Zoe Atkin: Mastering Fear on the Ice Wall
World champion freestyle skier Zoe Atkin is determined to push the boundaries of her sport, emphasising that confronting uncomfortable feelings is key to success. As she prepares for the Winter Olympics, Atkin blends academic insights from Stanford University with intense training to tackle the dangers of the ski halfpipe.
The Risky Realm of Freestyle Skiing
Atkin describes her sport as inherently risky, involving skiing down a 22-foot wall of ice, performing aerial twists and spins, and landing back on the wall—all repeated multiple times. She acknowledges that crashes and injuries are common, especially as she pushes herself to fly higher and spin faster than competitors. However, Atkin stresses that she is not reckless; instead, she approaches her craft with calculated precision.
Confronting Fear Through Psychology
Studying symbolic systems at Stanford, which combines psychology, probability, and mathematics, has helped Atkin understand fear as a biological process. She explains that feeling fear is natural and even necessary in such a high-stakes environment. By working with a sports psychologist, she learns to acknowledge fear without letting it control her, viewing it as a manageable emotion rather than a barrier.
Training and Progression
Atkin's journey to becoming world champion involved mastering a signature trick, the alley-oop flat 540 mute, which required weeks of practice and numerous falls. She describes a meticulous approach to progression, gradually increasing height and difficulty to build confidence. This method paid off when she landed the trick at the world championships, overcoming a mental block that had persisted for years.
Olympic Aspirations and Legacy
With recent wins like the X-Games, Atkin is a top contender for gold in Milano Cortina, facing stiff competition from athletes like China's Eileen Gu. She credits her elder sister, Izzy Atkin—a bronze medallist in slopestyle skiing—as a role model who inspired her career. Atkin believes that cultivating an identity outside of sport has enhanced her performance, helping her rebound from past disappointments like her ninth-place finish in Beijing.
As she gears up for the Olympics, Atkin remains focused on pushing through fear and embracing the challenges of her daredevil sport, aiming to make her mark on the global stage.
