5x Olympic wax tech carves 30 notches in his tool belt, one for each year with Rennstall, US Ski Team

Wax tech Andy Buckley at Rennstall holding a Crystal Globe infront of his five Olympics credentials. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

Andy Buckley: Three decades at Rennstall, U.S. Ski & Snowboard and counting

PARK CITY, Utah — Translated from German, the word Rennstall means ‘race room,’ a phrase five-time Olympic wax tech Andy Buckley knows well. 

Buckley, who has worked at Rennstall for the last 30 years, is not merely the service manager at Deer Valley’s world-renowned ski shop; his title extends to competition service manager. 

Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, Buckley started skiing at 16 on “the daunting slopes” of Wilmot Mountain, Wisconsin (his words). He fell in love with skiing and mountain biking and eventually moved to Park City in 1992. 

“My start to the tuning business came out of a need for a job that offered a ski pass and I could work nights. Those were my priorities as a self-described ski bum back then,” Buckley told TownLift.

Brian Burnett was managing Rennstall that year. He was one of the founding members of Rennstall, along with Will Goldsmith. They sold Rennstall to JANS Mountain Outfitters in 1991. Burnett had years of race service experience behind him and started teaching Buckley the craft.

“Back then,” Buckley said, “we didn’t have the nice automated machines we have now. Almost everything we did was more hands-on, from the manual feed grinders to doing all the edges by hand. Thanks to modern tech, these skills are becoming a lost art.”

He worked there for four years before starting his 18-year career with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Teams. He spent six years with the alpine ski team and 12 years with the snowboard cross team.

“I was very fortunate to be able to travel the world and be a part of those teams at so many elite events.” Buckley’s first Games, here in Salt Lake 2002, were his favorite games “by far” because they were at home. However, he adds, “All of the games have some special memories. It’s pretty wild to be in the middle of the biggest sporting event in the world.” Following that, he worked at the Winter Olympics in Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.