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How many huge Nordic-skiing names can you drop? I don't
mean elite competitors such as Beckie Scott or Bjorn Daehlie,
but the public figures who enjoy this winter activity-peo-
Ie from other sports, movies, and politics. Let's see, there's Lance Arm-
strong, Demi Moore, Pierce Brosnan, Chris Evert, Harrison Ford, Robert
Redford, and the late Pierre Trudeau.
Now add 38-year-old Emme, one of the world's best-known models
and twice selected as one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful Peo-
ple." But she's about as far as you can get from the stereotypical bland,
anorexic clotheshorses. She's not only the first full-figure supermodel,
but is also stunningly attractive, energetic (she loves to swim, hike, and
to ski 20 to 30 kilometres a day), and professionally accomplished.
Ask yourself how many famous people have the talents of an ath-
lete, author, lecturer, television reporter and host, clothes designer, and
mother.
Born in New York City and raised in Saudi Arabia, Emme went to
Syracuse University on an athletic scholarship (she was on the crew
team and got her degree in speech communication), and was invited
to join the U.S. Olympic rowing trials. She's also a Nordic ski nut who
has persuaded her publicity agent that it's a great sport. That's to be
expected of someone who advocates for women to be fit and healthy.
Emme began skinny-skiing 10 years ago, and does it everywhere she
goes; where there's snow, that is. This includes the hills and lakes of
Sweden (the saunas are fine, too), the Rockies, in Utah when at the Sun-
dance Film Festival, and throughout northeastern U.S. She's particu-
larly fond of the trails and snow-capped pines in the Shawangunk
mountains around New Paltz, N.Y.
How's this for enterprise and endurance? A couple of winters ago,
snow closed the roads around her home, so she skied into town for gro-
ceries. Sarah Hall, Emme's friend and "skiing" publicist, says Emme will
ski "about anywhere there is snow," whether it's in a park a few miles'
drive from home, in the fields that are nearby, or on the New Jersey
trails that lie along the Hudson River.
Emme likes cross-country skiing because it's a healthy, inexpensive,
great social sport-and an opportunity to enjoy peace and beautiful
scenery, hot chocolate, and snowball fights with friends and family.