I started skiing at the age of 2, when my dad would push me around the back yard on skis. It has been an addiction ever since! I grew up in a small western Pennsylvania ski resort. I love to ski out west, but still enjoy a good bullet proof ice day!
I have been skiing for over 20 years now. I raced for a few years, and still enjoy an occasional race here and there. I work full time as a ski patroller which allows me to ski 100+ days a season (which is hard to do in the east!) Patrolling is pretty awesome. Not only do I get to ski, but I also get to pull a toboggan with a patient in it (weighing over 300 lbs) behind me. I do this on the flats, on the steeps, in the moguls, and through the trees. Anything you do on skis, I also do with another life in my hands.
I have always lived by the moto “ski hard-ski fast” which I have also learned equals “fall hard-fall fast”. In a result I have had 4 knee surgeries, 7 stitches, 1 cast, a sling, LOTS of ice burn, and some pretty gnarly scars to go along with it! But in the end, it has all totally been worth it.
I am not “going to school” to become something else, and I don’t work “a crappy job” and try to squeeze in skiing on the weekends. Skiing IS my job, it is who I am, it is what I was meant to do, it’s my passion, and it’s my life. Some may call me a ski bum, but I call it true happiness. I plan on skiing being my career for the rest of my life. In the summer I work construction-still gotta have an income in the awful ‘off season.’
My job and I both demand the best equipment and that is why I ALWAYS have Lange boots on me. I just got a brand new pair again this season and I LOVE them! They are truly the most amazing boot ever, comfortable enough to be in 10 hours a day, yet deliver the best performance of any boot I’ve ever worn. I already tell everyone on my mountain about how they are the best boot ever, the only difference of being the “Lange Girl” would be that Lange would also have my back now. Being the Lange Girl is a true dream of mine and I feel I have what it takes to be the next Lange Girl.