Jamie Crane-Mauzy floated how "interesting" it would be to make her next competition the World Ski and Snowboard Festival here in Whistler next spring.

It would also be fearless and yet, appropriate.

The 22-year-old freestyle skier suffered a horrific crash during the slopestyle at the event, which doubled as the Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) World Tour Finals, in April that left her with a traumatic brain injury. Crane-Mauzy, the No. 2-ranked women's skier on the AFP circuit, was airlifted to hospital and was in a coma for eight days.

"(The doctors) weren't sure if I was going to die or not," she said in a phone interview from her Utah home. "They didn't think I ever would have recovered this quickly. They thought I wouldn't have even left the hospital now. They didn't know if I was going to be paralyzed."

The slopestyle competition had been delayed a day because of rainy conditions on April 10, but to Crane-Mauzy's understanding, the conditions the day of the event were fine. In her opinion, it didn't matter where she was competing — the way she executed the trick, the result would have been the same each time.

There is no timeline for when Crane-Mauzy could make a return to the ski hill as yet, as she is still not cleared for such activity, but her progress in less than three months from April to late June is stunning.

Crane-Mauzy is still feeling the effects of the crash, as she had to pause a couple of times and ask for help remembering a word or phrase from a family member. Each day is a new challenge, she said.

"Every single day, I have a new little thing and it changes every day," she said.

Her next major milestone could come in late August, when she has her next doctor's appointment and her progress will be measured.

As the days and weeks go by, Crane-Mauzy said she's recovering her bubbly pre-crash disposition and is applying it to the process.

"I keep surprising people by how quick I'm recovering," she said. "I don't do it very often now, but when I don't remember something, I think it's funny is my first response.

"I can do most everything I used to be able to do, so I'm lighthearted now."

Crane-Mauzy is taking the attitude of pretending she's trying to recover from two blown-out knees as opposed to a brain injury as she tries to take a measured approach to a return. It can be more difficult to understand one's limitations when returning from a brain injury, so to try to avoid an overly quick and dangerous comeback, she's approaching it like an injury with which she's familiar.

"You don't want to feel too rushed, especially something that might take a long time," she said. "You don't want to behave like somebody who's rushed to accomplish something. You know it'll take some time, and you want to feel comfortable with how long it will take. I feel comfortable with how long it will take."

Though she can't compete in any sports that could result in another concussion and compound the damage, Crane-Mauzy is keeping active and fit in anticipation of an eventual return to the mountain. She's taking part in yoga, hiking and swimming, while adapting elements of other sports she enjoys, like paddling on her surfboard.

"I'm definitely trying to keep up as many skills as I can. I'm pretty glad and lucky I can recover to 100 per cent which means I can go back to skiing competitions and be cleared for everything I'll ever want to do," she said. "I'm not cleared right now, but as soon as my head is healed, this winter, they said I could go back to skiing."

She'll also be in the VIP section for the summer Dew Tour and a Taylor Swift concert in Los Angeles in August.

"I've decided I can do everything that girly-girls do," she said. "I guess I'll pretend I'm a girly-girl this summer."

Source: piquenewsmagazine.com