Michelle Roark

This month, some of the best freestyle skiers in the world, will begin training in Summit County, as the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team will use the Breckenridge Recreation Center as its base for off-snow training. A Meet and Greet with the team will take place at the Recreation Center on Monday, December 1, 5-6 pm. U.S. Freestyle skiers scheduled to attend the meet and greet include: Shannon Bahrke (2002 & 2006 Olympian), Michelle Roark (2006 Olympian, World Cup Winner 2008), Emiko Torito (World Cup Winner 2008), Shelly Robertson (World Cup Winner 2008), Hannah Kearney (2006 Olympian), Jillian Vogtli (2002 & 2006 Olympian), Patrick Deneen (2008 FIS Rookie of the Year), David Babic (2008 World Cup Winner), Nate Roberts ( 2005 World Champion), Michael Morse (2008 National Champion), Jeremy Bloom (2002 & 2006 Olympian; 2002, 2005 World Cup Champion). (read more)

By Mark Sappenfield

Michelle Roark probably took the advice a bit too literally. When skiing moguls, the sports psychologist said, she should be able to touch, taste, hear, feel, and smell victory. The smell of victory? Ms. Roark was stumped.

Fortunately, she was also a chemical engineer, so she did what any logical Olympian would do: She invented it. So began Phi-nomenal, the perfume company which has Roark cashing in on frequent-flier miles from her ski season to jet to Madagascar in search of the perfect vanilla. Her six fragrances, available online, are poured by hand using only natural ingredients. (Think 600 Bulgarian rose petals in a $78 bottle).

In the off-season, it's 11-hour days, six days a week. But even in winter, after plummeting piston-legged down bumpy pistes, she stays hunched over her concoctions as late as 11 p.m.

To Roark, there's something almost alchemical about her work, adhering to the same phi proportions in her perfumes that Mozart used in his concertos and da Vinci in his artwork.

And the smell of victory? A dash of rose water, a sprinkling of Florida pink grapefruit, and a hint of Italian Bergamot. (read more)

The rise in popularity of all things green – from architecture and design to the food on our tables has effortlessly translated into the world of beauty. One of the biggest obstacles companies face in creating organic products with a viable shelf life is in finding alternatives to synthetic preservatives. Enter Phi-nomenal by Michelle Roark, a new collection of 100% perfumes created using the concept of “Phi” – the Divine Proportion in art and science. Da Vinci and Mozart knew it … Egyptian pyramids demonstrate it … life on Earth depends on it…and today, Phi-nomenal captures it in a bottle (or solid) for women everywhere to enjoy. (read more)

Snowblog.com If you watched the 2008 Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships at Deer Valley Resort you may have noticed a few local faces tearing up the slopes. One of them happened to be local resident Michelle Roark (U.S. Ski Team) who won the Duals Moguls title this year.

Michelle is a student at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO has competed with the U.S. Ski Team in the Olympics, and taken a number of medals including the World Cup title. Fun fact: as a chemical engineer, Roark has released her own perfume line called Phi-nomenal.

Michelle took some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for Colorado Snow:

How does it feel to win the national title? This isn’t your first is it?
Believe it or not I have been World Cup Champion, World Champion Silver Medalist and won a half a dozen World Cups, but never won Nationals until now … it feels great! (read more)

Actress Jessica Biel is involved in the launch of Make the Difference Network, and the site that connects people to nonprofits will be run by her father Jon Biel and social entrepreneur Kent McBride. MTDN.com makes cutting-edge Web technology readily available to participating nonprofits and matches nonprofit organizations with potential donors. The idea for the site started after Jessica was moved by the story of (read more)