By Ben Hoppe, U.S. curling writer
It was dark. It was cold. It was wet.
The sun would not rise for a couple more hours, and Taylor Anderson-Heide found herself in the middle of the wilderness with four guides and a small handful of athlete representatives from other national sporting bodies.
The lead for Team Peterson had little idea what was going to be asked of her. She didn’t know where she and her group had been dropped off, she didn’t yet know where they were going, and she didn’t know what she would have to do to get wherever “there” was.
Anderson-Heide was participating in a program called Project Unknown. Over six days, her group would see no other people. The only sounds they would hear were the wind, the birds, and their own echoes. She and her newfound teammates were forced to work together and challenge each other to face fears and difficult situations head-on, pushed by two wilderness guides, a Navy SEAL, and a Green Beret. They had to hike for miles at a time, jump off of cliffs, and kayak across bodies of water.
Project Unknown is a program utilized by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee to build resilience and foster teamwork among its athletes. Clearly, it worked. The entire group who navigated the wilderness together two years ago would go on to earn their spot at the 2026 Winter Olympics: Winter Vinecki (aerial skiing), Danny O’Shea (pairs skating), Amber Glenn (figure skating), Kris Horn (bobsled), and Nick Baumgartner (snowboard cross).
Anderson-Heide recalled how the experience made a resounding impact through those gruelling days and nights.
"Mentally pushing myself and physically pushing myself made me grow as an athlete," she said.
She later texted the organizer of Project Unknown, crediting him for changing her mindset and making her a better curler in the process.
LEANING ON SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Resilience and teamwork have been common threads for Anderson-Heide throughout her life. It was a message she heard from skiing legend Lindsey Vonn at the 2012 Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, where she competed with her twin sister, Sarah Anderson, as well as Korey Dropkin and Tom Howell.
"(The experience) opened my eyes to the bigger world of curling and the Olympic dream," she said.
As the athlete representative for the United States, Vonn spoke to the athletes about what they could do in the world of sport. While Vonn’s love of her sport stuck out to Anderson-Heide, the most powerful part of the message was when the skier talked about things not going well.
“Having her failures in sport, and sticking to it, and working hard,” Anderson-Heide recalled as the main takeaways she took away from the skier. “She talked about resilience and coming back.”
The message is applicable to so many sports, and the lead for Team USA acknowledged how it played a part for her in the sport of curling.
“Curling is a grind. You do it because you love it, especially in the States,” she said. “Switching teams or not playing with Sarah, losing two Olympic Trials. You can ask yourself, ‘Why am I doing this?’, and that’s when I leaned on my support system.”
The support system for Anderson-Heide goes far beyond her team. It starts with family, and she credits her husband, Ryan, for picking her up whenever she is down or doubting herself. As for her parents and her sisters, sport, and the unconditional backing that comes with it, has always been a family affair. Her father, Wayne, had an infectious love for curling that was passed down to his daughters and was their coach in every sport they played. Her mom drove them to all of their practices, and her three older sisters opened a lot of doors for Taylor and Sarah.
The twin sisters played together for their entire lives. Sarah played on the back end. Taylor played on the front end. That’s how it always was. Until it wasn’t anymore.
In the summer of 2024, USA Curling announced that Team Anderson was going to be split up. Sarah would join Team Strouse at vice, while Taylor would join Team Peterson at lead.
“It was very hard, mentally, at first because I love her,” Taylor shared. “This was the dream we wanted to chase together, and realizing we’d have to start competing against each other was hard.”
Anderson-Heide acknowledges the growth she got from this change, having to speak up more and lean less on her sister. Even then, they still operated as a team and each other’s biggest cheerleaders. Despite being on opposing teams at the time, they would still practise together, and Taylor got to throw rocks with her best friend holding the broom for her which “kind of feels like home.”
Sarah has since stepped away from the women’s game and is competing at the USA Mixed Doubles National Championship this week, but Taylor made sure to point out the positive force that her twin sister has been in her life throughout it all.
“It’s the support system that gets you through it,” said Anderson-Heide. “That’s why I’m still doing this.”
LEARNING FROM EVERYONE
Anderson-Heide has done more than get support from those around her. The drive that Vonn alluded to in 2012 is apparent with the Team USA front-ender.
Wherever she has gone, or whomever she has been surrounded by, Anderson-Heide has been a sponge, soaking up all of the support and maximizing it to be the best she can be. From her dad talking curling at the dinner table to her fellow U.S. curlers, who showed her how to implement the now-banned slow-carve at a training camp in November, just before she used it to great effect at the Olympic Qualifying Event just two weeks later.
When Anderson-Heide wanted to get even better at reading rocks and reacting to how ice changes, she went straight to the source: the ice itself. Anderson-Heide joined the ice crew at Chaska Curling Center, her curling home, and she credited ice technician Scott Belvich for helping her learn so much about the nuance of the pebbled ice.
She has credited her improvement, especially on sweeping, to the tutelage of Belvich. He has helped her to learn more about what type of pebble is being applied, how it can wear off, and how the ice feels under her foot. All this information has fuelled Anderson-Heide’s growth as one of the top, if not the best, female sweepers in the country.
She has also made the most of her time with sport science coordinator, Mike Gulenchyn. She credited Gulenchyn for going above and beyond to help her recover and get stronger, and her teammates have reaped the benefits. Anderson-Heide acknowledged she was nervous when she stepped onto the team in 2024, and that she wanted to prove to her new teammates that she belonged. Through her work on her body in the gym and her work on her mind with USA Curling sports psychiatrist Dr. Carly Anderson, it’s safe to say: her teammates know she belongs.
“Her sweeping is out of this world,” said skip Tab Peterson. “She’s really focused on gaining strength, especially in her upper body, and you can tell by what she does out there on the broom.”
Anderson-Heide's impact on her team extends beyond her throwing ability or her sweeping ability. She has been a sponge for information to improve her game, but it has been her presence that has helped Team Peterson.
“She’s a very positive person,” said fellow front-ender Tara Peterson. “She has the best outlook on life and brings light to everything.”
The organizer of her trip through the wilderness echoed those sentiments, describing Anderson-Heide as: “Quiet, smart, willing, brave, and strong.”
He went on to note, “She left a distinct impression, even while being part of a team with big personalities.”
And now, she’ll be leaving yet another impression on curling’s biggest stage.
Where she was once nervous about carving her own path in the sport, Anderson-Heide is bringing her positivity as she carves rocks on the ice at the Winter Olympics.
