BIOGRAPHY:
As the former tutee of four-time Olympian Casey Puckett, the resume' of Alice McKennis reflects a thing or two about speed events. The evidence? McKennis has claimed multiple World Cup top 10's in downhill, finished 20th in the World Cup downhill standings and made the 2010 Olympic Team in her rookie World Cup season. 

That momentum then continued into the 2011 World Championship year, as McKennis went four-for-four to score points in the first two series of speed races before a training crash resulted in a fractured knee, and an early end to her season.

Still, never one to look at the negative, McKennis underwent successful surgery at the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail, CO and made the move to Park City to rehab at the Center of Excellence. And as one of the most promising young members of the women's speed team--and considering she was sidelined for most of 2011, when the U.S. women won both the World Cup downhill and super G points titles--coaches and fans are certainly looking forward to 2012.

ALICE SAYS:
"There are silver linings to every setback in life. I have been living in Park City to continue my rehab. So far so good! My leg is responding well and I am really happy to be moving forward."

"My favorite rehab day is Friday fun-day. I get to play Wii Winter Olympics while balancing on a bosu ball, it is pretty hard, but by far the most the fun rehab exercise. I have actually found that the alpine skiing is not that exciting, so right now I am really into Dream Skier-X. You get to hit huge jumps and can also get bonus points for doing sick tricks, I’m pretty good at doing twister-daffy’s but I am hoping that I can progress to back flips next week!" 

"There has been some pain and stiffness with my leg but that is all normal and isn’t anything I can’t deal with. It's a long process for sure, but it'll be worth it when I'm ripping turns again."

FIRST TRACKS:
McKennis grew up on a hay and cattle ranch, but she lived close enough to the mountains in Colorado for her current career path to make sense. Before she even turned two, her father Greg took her to Sunlight Mountain Resort in Glenwood Springs. She began racing at age 5, following her older sister Kendra, who later competed on the FIS minor league level for two seasons. At about the same time, tragedy struck, when the girls' mother Jill died in a car accident. The family continued to ski as a way of coping with the loss.  When she was 9, McKennis joined Ski Club Vail, the club that, at the time, was nurturing the all-around skills of Alpine star-in-the-making Lindsey Vonn. McKennis watched in awe as the U.S. Ski Team phenom—who was five years older than her—tore down the slopes, and took some valuable mental notes. After several years of bouncing around different ski clubs in Colorado, McKennis landed with the Aspen Valley Ski Club. One of her coaches there was former U.S. downhiller Casey Puckett.

OFF THE SNOW:
McKennis was a competitive equestrian competing in jumping, cross country riding and dressage until she was about 14—hence the appreciation of country music. Now a full-on member of the U.S. elite, she made the move to Park City in order to take advantage of both the Center of Excellence and also pick up some classes via the U.S. Ski Team scholarship program with Westminster College in Salt Lake City. Her summer activities also include mountain biking, taking in concerts (as in Lady Gaga) and the occasional whitewater rafting trip.