Kristen Ulmer (born on September 8, 1966) is a former professional extreme skier who retired from the sport in 2003 and is now a mental health professional.

Early life and education

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Born and raised in the small town of Henniker, New Hampshire, she moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1985 to attend the University of Utah. In 1986, she started competing in mogul skiing and filming extreme ski movies, which led to her embarking on a professional ski career that lasted for almost two decades. Since retiring in 2003, she has been studying with Zen master Genpo Roshi; she credits him as being the inspiration behind her teaching style and works on the subjects of fear and anxiety.

Professional athletics

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Ulmer was on the US Ski Team for moguls in 1991. She has received praise from many different ski publications, with some, like the Powder magazine, naming her as one of the greatest professional female skiers of her time. She has been featured in the Hall of Fame for the most 'fearless' skier among women for around 12 years. She is known for jumping off up to high cliffs, throwing flips, and for ski mountaineering such as the first female ski descent of Wyoming's Grand Teton in 1997.

An avid rock and ice climber, para glider pilot, adventure cyclist, and kite-boarder, Ulmer was voted by the outdoor industry in a 2000 Women's Sports and Fitness magazine poll as the most extreme woman athlete in North America. She eventually retired from professional athletics in 2003.

Later career

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Alongside her ski career, Ulmer was known for writing in magazines such as Skiing, Ski, Powder, Maxim, Details, and Outside.

Ulmer coaches athletes in various sports disciplines and runs mindset-only ski camps called The Art of Fear ski camps, at Alta, Utah. She also works as a Zen Therapist helping people with emotional issues and speaks at events and conferences on the subjects of Fear and Anxiety.

Ulmer's book The Art of Fear challenges existing norms about what to do about fear and offers an alternative approach to resolving anxiety issues. This book and other media originating from her have been spread through NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, USA Today, Tim Ferriss’s Tribe of Mentors, The Robb Report, The Megyn Kelly Show, and more.

Personal life

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Ulmer divorced her ex-husband, aerospace engineer Kirk Jellum, in 2021. and she remains single today. She attends the Burning Man festival in Nevada each year and is known alongside her ex-husband for building and bringing the Praying Mantis and Scorpion art cars. The fire-breathing Praying Mantis can now be seen at the Container Park in Downtown Las Vegas.[1]

References

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  1. ^ "Downtown Container Park's Fire-Breathing Mantis Also Has Rhythm". Vital Vegas. 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
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