Robbie Dixon has two alter egos. One is Whitesnake, a lovable cowboy who was born during a hot dog-eating contest at the Calgary Stampede. Another is Gary. Every time Dixon has a bad day, goes off course or crashes, that's Gary. When he hit his head on a door last month after slipping on snow, missing a number of World Cup starts, that was pure Gary.
And then there's Robbie.
Long-time teammate and year-round roommate Manuel Osborne-Paradis was asked if there might be a fourth Robbie out there, a serious person when the spotlight is off.
"Actually, he's pretty goofy all the time," says Osborne-Paradis. "He's a lot of fun to hang out with because he's always joking around. I think we're the same in that way, but that doesn't mean we're not learning. It's like a class clown thing - you might joke around all the time and people might think you're not taking things seriously, but deep down you're taking in what you need to know and you're learning just as much as the person sitting quietly in the corner."
Dixon is definitely learning.
He raced his first World Cup in November 2007 and was a DNF. He had some solid results but didn't manage to crack the top 30. He stopped by a Nor-Am Cup race in Maine in January that winter and earned a bronze medal in giant slalom, giving him a boost of confidence as he headed back to Europe.
Then it happened. Robbie managed a sixth place finish in the super G on the notorious Kitzbuehel course. He cracked the top 30 in a downhill event in Chamonix, France to earn his first points in that discipline. At the national championships that year he was fourth in downhill and fifth in super G.
He never looked back. He has been consistently working his way up the ranks - top 30 finishes in 2008, top 10s in 2009. He has four top 10 finishes this season.
Now, on the eve of his first Olympic appearance, on his home course, Dixon is a legitimate contender.
"I actually learn a lot from Robbie because he's the best skier on the team by far, he has the best technique of anyone - he just has a couple of things to learn about racing," says Osborne-Paradis. "Tech-wise both Robbie and Erik (Guay) are better skiers than me, but nobody knows that because right now I'm the guy on the podium.
"His time will come. There's something small missing, a little speck somewhere and I'm not sure where it is; I can't put my finger on it. But as soon as Robbie figures it out he will be on the podium every week. Nobody is too worried about Robbie."
Dixon was a weekender from North Vancouver until he moved in with his grandparents in Whistler at the age of 14, taking advantage of the flexible school sports program at the high school. He was racing with the Whistler Mountain Ski Club a year behind Osborne-Paradis.
Before long he had an invite to the B.C. Ski Team, which meant relocating to Invermere for part of the winter. But as soon as spring rolled around Dixon would return to Whistler and Whistler Secondary, graduating with his friends.
For Dixon, making the national team was just part of a progression.
"To be honest I just love skiing, I've done it my whole life, I love going fast, I've always been a racer and it's just what I know," he says. "When the opportunity came up to make a career of this it just stuck - there's no defining moment, just a lot of little moments while I moved up the ranks and got the chance to experience new things.... I love what I do, the people I work with and ski with - it's a pretty sweet gig."
His grandmother Sheila will be at the finish line during the Olympic Games, collecting bibs from racers as they come down. "She's the first person I'm going to see at the finish, which is pretty neat," says Robbie.
Former coach Jordan Williams remembers Dixon as an extremely talented racer.
"When Robbie came into FIS there was a rule that you could only start 25 events in a season, which was tough because he wanted to race both the speed and technical events. He was a really excellent slalom skier, but he really liked the speed events," says Williams.
Dixon matured a lot after moving to Invermere, says Williams, probably because there wasn't as much opportunity to get into trouble there.
"He always thought that going as fast as possible was more important than how he was doing it, but he learned a lot. He hit the gym a lot, he came to the camps ready to learn - he was still a joker, but maybe it's a good thing he didn't take everything so seriously. It makes it easier to laugh at your mistakes and move on, which is something all skiers should learn," Williams says.
Williams gives Dixon and Osborne-Paradis high marks as role models.
"Nobody can really see it, but these guys are incredible mentors to a lot of skiers coming up," says Williams.
Dixon knows he's close to a breakthrough and had a great start to the season before his concussion put him on the sidelines in January.
He has been on skis since, and while he feels he's at a bit of a disadvantage to other racers as a result of missing a few World Cup events, he's excited by the challenge.
"I'm definitely evolving, getting better at all the little things, and in the last year I really noticed a change in how I go about training runs and races and I'm seeing some better consistency," he says.
While the Olympic races are no different than any World Cup event, Dixon says it definitely feels different.
"As much as I want to look at this as just another race, I can't," he says. "It's definitely something special and a unique opportunity to be able to race in the Olympics for the first time on your home hill. I try not to think about it, but the pressure and excitement is building in Vancouver and Whistler; there's a lot of energy and a lot of good vibes coming my way.
"It's a lot to absorb, but you have to just keep on keepin' on," he adds. "And try to have as much fun as possible."
