Teenage Olympic Skier Has Special Connection to Sundown Mountain in Dubuque

The 2026 Olympic Games has a special local connection involving a skiing prodigy, who cut her teeth on the sport at Sundown Mountain in Dubuque.

When Mark Gordon stopped in the studio to talk about Sundown Mountain's Presidents Day pass sale this week, he told me about Tallulah Proulx. Proulx is 17-years-old, and is both the first woman and youngest athlete ever to represent the Philippines at the Winter Olympics. Her three years of experience at Sundown Mountain surely served her well.

READ MORE: Theo Von Gives a Shout-Out to Sundown Mountain on His Podcast

Tallulah Proulx's Connection to Dubuque:

When Tallulah Proulx was a little girl, her family moved to Iowa for her mother's work, and she began racing at Sundown Mountain. KCRG caught up with Justin Mills, her former ski coach, and said he could spot her talent early on:

She’s kind of a unicorn a little bit. I remember having conversations with her mom, saying, ‘I think you need to take her out west.’ We can only train so much and so hard here - Justin Mills, per KCRG

Proulx conquered the Dubuque slopes for three years. From there, her family uprooted again and moved to Colorado to advance her training. Her fellow Dubuque skiers knew her as a kind-hearted and gifted person, whose talents are now on display to represent her country.

How Proulx's Story Can Inspire People:

By making the Olympics at age 17, shattering records for her country, to me, Proulx has already won at life as far as I'm concerned, regardless of how she places in the women's giant slalom competition (Sunday, February 15th) or in the women's slalom race (Wednesday, February 18th).

She took her talents from Dubuque to Colorado to Milan, Italy, where she will compete in what I presume will be the first of a few Olympics in years to come. You can read more about Tallulah Proulx's story on KCRG's website, and find out more about her on her Wikipedia page as well.