Kaitlyn Farrinton returned from the 2014 Sochi Olympics floating on her dreams. Claiming first place in halfpipe after being one of the last women to qualify and join the American Olympic team was such an amazing feat and we all new we’d see much more progression coming from this 25 year old girl from Idaho; then it all got turned around.
Traveling to Austria to have fun after the hype and stress of the Olympics, Kaitlyn and friends built up a small, 10 foot kicker to mess about on. Unfortunatley, this one jump changed her life forever. Catching her edge on take off resulted in a fall that created loss of feeling from her neck to her feet for about two minutes. The next few months consisted of visiting doctor after doctor before they discover that Kaitlyn had a rare spinal disorder called congenital cervical stenosis.
Instead of sitting out on life saddened by this news, she decided she was just going to become a ‘grounded snowboarder’. No more halfpipe or jumps, but who said she can’t shred down a volcano? And that’s exactly what she did. Going through the Cascade Range, Kaitlyn and friends hiked all 25 volcanoes in just 26 days. Here’s her video of her inviting us in on her experience and inspiring us to do more with the life we are given.
Check out some of Kaitlyn’s blogs speaking out about her experience on The North Face and GNU’s websites!
https://neverstopexploring.com/2015/07/10/almost-famous-volcano-tour/
https://neverstopexploring.com/2015/07/10/almost-famous-volcano-tour/
-VNTRbirds