Even when there's pressure and distractions and expectations from others or myself, it's a good thing. It just makes me a better person. It makes me stronger.

Even when there's pressure and distractions and expectations from others or myself, it's a good thing. It just makes me a better person. It makes me stronger.

I started skiing when I was five years old. I grew up on a little 300-foot mountain called Perfect North Slopes. It wasn't a great destination in the world, but it was a good enough place to learn how to do tricks.

I skied on Astroturf and PVC pipe on the slope in my backyard.

The craziest thing is walking down the streets of New York and people recognizing me and asking for my photo. It has been pretty wild. I am used to getting spotted in ski towns, but I never thought it would happen in a place like this.

God helps me for sure every day and at every contest. I broke my hand and had to get surgery on it. The recovery was really frustrating because I had to skip three weeks at the beginning of the season. But I flipped it around and took it as a blessing. I said a lot of prayers and just asked God to do His thing. I did other things to compliment the recovery like getting the right sleep and taking care of my body. But I went back to the doctor after four weeks and he was ecstatic about the recovery of my hand. I take that as a tribute to my faith and my belief in doing the right things.

Most places in the Midwest, you ski on piles of trash, like retired landfills.