Hey Jumpers, check out this amazing girl who is designing and skiing out of Sun Valley—met her at Warren Miller premiere. —Lynsey Dyer, SJ co-founder and pro big-mountain skier

Through rough ends and dirt roads I, Petra Zeiler, have traveled an aching 813 miles in pursuit of endless snowcapped mountains and the purest of powder in Sun Valley, Idaho. I am 17 years old and have one love, the snow. One may simply ask, why? I have lived in the Land of Enchantment (aka New Mexico) for most of my life; this is a magical place for those who have not been there. As a child, my love of snow became apparent when I joined the Santa Fe Ski team at the age of 6. I was one of the top New Mexican female alpine skiers for my division. By the age of 13, I had made it to the Junior Olympics in Winter Park, Colorado. Once I started progressing, my family and I began to travel every weekend to Colorado in order to further my career in ski racing.

Thanks to ski racing I began to make friends from all around the nation. Soon enough, I realized that the Santa Fe Ski team was not presenting me with the tools I needed to be successful. The next winter, I joined the Taos Ski Team. I spent my winter weekends traveling three hours to the nearest ski area in Taos, just to catch a glimpse of the glimmering snow and to get the coaching I needed. In Taos, I learned to appreciate and gained familiarity with the term "pow." This term was expressed a lot of the winter because that year the snow gods decided to bless us with pilings of snow. Instead of ski racing, most weekends we spent hiking the peaks and skiing the blissful powder.

I learned to appreciate big mountain skiing when encountering Taos. I was not afraid to huck off cliffs or ski the steepest of terrain on the mountain. I trained two times a week in Taos and skied with some previous Olympic athletes. During the middle of the season I received an offer from a family friend to come live with them in Sun Valley, Idaho. I did not hesitate to jump on the opportunity to move. I left my parents and brother to come to the beautiful state. I moved up in 2010 to Sun Valley and was greeted by the most loving family and new friends.

I joined to Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation to begin a new journey. I did dry land at least four times a week and trained to be on the alpine race team. Once the snow started to fall, I instantly felt as if I were home. The mountains surrounding the valley were filled with endless powder. That year, I learned the ways of the mountain and got to have the blessing of skiing everyday and traveling to races in the western part of the United States. That year was one hell of a year spent mostly in the mountains. My dad used to tell me that the mountains are our cathedrals and ever since he told me that, the snow gods were the only gods I believed in. I think it is very important for women to jump in order to gain the highest potential opportunities. A saying which I try to follow in life is from Bob Dylan who said “He who's not busy being born is busy dying.“ This means that in order to
have the best experiences in life, one has to take chances and leaps. This was among my biggest leap yet and I could not bare the wait for next year. During the summer of 2011, I went home to New Mexico with a huge eager desire to come back again. However, not all plans went accordingly.

It was one sunny day when I was driving up the rugged dirt road to my father’s house in Santa Fe. My father told me he had to talk to me further about college and that he had bad news to break. Once I arrived, I quickly scurried up the wooden glossy stairs of my house to his office and sat down. My father took one huge breath and started explaining the situation. In a quivering voice, he told me that he could not afford the Sun Valley Ski Team in Idaho anymore. I did not understand; he had previously promised me last year that I could go up to Idaho and participate on the team. He explained that he had to save his money to pay for my college tuition. Don’t get me wrong, he had a good reason. College is very important to me, but this was utterly and completely upsetting. It tore my heart; I have been ski racing for almost 11 years, and it was the only constant thing in my life. I had been looking at getting scholarships through my ski-racing career for college and planning my life around skiing.

I left his office and barricaded myself in my room. Right then, I made the decision to come back to Sun Valley in search to have an amazing senior year. I spoke with my own family and came to an agreement that I would return for my senior year, even if the ski team was not included. In September, I hopped on a plane to Sun Valley to finish my school year at Wood River High School. It is now senior year and I cannot hold my excitement for the end of my high school career. I have spent almost all my life in the mountains and continue on doing so.

In Sun Valley, I attend Wood River High School. This school is a huge difference compared to my school in New Mexico. The school actually gives us release periods, for which we can leave school at noon every day to go skiing. In Sun Valley there are far too many opportunities to be gained and I am immersing myself further into the community. I am involved in the art and ski community. I am designing ski graphics (see photos here) and pursuing graphic design. I gain my inspiration from artists such as Banksy, Yacek Jerka, and Tim Burton. Outside from art, I gain inspiration from the people who constantly surround me, my friends, fellow shredders, and role models. I look forward to pushing myself in as many ways possible and to endure the best experiences life has to offer. I want to share my hunger for this sport with others out there and inspire women to be active.