megan
smallhouse

I began skiing as soon as I could walk. My parents would tow me and my twin brother Matthew around the ski area parking lot until we were old enough to ride the chairlift. I didn’t immediately love skiing as it usually involved being cold and waking up early, but with my parents encouragement, and bribes with hot chocolate and French fries, my passion for skiing was born.

 

When I got older, I joined the ski racing team and also started to compete in gymnastics. Ultimately, I ended up deciding to focus on gymnastics, but continued to ski on the weekends. Eventually, a gymnastics coach introduced me to a recruiter for aerial skiing. I felt I had gone as far as I could go in gymnastics, but still loved to flip, so I decided to try aerial skiing through a try-out camp. After the try-out camp, I was offered a spot in the Elite Aerial Development Program, and to live and train at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid. I enjoyed aerial skiing because it was a perfect combination of my two passions, gymnastics and skiing. I was on the Elite Aerial Development Team for 3 years until the program was ultimately dissolved. I then joined Park City Ski and Snowboard, and after 1 year I qualified for the U.S Ski Team. 

 

Since joining the U.S. Ski Team, I have had the opportunity to compete at the North American Cup level, the World Cup Level, and the World Championships level. While training for the Olympic qualifying competitions in 2022, I ruptured my ACL and tore my meniscus. This required surgery and a long year of rehabilitation. This was my biggest challenge to date, but I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by other amazing athletes and physical therapists during the process. I took this time to learn more about myself, as well as learning about the rehabilitation process and how to improve myself as an athlete. I was able to get back on skis last year and returned to competition. I competed primarily at the North American Cup level, and also started in the Deer Valley World Cup where I qualified for finals and finished 12th. Due to competing at a lower level while I was returning from injury, I was bumped down to the Aerials D team. This caused me to lose some funding, as well as per diem from the U.S. Ski Team, and a stipend from the U.S. Olympic Committee. 

 

Since overcoming my knee injury, I am determined to return to the World Cup circuit, increase the difficulty level of my jumps, and improve my ranking leading up to the next Olympics. I feel I can achieve these goals with the help of the World Cup Dreams Foundation, sponsors, and grants. Outside of skiing, I am in my final semester at the University of Utah studying Health and Kinesiology, and have been volunteering at the Murray Heritage Senior Center in Salt Lake City, working with community members to improve health and physical fitness. After my skiing career, I aspire to go into physical therapy, or work in the medical field.