Ava Keenan's Bio

Home Town: Vail Colorado

Home Mountain: Vail

Favorite Run: Prima Cornice 

Club: Vail Ski and Snowboard Club

School:  Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy,  GPA: 3.5

Accomplishments: 

• Rookie of the Year for Rocky Mountain Freestyle 2022

• First ever Black Skier to Win a sanctioned RMF (Rocky Mountain Freestyle Competition) 

• Number one ranked skier for my age group as well as 12 and 13-year-olds. 

• 3 Podiums in 2022, (Youngest skier to podium in 2022) 

• Youngest skier competing in the RMF Comp Division in 2022. 

Sponsors: 

• Zipline Skis

• Pret Helmets

• Rutt Mogul Pants

• Gemini 

Why Mogul Skiing? 

Because they are the best skiers, duh!   

I’ve been a competitive mogul skiing since I was 8 years old.  It’s amazing because it never gets boring.  I love it because of the adrenaline it creates when you’re going as fast as you can down a mogul course and then have to hit a jump.  There is nothing like it.  Moguls force a skier to have range and it pushes me to find my range.  How fast can I go down a course? How direct down the fall line can I be?  How big can I go on the airs? What tricks can I do on the airs?  Mogul skiing is the only ski discipline that incorporates all of the elements of skiing; turning, air, speed, technique, etc.  I love it because it’s complex and you can NEVER be perfect at it. It keeps pulling me to get better, to improve. 

How did I get into Mogul Skiing? 

My dad made me sign up. I originally wanted to do park and pipe.  But my dad said I needed to know how to ski, not only knowing how to go over jumps and learning to ride rails.  Once I started doing it, I loved it. I could do jumps and ski. I remember the first time I knew it was for me was my first competition ever. I was super nervous. It was at Steamboat. I was 8 years old. All the other girls had been in a competition before, but my sister and I were first-timers. I took second place and had so much fun, I knew then and there, it was gonna be mogul skiing. 

How do you respond after a fall or bad run? 

I tell myself that it doesn’t matter, that there is nothing I can do about it. It’s in the past. I then use it as motivation to train harder or ski smarter my next run. I’ve learned that dwelling on things in the past, that you can’t change can only hurt you in the future. Crashing and failing is a part of mogul skiing. You can’t go 20-25 miles an hour down a mogul field, hit two jumps doing backflips and 360’s and think you’re never going to crash. It’s part of the sport. Therefore, learning not to fall isn’t the goal, but rather knowing how to respond when you do. I get mad for 2-3 minutes, assess what happened so I don’t do it again, and then say ok. “I can’t change that, next!”  Putting bad stuff behind you is key. Mogul skiing is as much a mental game as it is a physical game. 

Who do you look up to?

I look up to a couple of people. The first person is my dad. He has a really good work ethic and teaches that work ethic to my sisters and me. He’s always telling us one more run. One more rep. One more training day.  He taught me about the power of a growth mindset and how focusing on getting better at a skill is far more important than focusing on a goal like winning or awards.  My dad really helps my sisters and I be better at everything we do. 

I also look up to Liz Lemmely who has accomplished so much at only 16. She’s from the same program I am, Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy. She’s only 16 and in her first World Cup Season, she’s reached the super finals 3-times. I also look up to the best ever Mikael Kingsbury. He’s the goat and has been super supportive of me. And of course, I want to give a shout out to my other Ski Club Vail and VSSA bumpers Kia Owen and Tess Johnson

What do you want to accomplish with Mogul Skiing?

That’s easy!  

I want to be the first black mogul skier to win an Olympic gold medal. 

I want to be the first mogul skier to win 3 gold medals. 

Those are my end goals.  To get there, I want to be: 

Ranked in the top 30 when I’m 12

Ranked in the top 20 when I’m 13

Ranked in the top 10 when I’m 14

Ranked in the top 5 when I’m 15

Ranked #1 in the USA when I’m 16

These are big goals, I know.  But, with practice and commitment, I can make them.  As I said earlier, my dad teaches us about mastery goals and the importance of growing and getting better. By focusing on my skills and getting better at the little things, the goals will come. Even though I have these big goals, I don’t think about them often. I have them written down, but I spend more time thinking about what am I doing today. Where can I get better, now?