Third time’s the charm for former Vail club racer Emma Resnick, who battles injuries with US ski team

All ski racers know injuries are inevitable, but most are spared the paradoxical emotion of associating them with a career-best performance. Then again, when you have three leg injuries in three-straight seasons, the chances go up.

“That was probably the epitome of the highs and lows of ski racing,” Emma Resnick said in describing her latest injury, a torn left ACL that occurred as she lunged for the line in claiming a sixth-place finish at the Stratton Mountain Resort NorAM giant slalom on Jan. 2.

The former Vail Mountain School and Ski and Snowboard Club Vail Alpine skier also sustained a torn right ACL in August 2021 and a fractured tibia and fibula in November 2022. The 21-year-old, who is entering her sixth year with the U.S. ski team, said she wouldn’t change anything about her story.

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“I’ve learned so much about myself and how to approach skiing from these injuries,” she said. “So, third time’s the charm. I’m now coming back for — hopefully — the final time.” 

Physical complications connected to her broken leg made the most recent recovery process more arduous than expected, Resnick said. She couldn’t run or jump all spring, and when she finally started plyometric activities in the summer, her broken leg flared up.

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Ultimately, it wasn’t until fall that full training her confidence returned. Resnick made her first on-snow turns in Austria in October and put on race gear for the first time two weeks ago at the team’s Copper Mountain training camp.

“I feel really good right now. I know my body really well — maybe too well,” she said. “I feel really good coming back into this year. I also mentally know so much more now.”

Resnick said she is better now at knowing when to push in order to practice skiing in rough snow conditions — and when it’s smarter to back off. She’s also more attuned to the importance of a full mental and physical recovery before pushing out of the start gate after a long layoff. Still, with injuries being the main characteristic of her six-year tenure on Team USA, Resnick recognizes the reality of the need for a return on the country’s investment coming off her latest injury and rehabilitation.

“The transparency throughout all of it helps,” Resnick said. “(It’s) almost a bit of an imposter syndrome, but I also look at my returns: each time my injuries have upheld. I’ve stayed really strong.”

Resnick also feels closely connected to teammates from every generation on the alpine team and has never felt her place is questioned. Finally, there’s been promising results, like the race in which she was injured for the third time. In that event, she finished a place in front of Mary Bocock, the 2023 NorAm overall winner and three-time World Cup starter.

Even with those flashes of brilliance, Resnick admitted there was a moment where she debated giving up the sport altogether.

“I began to question, ‘Wow, is this all worth it? Is the way I’m feeling right now worth the end result?’ I don’t even know if I want the end result right now,” she said. “When the injury takes you out of the sport, that’s one thing. When it affects all aspects of your life, that’s something that’s really hard to overcome.”

Looking ahead to 2024-25, Resnick’s goals are multi-faceted. Dartmouth is coming off a fourth-place NCAA finish and is hosting the 2025 championships. Resnick plans to bounce between Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association carnivals and NorAm races.

No matter what happens on either circuit, however, she said this season has already been a success. On-snow confidence didn’t seem possible five months ago.

“I’m happy to just be here, but now that’s not enough,” she said. “I want some results.” 

To do that, she’ll have to race aggressively — thereby risking injury.

Resnick said fellow U.S. ski team athlete Sam DuPratt told her on the t-bar in New Zealand after his first ACL injury that he’d “fully accepted the fact that if this happens again, I’m done.”

“He said, ‘So why not push as hard as I can and if it happens, that happens?” Resnick said. Admittedly taken aback at first, Resnick realized such self-deception was the only option.

“Injury is a part of the sport you have to embrace. If you don’t embrace it, then you’re not pushing yourself hard enough,” she said. “That’s been really hard for me because I don’t want to embrace it. There’s no part of me that wants to go through this again. But also, I’ve proven to myself that I can.”