My family moved to Aspen, Colorado, where we had 'Avalanche Danger' days that kept us from going to school, climbed 14,000-foot peaks as part of my education, and I learned to snowboard.
I learned a few years ago that balance is the key to a happy and successful life, and a huge part of achieving that balance is to instill rituals into your everyday life - a nutritious balanced diet, daily exercise, time for yourself through meditation, reading, journaling, yoga, daily reflection, and setting goals.
I think whenever you get out and do something different, like mountain biking or surfing, it just makes you more aware of your body and balance. For me, I've always loved anything that involved sports, so I've always just tried different things.
If you take minutes a day to take care of your mouth, the odds are you'll take the next steps needed to take care of your whole body, like exercising and eating healthy. It's a building block for other healthy habits.
I've had cumulative concussions and realized that's something you carry with you.
I'm a Midwestern girl; I was born in Toledo, Ohio, and grew up in Dayton until I was ten years old. Then my whole life changed.
The first few years I was competing, I'd ride so well in practice, then choke and fall in competition. Now I take a deep breath and say, 'Look at me. I'm outside. I'm doing what I love.' Still, nothing's matched the pressure I felt standing at the top of the halfpipe for the first time at the Olympics.
From day one, snowboarding led me down a totally different path, and it's that path that's kept me laughing and continually intrigued. I love the satisfaction at the end of the day of overcoming my fears, of spending all day outside working hard, and there's nothing better than the feeling of landing a new trick for the first time.
Jumping on the trampoline for even a half an hour is a really good workout. You get really tired. The next day, you're feeling it. And you really have to use your core. If you don't, your lower back hurts the next day.
I've always had bigger legs and butt; it's just the way I'm built. Over time, I realized that they were blessings because that foundation - my legs and butt - is what helps me flip 12 feet above an icy halfpipe.
When you start to find balance, then you start to ask more important questions, like, 'Who am I really?' That's when you start seeing that every single person around you is a human being just doing the best that they can.
I'm a two-time Olympian, but on the front and back end of both of those were two Olympics where I narrowly missed making the team.
I grew up snowboarding in two of the best states for the sport: Colorado and Utah. The world-class ski mountains in these neighboring states were key factors that allowed me to represent our country in two Olympics and numerous X Games.
I'm on the road a lot, but I eat healthy whenever I can with foods that don't contain pesticides.
Climate change poses a far greater threat to the outdoor industry than even the privatization of the public lands.
When I first started snowboarding, there weren't a lot of girl riders on the hill.
As pro snowboarders, skiers, etc., we all know that what we do is risky.
Mission makes athlete-specific products. I always use their sunscreen - it's an anti-sting formula, which is huge for me because it doesn't burn my eyes when I'm snowboarding in warmer temperatures.
For me, vision is just about the most important thing. So goggles play a huge role in my sport. I come to the competition with a bunch of different goggles and tons of different lenses in multiple tints. The weather can always be changing, and you have to have the right thing to make sure you can see perfectly.
I think snowboarders have a unique experience when it comes to the Olympics because we have a pretty frequent competition circuit in addition to the games. So it's not a sport where your big moment is just once every four years.
