AJ Hurt's passion for skiing and ski racing began at a very early age. Growing up in North Lake Tahoe, Palisades Tahoe was her winter playground. At four years old, she entered the Team Palisades Tahoe and fell in love with the sport. With a father who has been a member of the Squaw Valley Ski Patrol for the past 30 years, Hurt was raised a true member of the Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw Valley) family.

At 14, Hurt was invited to be a part of the National Training Group. As a first-year FIS racer in the 2016-17 season, she was the top junior for birth year 2000 in NorAm qualifying race points—not only in the speed disciplines but also the technical disciplines. Hurt scored her first World Cup points in 2020 placing 18th in the Courchevel giant slalom.

The 2023-24 season was a major breakout year for Hurt. Each World Cup race she improved upon the last scoring person best after person best. In Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Hurt had a major slalom result scoring third place, her first ever World Cup podium. Then later in the season she did it again! This time in giant slalom, a third place in Soldeu, Andorra.

AJ and I discuss injury, going fast, control and lack of control, the recent NCAA women’s final four, and what aggression in women’s sports looks like now. And she talks about the not-glamourous, living-out-of-a-bag-for-6-months World Cup tour.

This episode is a perfect follow up to last week’s episode with rock climber Beth Rodden because AJ too likes being in the mode of figuring things out, which she was happy to share with us. I like that mode as well! Always looking for a little bit of improvement or some greater understanding of how things work.

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