WHISTLER, B.C. -- Prince Daniel Vanderpuye-Orgle is feeling overwhelmed. He had no idea what he was getting into. He has never had to work this hard in his life. Vanderpuye-Orgle, or Vanpee to his friends, is Ghana's Olympic chef de mission. His team consists of one skier.
"It is too much work," Vanpee moans. "Here I am working all the time."
Russian journalists, German journalists, Brazilian journalists, they all want to talk to Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong -- aka The Snow Leopard. So do the fans. Nkrumah-Acheampong had his arms around two of them, both with lovely blond hair, at a reception for Ghana's one-man slalom team at a Whistler hot spot earlier this week.
It was warm inside the club. Nkrumah-Acheampong was wearing a black toque. It was part fashion statement, part practical decision. The Snow Leopard, see, does not like the cold. Nkrumah-Acheampong does like to talk, though, and he spoke to the National Post about Bode Miller, gloves vs. mittens and eating coconuts on the beach.
NP You are an Olympian now, but what did your parents want you to be when you grew up?
SL My parents wanted me to be a doctor, but I studied tourism. I went the opposite way and went into the leisure industry.
NP How did they react when you expressed an interest in becoming a skier?
SL They could understand me wanting to do a sport, but it was a little weird for them. There is no snow in Ghana, and they couldn't understand why I wouldn't stick to playing football and running.
NP When was the first time you saw snow?
SL I was 29, and it was indoors -- at the indoor ski centre in Milton Keynes [England], near where I live. That's where I got into skiing. I wasn't too bad. I had a 30-minute lesson. I did a hockey stop, and so the instructor said I could carry on practising and learn how to ski by myself after that. So that's what I did.
NP Was it love at first hockey stop?
SL Yes. I'd been watching people ski racing. It looked so cool on TV. My goal was to become a good enough skier to ski nice -- and to look good.
NP Which skier did you admire most?
SL Bode Miller and Hermann Maier and Didier Cuche. But Bode, he is a bit of a unique style, you know, hands flying everywhere, but still making good times.
NP Your nickname is the Snow Leopard. Who came up with that?
SL A journalist who wrote the first paper story on me. He is from the Milton Keyne Citizen. He gave me the nickname. I can't get rid of it.
NP Did you have a nickname before the Snow Leopard?
SL Most of my friends call me Dom Segaur.
NP What does that mean?
SL [Laughs]. Nothing really. You can call me Dom Segaur if you want.
NP OK, Dom Segaur, you are often compared to Eddie the Eagle Edwards, the ski jumper. Is that a fair comparison?'
SL I try not to be compared to Eddie the Eagle. I am who I am, and I do what I do which is different than Eddie the Eagle. I am taking my sport maybe a bit more seriously, and I tend not to do any funny photo shoots. I am not trying to milk whatever interest people have in me -- moneymaking, advertisements, singing songs -- none of that stuff. With me, and the rest of the guys on my team, we keep away from the funny stuff.
NP How do you feel about the cold weather that comes along with skiing?
SL The cold weather has always been a problem for me. I try to find solutions. With my inner boots, what I do is I use silver tape to wrap them, to get them warm. I have an inner cork sole, and I put two socks on when I am skiing most of the time. I also spray Deep Heat on my feet, to give them that hot feeling before I put my boots on.
NP How about the rest of you?
SL My body is OK. But my gloves, I have an inner glove -- and I don't use gloves with fingers. I wear mitts. Mitts are much warmer than gloves.
NP That's true about mitts.
SL Yes it is.
NP Most Canadians don't know very much about Ghana. You have a tourism degree. Where would you take me if you were my tour guide?
SL I'd take you for a swim in the ocean. There are nice beaches. We'd have some fresh coconut. We'd go to some historic places -- the Cape Coast Castle, the Elmina Castle -- which are old relics from the slave trade, so you can learn more about what happened in the past. At night we could go to a nightclub. I don't drink, but you could have the drinks and I'd watch you. We are an easy-going people.
NP Do your Ghanaian buddies think you're nuts?
SL The feedback tends to be: 'You got to win a medal. What medal are you thinking of winning?' I have to tell them I can't win a medal. I need to be realistic. People are looking forward to me performing well, but I am trying to make sure we have realistic goals. I cannot dream the impossible.
NP So what is the dream then?
SL To ski as fast and as well as I can and try and beat some other athletes from other nations who might have skied longer than me and had more training.
NP You went from an indoor ski centre to tackling mountains. That must have been terrifying.
SL Not too terrifying. The most worrisome thing was the jump in speed. From skiing not too fast to -- Woomph -- to really skiing fast.
NP Do you have any lucky charms or pre-race rituals?
SL I pray. I believe God has brought me this far, and as a Christian I have to offer thanks and ask for protection as I go down the slopes ... I don't have any other superstitions, or any other thing that I bring along. Praying is good enough for me.
NP Has the Snow Leopard ever encountered a snow leopard?
SL Yes. In January, in England, I went to a nature reserve and got to meet some real live snow leopards. I fed them. It was pretty wild.
NP Do you think you'll be the first and last Ghanaian Olympic skier, or is this just the beginning for Ghana as a ski nation?
SL My actual goal is not about me. It's about showing people what I have been able to achieve in six years. I am a guinea pig, an experiment, and the fastest snow leopards are yet to come. We want to build a grass ski slope in Ghana where the youngsters could learn the rudimentary skills ... and out of whatever number we get we would take the best of the best and see where we could send them to get the real stuff.
NP Would you have benefited from an opportunity like that?
SL I'd definitely be a better skier if I'd started younger. It is like driving. You've been driving for a long time and you get to experience some accidents. You learn a lot about your car. It took me so long to learn about my skis and how to make them go faster.
