Mikaela Shiffrin returns to snow and gives update on recovery

Mikaela Shiffrin is back on snow.

On Wednesday, the Edwards skier posted a video of herself — in what looks to be Beaver Creek — carving her first on-snow turns since crashing out of the second run of a World Cup giant slalom on Nov. 30 in Killington, Vermont.

“Was a successful on-snow test,” Shiffrin said on Instagram. “We did three runs. Nothing crazy, but that was so fun.”

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She held a first-run lead and was searching for her 100th-career World Cup win when she slipped onto her inside hip on a right turn and crashed through two gates on her second trip down the Superstar course. She suffered what she called a “stab wound” to her abdomen in the Killington crash and spent December recovering instead of racing.

“It’s not very large, but it’s seven centimeters deep, and it did tear into some level of my external and internal obliques,” she said on Episode 2 of season 3 of her YouTube documentary, “Moving Right Along.”

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Initially, the goal was to “let it heal from the inside out, basically barring infection,” she said on the documentary. But on Dec. 12, the 29-year-old started to experience chills, fever, and “weird symptoms.”

“We ended up finding a pocket of fluid that had built up that we weren’t really able to get at,” the five-time overall Crystal Globe winner said. “And basically that forced us to go in surgically.”

One day after surgery, Shiffrin appeared at a U.S. Ski Team fundraiser in Beaver Creek — which was hosting women’s World Cup ski races on the Birds of Prey course for the first time — where she presented an award to Bode Miller.

On Thursday, the Vail Daily reached out to Megan Harrod, Shiffrin’s spokesperson, for a general update.

“Despite the severity of the injury and the setback with the surgery, Mikaela had gotten some good return to snow progression skiing in, including normal speed slalom turns on slalom and GS skis,” Harrod said in an email. “There’s still some weakness, which is expected, but she feels good in her progression.”

She said Shiffrin has been putting in 12-hour work days focused on healing, rehabbing, strength, and conditioning.

“Dryland has been going well, too, and her strength is coming back. The days are long and full, but productive, and she is making good progress,” Harrod continued before adding that Shiffrin has not yet skied gates.

At this point, her return to Europe and World Competition is still pending.

“She and her team are assessing daily,” Harrod said.