Building a relationship with fear with Kristen Ulmer

Next Level Skiing

Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Today’s guest is Kristen Ulmer, who is one of the most accomplished big mountain skiers ever. She is now a fear and anxiety expert, helping her clients overcome disabling confusion or chaos. After studying Zen concepts for more than a decade, she authored “The Art of Fear” as a guidebook for improved mindfulness. Her three-day Fear Ski Camps at Alta are renowned for helping skiers improve their athletic performance and bury the fear and anxiety that can hinder, not just skiing, but living. Take her Fear and Anxiety Assessment on her website.

Her decades-long reign as one of the top female skiers in the world has transferred over to expertise in helping people foster stronger mindsets, find flow states, and improve their health and happiness.

Topics:

2:00: First full season skiing in Little Cottonwood Canyon after growing up in New Hampshire

4:00: Skiing all day, working in banquets at the Cliff Lodge, competing in moguls comps

5:00: Transitioning from moguls to big-mountain in the early 90s

6:20: “No girls were doing that back then.”

7:50: Studying the Eastern approach to fear and readjusting relationships with fear

09:45: Finding flow state through fear. “We are stronger together than apart”

11:50: Interviews with top action sports athletes

16:00: The problem with resisting fear

18:25: Intimacy with fear manifests as focus

21:30: Performance-enhancing relationships with fear

27:40: Ski camps at Alta

34:50: Three themes in why we love skiing

Quotes:

“I was just trying to hang out with friends and have a good time with friends and go on the trips with them. And I really didn’t have any goals in skiing, but the next thing you know, I wound up on the US ski team for moguls.” - Kristen Ulmer

“We probably should define that [extreme sports] mean that the consequences of failure are death or injury. That’s what makes something extreme.” - Kristen Ulmer

“What he has is, he has a willingness to feel fear. He’s young, hungry, and talented. He’s stepping 4% out of his comfort zone every day, connecting the dots. This is how y ou become better at anything.” - Kristen Ulmer

Resources:

Kristen’s Instagram

Kristen’s Website

Wagner Custom Skis