a gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 201o Olympic championship in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Arial Ski team, known as

Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune
Lydia Lassila inspects the gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 201o Olympic championship in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Arial Ski team, known as

Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune
Lydia Lassila while holding her son Kai Lassila inspects the gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 201o Olympic championship in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Arial Ski team, known as

Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune
Members of

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Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune Lydia Lassila reacts to having a gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 201o Olympic championship in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Arial Ski team, known as "The Flying Kangaroos" that uses Snowbasin as it's U.S. home. Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune Lydia Lassila reacts to having a gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 201o Olympic championship in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Arial Ski team, known as "The Flying Kangaroos" that uses Snowbasin as it's U.S. home. Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune Lydia Lassila inspects the gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 201o Olympic championship in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Arial Ski team, known as "The Flying Kangaroos" that uses Snowbasin as it's U.S. home. Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune Lydia Lassila reacts to having a gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 201o Olympic championship in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Arial Ski team, known as "The Flying Kangaroos" that uses Snowbasin as it's U.S. home. Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune Lydia Lassila while holding her son Kai Lassila inspects the gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 201o Olympic championship in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Arial Ski team, known as "The Flying Kangaroos" that uses Snowbasin as it's U.S. home. Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune Lydia Lassila while holding her son Kai Lassila inspects the gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 2010 Olympic gold medal in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Aerial Ski team, known as "The Flying Kangaroos" that uses Snowbasin as its U.S. home. Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune Lydia Lassila while holding her son Kai Lassila inspects the gondola cabin named after her for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 2010 Olympic gold medal in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Aerial Ski team, known as "The Flying Kangaroos" that uses Snowbasin as its U.S. home. Kim Raff |The Salt Lake Tribune Members of "The Flying Kangaroos" take the first ride in the gondola cabin named after their teammate Lydia Lassila for the Needles Gondola Lift at Snowbasin Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah on January 29, 2012. Lassila is having the cabin dedicated to her for her 201o Olympic championship in aerial skiing. She is part of the Australian Women's Arial Ski team, known as "The Flying Kangaroos" that uses Snowbasin as it's U.S. home.

The Salt Lake Tribune

· January 29, 2012 3:37 pm

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Snowbasin ski resort honored 2010 Olympic gold medalist aerial skier Lydia Lassila on Sunday, naming a Needles Lift gondola cabin for her.

"Snowbasin has been the U.S. home to the Australian Women's Aerial Ski Team, also known as 'The Flying Kangaroos,' since 2003 — it only seems natural to honor one of their star athlete's hard work with having Lydia's name and flag on one of our gondola cabins" said Jason Dyer, Snowbasin public relations and marketing manager.

Lassila is training at Snowbasin with her team with the goal to return to the 2014 Olympics to defend her title.

She is the second Australian aerialist to be honored with a gondola cabin dedication at Snowbasin. Alisa Camplin, the 2002 Winter Olympic gold medalist, also shares this honor.