Kristen Ulmer (born September 8, 1966) is a former professional extreme skier. After retiring from skiing in 2003, she became an advocate for mental health.
Early life and education
Born and raised in Henniker, Ulmer moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1985 to attend the University of Utah. In 1986, she began competing in mogul skiing and filming extreme ski movies, launching a professional ski career that lasted for almost two decades. Since retiring in 2003, she has studied, taught, spoken, and written on the subjects of fear and anxiety.
Professional athletics
Ulmer was a mogul skier on the U.S. Ski Team in 1991. Powder magazine named her as one of the greatest professional female skiers of her time. She was inducted into the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame in 2018. She is known for jumping off high cliffs, performing flips, and for ski mountaineering, including the first female ski descent of Wyoming's Grand Teton in 1997.
An avid rock and ice climber, paraglider pilot, adventure cyclist, and kiteboarder enthusiast, Ulmer was voted "Most Extreme Woman Athlete in North America" by the outdoor industry in a 2000 Women's Sports and Fitness magazine poll.
Ulmer retired from professional athletics in 2003.
Later career
Alongside her ski career, Ulmer contributed writing to magazines such as Skiing, Ski, Powder, Maxim, Details, and Outside.
Ulmer coaches athletes in various sports disciplines and runs mindset-only ski camps in Alta, Utah. She also works as a zen therapist and speaks about anxiety.
In 2017, she published her book The Art of Fear: Why Conquering Fear Won't Work and What to Do Instead, where she discusses fear and offers an approach to resolving anxiety. In the book, she argues that traditional approaches to overcoming fear, such as pushing through it, are often ineffective. Instead, Ulmer advocates for accepting and understanding fear as a natural emotional response, and offers strategies for individuals to reshape their relationship with fear.
Ulmer's work has been featured by media including NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, USA Today, The Robb Report, and The Megyn Kelly Show.
Personal life
Ulmer attends the Burning Man festival in Nevada each year, and built the Praying Mantis and Scorpion art cars with her ex-husband. The fire-breathing Praying Mantis can now be seen at the Container Park in Downtown Las Vegas.
References
External links
- Official website
- "The Princess of Extreme Skiing: That Girl", Powder Magazine
- Forbes magazine interview on skiing the Grand Teton
- Manage your Fear with guest Kristen Ulmer 11/6/2014 radio interview
- On Fear as the Mind-Killer at the Wayback Machine (archived July 2, 2016)
- "New Years Destinations: Ski to Live", 1/28/13 Outside magazine
- "Kristen Ulmer: From extreme skiing to mindset training", Lifesherpa podcast
- "Mind Over Mountain?" Wall Street Journal full page article about Ski to Live. 3/19/12
- "Mind Over Mountain: Former Extreme skier Kristen Ulmer shows students that whether they think they can or think they can't they're right". Ski Magazine Oct 2010
- "Ski to Live", Forbes magazine, 11/16/07
- "Get off the Relentless Treadmill of Ongoing Anxiety and Symptom Control" Kristen Ulmer Official Website
