2015 was MOMENTOUS! I won the Deer Valley Freestyle World Cup. On top of my travels for training and competition, I traveled to Nagano, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Paris (twice), Aix-en-Provence, Cassis, Cannes, Malta, Amsterdam, Geneva, and Lyon for school and pleasure. I moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area after spending nearly 6 years in Park City, Utah. I completed my Master’s in Business Administration from Westminster College (thanks to the amazing partnership the school has with the USSA and a grant from the USOC). My two best friends got married. I biked Oregon’s 370 miles of coastline in 5 days. I took a part-time role as the Director of Jill’s Legacy. I appeared in the Warren Miller’s movie, Chasing Shadows (every skier dreams of being in his movies from a young age). And still, I am sure I am forgetting something important.

Despite all these highlights, I had to also fight through several setbacks. I am reminding myself of this because on December 30^th, I was in ski accident while training at the Utah Olympic Park. I was placed on a backboard, put in an ambulance, and sent to the University of Utah emergency room. After 8 hours, multiple X-rays and CAT scans revealed that I was lucky (because it’s all relative when talking about back injuries). I fractured the transverse process of my T12 vertebrae. When it comes to back fractures, this isn’t serious. I had total feeling in all limbs right after impact. It doesn’t affect my spinal cord. I am experiencing some pain because of the muscles that attach to the area, but I am counting my blessings.

I will miss most of the 2016 World Cup circuit. This is probably what I am most emotional about right now. I don’t doubt 2016 has so many exciting things in store for me, but for now, I am prioritizing my health and recovery. My medical staff is expecting 4-6 weeks to pass before I can return to mogul skiing. In the meantime, we’ll wait until the pain passes before slowly progressing into strength and conditioning exercises that will prepare me for snow. I’ve already informed my strength and conditioning coach that I expect to be like superwoman upon my return (cape and all).

So, I figured now would be a good time to start a blog because sometimes Instagram posts and Facebook updates don’t allow for full explanations, and I think I may have the free time on my hands now. I also tend to do really cool things and travel to really cool places because my “job” is rad.

I’d like to thank Bomber Skis, Zipline Poles, The St. Regis Deer Valley, and the T2 Foundation for the constant support through my triumphs and setbacks. I plan to bounce back from this setback as I have in the past.  Until then, good luck to my friends on the circuit, and Go Team USA!