The U.S. Olympic aerial skier has been fearlessly pursuing life since her father died of cancer when she was a kid. After paying tribute to him by running marathons around the globe, the 23-year-old is focused on honoring her dad again by competing in Beijing.
There was fear.
It is natural when you try something new, when you’re standing on a steep, snow-covered mountain, chasing a thrill laced with calamity.
She hits 35 mph. She skies 40 feet above land. It is then that Winter Vinecki goes blind — catching distant, interrupted, fuzzy glimpses of quickly shifting ground — and decides to twist and flip, and threaten every bone in her body, including the ones inside her face, which have already been shattered. When the journey is over, she is standing on her skis. Then, she heads up the hill for more.
Aerial skiing isn’t for everyone. It isn’t for every athlete. It is among the most dangerous sports in the Olympics. You might crash. You might be hospitalized. You might also touch the sky.
