Me: Rachael Burks. Living currently in the Wasatch range often found between Alta / Snowbird / Brighton– I was taught how to ski by my dad when I was in grade school. The first time I skied I was 3 or 4 in Michigan– but didn’t really start “skiing” until we moved to Utah. From there it was a leisure thing for me– whenever dad would wake me up on the weekends at ungodly hours so as to make the first lift at Alta I wasn’t the happiest kid in the world (at the time)– I didn’t know how lucky I was until later on in life when I realized how special it was to be in the mountains with my family. However every kid thinks that Saturday morning cartoons are cool— I did too– I just didn’t watch them in the winter! HAH! AND I LOOK BACK: WHO CARES?!?!?!? Cartoons weren’t even that good on the weekends anyway. Alas, I skied with family through high school– started really loving it—-then moved to Texas for college—DIDN’T REALLY LOVE IT… quit two years into it and moved back to salt lake and got a job at Snowbird– I can say that’s when it all really started in terms of pursuing skiing for something more than weekend-warriordome. It became a daily thing, riding with kids that challenged me. I entered my first competition the following year… didn’t do all that great but had a blast- then went to Crested Butte for the first competition that I qualified for– ended up placing third. I thought I was going to win 50 bucks or something like that— turns out I won $2,400– keep in mind that was the only money I won for the next three years of competition– finally got my first world-tour podium in 2007 at Kirkwood. Found a little bit more of a niche with filming and photography– been doing that pretty steady for the last 3 years. Super stoked. Can’t wait to get out and shred this winter— the snow is on it’s way and I’m EXCITED!  So yeah… that’s my “help-I’m-in-a-nutshell” (11-1-2008) -rach