Growing up in Lake Tahoe, skiing was in Michelle Parker’s blood. Both of her parents were passionate about the sport and began to take their daughter to Squaw Valley Ski Resort at the age of one. Within no time the resort became a sort of day care for the now 26-year-old and paved the way for what has turned into a very impressive career in skiing – one that Parker continues to push to the limits.
At about 15-years-old, Parker faced the first big decision of her career. Up until that point, she had been competing in races but it wasn’t quite what she wanted out of the sport. Parker wanted to push the boundaries and ski wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted and decided to give up on the racing aspect of skiing and instead focus on the freestyle dynamic.
“I realized that my true passion was skiing powder and being able to ski whenever I want, wherever I want with whomever I wanted,” Parker admitted. “Racing was making me conform to boundaries in the gates and training and the regiment of training and being dedicated – not that I wasn’t dedicated but my passion was elsewhere. So, I decided not to spend anymore of my parents’ money on that and start following my dream of skiing wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted.”
And the decision would wind up paying off big time.
Parker was noticed one day skiing at Squaw by a sponsor and soon she was on her way to the U.S. Open, an event that really propelled her career. By 17, Parker was competing in the X Games at the newly formed women’s halfpipe event, though the opportunity didn’t come without some nervousness.
“I kind of got thrown in there, I was the sixth person chosen out of eight people,” she recalled. “I remember standing at the top of the halfpipe and C.R. Johnson, another local from Lake Tahoe, was standing next to me. C.R. kind of looked at me and was like, ‘good for you!’ and told me to just have fun with it and not to worry about the outcome.”
It was at that moment that Parker realized that there’s more than winning and losing – and that the path getting there, and having fun doing it, can be just as important. That philosophy is what Parker has followed ever since and it has paid off more than she ever believed possible.
There was plenty of success in competition – winning numerous events, traveling to over 15 different countries throughout the world and skiing some impressive powder. But Parker wanted to do her own thing and that’s when she turned to her relationship with Red Bull. The energy drink company has long been known for its badass athletes that take their sport to the limit. With their help, Parker has been able to become a full-fledged action junkie, all while learning new skills which she can use in certain aspects of skiing. And she has loved every minute of it.
“Working with Red Bull is like no other I could even imagine,” Parker added. “They go the extra mile to give us opportunities to push ourselves outside our comfort zones, like this past spring I went to Hawaii and did this free-diving course and really what they wanted me to walk away with was something I could apply to skiing and I did in a huge way. These are unique ways they present their athletes with to try and develop some kind of skill set you wouldn’t develop on a daily basis.”
There’s not too much that phases Parker these days, in fact her fun outlook can be contagious – not many people reschedule an interview simply to impulsively skydive from an airplane. But sometimes pushing it to the limit can come at a price.
Parker has suffered several serious injuries over the course of her career, which have not only led to several different surgeries to her right knee, but also to her outlook on the sport she loves. The second major injury – one that tore nearly every ligament in her knee – left her with almost nothing after she lost her sponsors, but it would turn out to really benefit her.
“That was very much of a mental injury for me, I had to learn to stay positive and that was something that throughout that whole injury I was able to do,” she said. “There was never a doubt in my mind that I’d be able to come back and ski as hard as I wanted to and there was still a lot I wanted to accomplish in skiing for myself. The companies I work with now are all super in line with what I want to do and are totally supportive and really let me grow as an individual and an athlete.”
Today filmmaking is what drives Parker. She is currently working on a two-year movie that incorporates her love of both skiing and her thirst for adrenaline. Parker loves working with a team, rather than focusing solely on herself, and has found the experience rewarding and exciting. That might be why she was awarded Women’s Performance of the Year at the 2013 Powder Awards. Filmmaking has become her new passion and a hobby she looks to continue with for years to come.
Through everything she’s done in her constantly evolving career, Parker has made sure to follow the words C.R. Johnson told her all those year ago, having fun and doing what she wants, the way she wanted – much like the reasons for switching from racing to freestyle. She continues to be a trailblazer for women in the action sports community, though she will never quite admit to it.
“I don’t think I would have ever pinned that title on myself because that’s really an honor to be looked at that way,” she said. “But more and more, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve definitely realized that I can have an effect on other female athletes and other female skiers and young women and be an inspiration to them. What I do is just follow my inspiration and have fun with it and that’s important to me – but if I can have a positive influence on people’s lives, I think that’s a beautiful thing!”
Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
