There was one silver lining to Kaitlin Keane’s season-ending crash at the FIS Alpine Ski World Junior Championships on Jan. 31: She didn’t remember it.

“One of my first memories was being awake during surgery because they’d just given me an epidural,” the 19-year-old recalled. “I was going into shock at the time; they were playing French pop music while tears were streaming down my face.”

For her, last season had been about getting over race anxiety. This one will be about coming back fresh.

The Vail Mountain School and Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumna kicked off her third season on the U.S. ski team at the Alpine squad’s training camp at Copper Mountain earlier in November. 

Media day was busy. Keane needed to squeeze skiing, fueling, and gym work between several interviews — all with some pesky multivariable calculus homework hanging over her head. Despite the full plate (She also needed to finish a comic for a film class and submit writing for her sports ethic course), the Dartmouth freshman strolled between tables with a smile.

“I think I’m kind of similar to where I was last year, where it’s like, I’m gaining my confidence in racing … and that’s still progressing,” she answered when asked what’s unique about this season. “I am getting faster and stronger and learning more about the fine-tuning of skiing.”

Last year started with a bang. She finished seventh or better in three of the first four NorAm Cups and took a podium in the giant slalom at the Murphy Roberts Holiday Classic on Dec. 19 in Steamboat Springs. After a trio of 13th-place finishes at Stratton Mountain Resort and Pozza di Fassa last January, she suffered through a string of DNFs before heading out to France for World Juniors.

During her super-G run in the team combined event, Keane crashed, cutting her hamstring beneath her knee. Concussed in the fall, she had to be helicoptered out and would miss the remainder of the season. She had surgery in Vail. A week after, she learned there were infections. Needless to say, the recovery process got off to a rocky start.

She spent four weeks non-weight bearing and then transferred to a locked knee brace to prevent hamstring contraction. She was only able to resume “semi-normal” training at the end of July but was able to head south for an on-snow camp in Ushuaia, Argentina, for all of August.

“That was pretty good,” Keane said before adding that the first half of the camp was hard since her hamstring fatigued quickly. There were a few mental hurdles to overcome, too, even though she didn’t remember the crash directly. She sensed subconscious PTSD during a sketchy snow day in Argentina.

“I think my body just remembered that’s what it was like in Europe, even though I don’t remember,” she said. “But overall, it’s fine.”

Coming into the 2024-25 season, She is hoping to return to World Juniors, which will be held in Tarvisio, Italy, from Feb. 24-March 6. She’s also aiming to win a NorAm overall or event season title and earn a World Cup start. She knows the latter is a bold ambition.

“I think I’m skiing fast, so I think it’s definitely possible. I am working on my consistency because that’s going to be a big factor,” she said. “I feel like it’s scary to put out really big goals, and I don’t like doing it, but I feel like, ‘Why not?’ So, it is a big goal, and it might be hard to reach, but I think it’s really fun to strive for.”