Dancing down the mountain with Kris Bekkestad

It’s no secret that alpine skiing is a nerve-racking sport to watch with its steep terrains glazed in a fine layer of ice. But to one local racer, propelling through a tight-course is nothing more than “dancing down the mountain,” Bekkestad said.

Senior film major Kris Bekkestad from the small farm town of Aal, Norway, said she loves the rhythm of skiing. Nestled between the two biggest cities in her home country, Bekkestad found ways to fuel her ski addiction and became a high-performing racer for MSU's Alpine Ski Team in 2020.

Inspired at age five after watching a men’s race, Bekkestad always dreamt of being a racer. Taking her ambitions abroad, Bekkestad reached out to former MSU alpine head coach Kevin Francis in hopes of securing a spot on the team after tearing and dislocating her knee and ultimately losing her place on the Norwegian National Team.

Her hard work paid off and Bekkestad joined the team for the 2020-21 season. Aside from swapping Norway for the U.S., Bekkestad has had to learn to adjust to Montana’s rough and rugged terrain.

“The powder is better here and the play. But if you’re thinking competitively, there are better conditions in Norway. There’s more ice, and that’s what you kind of want as a ski racer. It’s cool; in almost no other sport do you have the surface under you change. Can you imagine if soccer fields did?” Bekkestad said.

But, with more 600,000 people injuring themselves in ski-related accidents every year, Bekkestad is no exception. Although she has sustained two major injuries, she looks back on them now, humorously.

“I was playing spike ball outside on the ice one winter when my guy friend said, you should try a little harder, so I did and tore my knee. It’s fun now, but it’s a horrible way to injure yourself. It was painful and humiliating,” she said.

She then re-tore it skiing on April 1. “It was April Fool's Day, so nobody believed I was actually injured. I never got help,” she said.

But Bekkestad doesn’t let her injuries hold her back. “It hurts sometimes, but if you’re scared of getting injured, then you risk going slow. So it’s a very good mental challenge.”

And with risk comes reward. Bekkestad gains a thrilling “out-of-body experience” every time she slips into a pair of skis. “I love that specific feeling you can get in the course when everything's just right, and it flows, and you don't have to think — it’s almost like the skis and I am one,” she said.

However, In any high-level sport, burnout — the physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress — is widespread. Even Bekkestad has had her fair share of burn-outs. “I believe the body and mind are connected in a way that when you’re burned out, it can lead to an injury.” But to Bekkestad, her injuries abroad are what brought her to Bozeman. “All these things happened, and I ended up here, where I discovered there’s way more to skiing. [Bozeman’s] what sparked my joy for skiing again.”

But with any high-level sport comes high expectations. Combatively, Bekkestad has developed a proactive way to handle performance anxiety. “I try to tell myself that I like high stakes and make that the truth about who I am as a ski racer,” she said.

In addition to mental combativeness, Bekkestad finds consolidation and encouragement within her team in tough competitions and difficult conditions. “We’re a very strong team and are doing well. So we definitely push each other.”

Whether you view it as a death slide or a rhythmic pursuit, alpine skiing isn’t a sport for the weak-hearted. Although Bekkestad skis alone, all skiers dance the same lines. “I feel that everyone’s stoked together. And that’s a really cool thing,” she said.