The Art of Confidence Episode One: Fear

Fear is just another part of the job as a professional big mountain skier. Avalanches, crevasses, cliffs, you name it; all aspects of the sport that could be considered dangerous, Amie Engerbretson has encountered during her time as a professional big mountain skier. A near-death encounter with an avalanche, in which she was lucky to be saved, changed her as a person and a skier forever. For a while after this experience, the joy that she once felt on the slopes was replaced with anxiety and fear. The trauma of almost dying encompassed her perspective as a skier, and for a long time, she struggled to accept the presence of fear in her life. “It was a journey for her to get to a place of self-acceptance,” she says, “it’s about moving along with your fear right beside you to help push yourself… its resilience that gives me confidence.”