Nobody does it quite like Bella Bacon.
Last winter she barely skied.
In September, she had a major open-chest surgery to try and correct things and return her to snow.
Early indications are that the surgery has been successful, and Bella is well on her way to recovery.
_
Questions by@milo-mcsenderson
What’s up, Bella?
I just love skiing.
I love doing tricks.
I love trying to learn something new, and battling it over and over again until I do it.
I wouldn’t have pushed myself if it wasn’t something I’m most passionate about.
God, I tried soo many different things to try and manage my issues.
So many medications, so much research, SO MANY DOCTORS APPOINTMENTS.
So now I painfully have to force some breaths into my stomach any second I think about it…
I have to relearn how to breathe.
Right now, the thing I can’t do anything about is leftover brain fog.
It’s gotten better slowly since surgery.
I don’t think I mentally could handle it before, and I damn straight couldn’t physically.
Life puts us in deep and gnarly situations to bring out the strongest parts of us.
And without this journey, I wouldn’t have even accessed the strongest part of myself.
I feel fresh and so ready to finally achieve what I want to in skiing.
What did you learn about yourself in your time away from skiing?
I learned a lot about myself in my time away from skiing.
I have learned to become so unbelievably aware of my physical and emotional feelings.
So really, I just did a lot of thinking and realized knowledge is power.
Just being able to ski like I used to when I was a kid.
I mean Im manifesting that I feel like that.
Im still saying this during my recovery so I don’t fully know how Im going to feel.
Im simply just skiing again.
And much stronger, physically and emotionally.
It’s sick, I’ve never really skied and been strong.
I’ve always felt like a bag of bones just hucking my shit [laughs].
But now I’ll be in the gym and building my strength slowly.
The most valuable thing I learned was awareness.
Emotional and physical awareness.
I want to help people to be aware of what they are feeling.
Because that is the joy of life.
Everyone is given one thing in this life that is set in stone, and that thing is you.
Honestly, I didn’t enjoy it much.
I guess I mainly enjoyed learning.
The more I feel like I’m learning, the more I feel like I’m growing.
I did get a Sur-Ron which is like an electric dirtbike.
Last question, although you might not know the answer yet.
What is your outlook for the rest of the season?
It depends on how I will be feeling, mentally and physically.
I haven’t really gotten there yet, I’m just focusing on my recovery.
But I’m taking it one day at a time right now.
I’m still working on my strength.
I’m still not where I want to be, but I’m getting very close.
I’m trying to not put pressure on myself but it’s pretty tough not to.
I have to keep reminding myself that my career isn’t a race.
But I do know one thing.
Dammmmmnn am I hungry to ski!
