Horst Weber was on hand Friday to witness Andrew Weibrecht win the bronze medal in men’s super G. The long-time coach and program director with the New York Ski Education Foundation (NYSEF) in Lake Placid, Weber watched Weibrecht come up through NYSEF’s program.

Weber is to NYSEF and Whiteface Mountain as Erich Sailer is to Minnesota’s Buck Hill.

“We knew he was going to be very good because he was talented even at [age 5],” remembers Weber.

Weibrecht and his two brothers, Jonathan (older) and Ethan (younger), showed an uncommon enthusiasm for skiing, said Weber.

Their mother, Lisa Weibrecht, brought the boys to Whiteface Mountain every day, remembers Coach Weber.

“It didn’t matter how bad the weather was,” he said. “Rain, sunshine, cold, they were at the mountain.”

One time, after a particularly long stretch of nasty weather, Weber approached Mrs. Weibrecht and cautioned her against bringing her children to the mountain in such conditions.

“If you keep them out here all the time when the weather is as bad as it is right now,” Weber told her, “the kids are going to hate skiing. They’re going to quit on us.”

Mrs. Weibrecht told Coach Weber that she was not forcing the boys to ski. “They’re standing at the door with their skis and saying, ‘Mom, we want to go skiing,” she told the coach.

“Younger brother Ethan wouldn’t even go to the bathroom because he didn’t want to quit!” said Weber. “They just skied every day.”

Ethan now competes for the University of New Hampshire ski team. But no word on whether or not Andrew made necessary pit stops.

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Of note: NYSEF has seven skiers competing in the 2010 Olympics: biathletes Haley Johnson, Lowell Bailey, and Tim Burke; Nordic combined skier Billy Demong, ski jumpers Peter Frenette and Nick Alexander; and Weibrecht.