Donelan’s employee qualifies for world-class ski event

Erica Cyr at her post at the checkout at Donelan’s.

By Maureen Belt

Erica Cyr was seven years old when her parents outfitted her in skis and started her on downhill runs at Blue Hills Ski Area. She showed such promise that her father signed her up for a ski camp at Wachusett Mountain, a 90-minute ride each way from their Dorchester home.

The long car rides paid off as Cyr, now 39 and well-known in Lincoln for her friendy demeanor as a cashier at Donelan’s, recently qualified as a women’s alpine skier at the 2022 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Kazan, Russia.

“I’m very excited,” she said.

The games are scheduled to begin in February 2022 but, like just about everything else, are contingent on the state of the pandemic. The delegates will meet July 7 to decide if the games will be held. Cyr is hopeful for a green light not just for herself but the other athletes as well. “Everyone on my ski team has worked really hard,” she said.

If the games are on, Cyr, who now lives in Concord, will spend two weeks in Russia with her mother Betty Pettit, her father Jim Cyr, and her stepfather, all avid skiers. Heidi, her beloved goldendoodle, will mind the fort while she’s away.

Cyr’s earned her place on the Olympic roster earlier this month with two medal wins at Snowmass Ski Area in Aspen: the giant slalom and the super G. She also took first in the Vertical Challenge at Nashoba Valley Ski Area in February. And despite not yet knowing if she will be traveling abroad, she remains devoted to her training. Alpine ski racing is a demanding sport that requires physical and mental discipline, and she meets these requirements through workouts on and off the slopes.

Erica Cyr at the NASTAR National Championships at Aspen Snowmass in Colorado on April 5.

When snow is on the ground, Cyr dons her atomic Redster skis and trains locally at Nashoba, Wachusett Mountain, and Gunstock. She spends a few weeks every February and April in Aspen with coaches Joanie Valentine and Becky Wilson, and she gets her cardio exercise at home on her elliptical and stationery bike, where she also lifts weights. 

Mental stamina comes naturally. “I never get scared,” she said.

Focus, not fear, gets her through races at the local and national levels. “What goes through my head when I’m racing is that I want to try and get a medal, and if I don’t, that’s OK,” she said. “I can’t win all the medals all the time, so it will give someone else a chance.”

Before her recent silver-medal slalom performance, contestants and their coaches were allowed to inspect the course. Cyr and Valentine noted an abundance of hairpin turns, meaning Cyr would have to cut dangerously close to the gates without knocking any over or skipping any. There was no room for error, so she didn’t allow herself to make any.

“I really took my time and concentrated,” she said of the challenge. Armed with this winning mindset, Cyr swished past each gate straight to the podium.

Even if she weren’t a dedicated grocery employee, Cyr knows the importance of nutrition for elite athletes. “I eat lots of protein,” she said. Fish is the main go-to, and she supplements with shakes. 

As fearless off the slopes as on, Cyr is especially honored to be considered a frontline essential worker during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I find it very rewarding,” she said.

Cyr began at Donelan’s as a cashier five years ago. “The customers there are very nice,,” she said, adding she finds it flattering that they check in with her manager if she’s out for an extended period of time.

“They’ll ask, ‘Where’s Erica? Is she OK?’ And he’ll say, ‘She’s OK. Everything is fine, she’s just in Colorado at a ski race right now.’” Cyr is a longtime member of NASTAR (a grassroots program whose handicap system that lets recreational ski racers to compete and compare scores), so there’s a good chance she’s racing for a medal when not ringing in groceries. 

Cyr works at Donelan’s year-round and adds another part-time job in the summer. Until last year, she worked as an assistant counselor at Drumlin Farm. The pandemic nixed the 2020 season, and just like the possibility of going to the Olympics, she has to wait and see if there will be campers to counsel this year. When she is training in Colorado, she helps Wilson and Valentine coach the racing team of seven- and eight-year-old boys.

When not skiing, working the register, or spoiling Heidi, Cyr enjoys everything from choral singing to spending a Saturday night with friends at Kimball Farm. July 7, the day the delegates decide if the Special Olympics are on, is heavy on her mind, as is where to put any new medals. 

“Well,” she admitted, “I guess those are good problems to have.”