Isabella Wright of Utah is set to return to the U.S. Ski Team for her sophomore season, and Aspen played a big part in getting there in the first place.
Salt Lake City ski racer, usually known as “Bella,” is among the rising names to watch as athletes battle for the coveted spots on the Olympic team as the 2021-2022 season begins.
“I love Aspen and loved my time with the team there,†Wright said earlier this spring. “I still keep in touch with a lot of coaches and I think the environment and everything that has been presented in front of me at Aspen has helped me prepare for this next step.
Earlier this month, Wright was nominated for the Women’s B Team, a step forward from the development team she was a part of last season. The 24-year-old has been a constant presence on the World Cup circuit throughout the 2020-2021 campaign, finishing in points (top 30) on numerous occasions.
“It’s pretty surreal. It’s something I still have to remember that happened, â€Wright said. “And being in Europe with COVID, away from my family for over three months, it was really tough and something I had never done before. But it was such an amazing experience to be there.
Wright’s World Cup debut came during a downhill in December 2019 in Lake Louise, Canada, finishing 46th. She improved 10 places in her second run just a day later, the second of five World Cup runs she would start this season when she was just a guest on the national team and not yet an official American athlete.
Her first place in the top 30 at the World Cup came on January 9 in St. Anton, Austria, where she placed 27th in a downhill. The next day, she placed 24th in the St. Anton super-G. From that first run, Wright was scoring World Cup points eight times in nine races, and she was 31st in the other.
Wright was also part of the US World Championships squad last winter, where she finished 22nd in super-G, 21st in downhill and 14th in alpine combined in February in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“It was a great experience,†Wright said of his season. “Having each venue last season was brand new to me and each course was something I’ve only ever seen on TV, it was something really exciting and I think I will miss it for sure. I will miss being quite surprised by everything, but it will be nice to find out a little more before next season.
Among Wright’s stops before he was named to the national team was a two-year stint as a postgraduate graduate with the Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club. She spent the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with AVSC and considers Aspen her “second homeâ€.
Within the AVSC, Wright was named to the 2018 World Junior Championships squad and competed in Davos, Switzerland, as did local skier Elle Murphy.
“Aspen has always had great speed training, which I always tried to pursue, and obviously great technical training,†said Wright. “So it was a perfect program for me, especially at that time.”
Wright tore up his ACL in March 2016, a significant setback at this point in his young career. She called her first season at Aspen her “comeback year†and really thrived, leading to her guest status with the US National Team.
She had toyed with the idea of ​​competing in college, but had speed racing at heart, especially in super-G, and chose to go ‘against the grain’ as she put it, in pursuit of his personal goals.
“I’ve worked my whole life for this and couldn’t let it go through my fingers,†Wright said of what motivated her to pursue her dreams. “My first year at Aspen was my return year. It was really a lot to build confidence and I took it a lot slower. I had a great coaching staff behind me with Austin Nevins, Torey Greenwood, Casey Puckett, Johno McBride. I had so many people behind me. It has been a great year of construction.
“And then at the start of my second year with AVSC, I really started to gain momentum after my injury. I really felt like I was skiing again like myself.
