It’s been a while since Julia Mancuso was among the top female skiers in the world. Yet the famed Lake Tahoe skier is still regularly hitting the slopes while also pursuing her new favorite passion – surfing.
Mancuso, 41, is relishing her life on tranquil Tavarua Island, where she is raising three young children partially during the year, where she surfs nearly every day.
“I’m always learning, falling and still improving, even though I’m 41,” said Mancuso, a former Squaw Valley junior ski racer. “My absolute favorite inspiration is Layne Beachley – she’s in her 50s and I love surfing with her. It is so inspiring seeing this woman still charging.”
From 2002 to 2014, Mancuso made four Olympic ski teams and came home with four medals, including a gold in giant slalom at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy.
In 14 years on the World Cup tour, Mancuso achieved seven victories, spread across four different disciplines – city event, downhill, super-G, and alpine combined. She had a total of 36 World Cup podiums and competed in 399 World Cup races. Some painful hip injuries and extensive surgeries ultimately ended her skiing career in 2018.
In typical fashion, the somewhat eccentric skier went out in style with an emotional goodbye in a World Cup downhill. Mancuso wore a Wonder Woman suit on that January (2018) day that included a big red cape with a big “J” printed on it.
Mancuso’s outlandish costume, which also included a plastic tiara, was worn on her “victory lap” in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, which was the first track she podiumed on in 2006.
Her final ceremonial run as a ski racer was a reminder of what made Mancuso so great. She was a free-spirited Californian who consistently beat the favorites when the stakes were the highest. That made her a somewhat superhero in the sport of skiing.
Those glory days are now in the rearview mirror and Mancuso has moved on. Tiny, 29-acre Tavarua Island is resort in Fiji where her family savors their days on the stunning white-sand beaches and turquoise blue waters and lush forested island.
Mancuso and husband Dylan Fish’s three young children – sons Sonny (6), Brody (4) and one-year-old daughter Rise – consume the majority of their time. The couple are teaching their children to surf. An accomplished surfer, Fish oversees daily operations at the private surfing resort during the family’s time on the island.
“I’m trying to get them excited about water sports and hope that’s what drives their ambitions to want to do it,” Mancuso said.
The couple, who’ve been married since 2017, first met when Mancuso visited Tavarua on a surf trip to celebrate her 30th birthday. Fish is a gifted surfer who started as a volunteer guide on Tavarua more than 20 years ago, shortly after graduating high school in Maui.
“I didn’t know the difference between downhill and slalom, and certainly didn’t know who Jules was,” Dylan said. “This girl with blue hair, dressed as Wonder Woman, gets out of the boat. I was just shaking my head and rolling my eyes thinking this is going to be an interesting week – these people are a little bit crazy.”
Mancuso and family are preparing to depart Fiji, at least for the time-being. They will spend several months in Maui, before returning to Squaw Valley and eventually going to Aspen later in the winter season where skiing is the focus. It is a nomadic lifestyle that they’ve all embraced.
