Every champion skier learns to ski once. Colby Stevenson had to learn twice—first as a kid chasing snow, and again after a near-fatal car crash in 2016.
“I fell asleep at the wheel for a couple of seconds, rolled the truck, and crushed my skull in 30 places,” Stevenson says, a U.S. Olympian in Freestyle Skiing. Doctors placed him in an induced coma to reduce brain swelling. “And from there on, I just had to rebuild.”
“I had a traumatic brain injury, and there’s no set plan for it,” he says. ““I had a lot of balance issues and other effects, but I stayed hopeful—and determined.”
Remarkably, he was back on skis only five months later. “I was definitely not 100%. I had neck issues and still some equilibrium problems. But it really is about determination. Anything you want to do and set your mind to, if you feel that in your soul and your being, your body’s going to make those improvements.”
He won a gold medal at his first event back—and that was just the beginning.
Before the accident, Stevenson’s ambition sometimes worked against him. “I was 18 years old, top of my game, but not mentally,” he says. “Physically, I had the skills to win these events. But I was just so focused on winning that it was stopping me from doing what was actually going to get me there.”
The crash changed that outlook. “My first event back was eight months later. I was in the Dolomites in Italy. I remember looking out and just thinking, this is so beautiful… Then I dropped in. And I ended up winning.”
From then on, his focus shifted. “I needed to shift my perspective to not trying to win,” he says. “Of course, I'm always trying to win—but that’s not the focus. For me, it’s just about enjoying the process and those little moments—and just feeling grateful.”
That change in mindset sparked an extraordinary run: multiple gold medals at top action sports events, a silver medal for Team USA at Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and more podiums since.
Colby Stevenson, Team USA, Freestyle Skiing
Unlike many elite athletes, Stevenson thrives on pursuing a variety of action sports: mountain biking, motocross, wakeboarding, snowboarding, surfing, even golf.
“The cool thing with freestyle skiing is that all these tricks we learn become muscle memory,” he says. “So you're reprogramming your mind when you're learning something new. You just think about it, then your body follows.”
That approach—part science, part artistry—fuels his daring. “When I won my Olympic Winter Games silver medal, I was actually doing a trick that I'd never done. And I was like, ‘I'm just going to add one more flip onto something I know how to do. It's not a big deal.’”
Stevenson’s story is also one of technology and human resilience.
“Medical advancements put me back together,” he says. “The doctor said, ‘We put in these titanium snowflakes.’ They look like disk brakes on a bike. That’s what they used to piece my skull back together. And when he told me that, I was like, ‘This is meant to be. I have snowflakes in my head.’”
He credits recovery technologies—cold laser treatments, EMF mats, compression gear—for helping him heal faster. “These are just amazing advancements that have taken me to the next level after the injury,” he says.
Innovation also continues on the slopes—from new ski shapes and designs to materials—and those help him improve. “I’ve been in the factory, seen the process, and tested new skis,” Stevenson says. “Every detail—from wood type to side cut—changes how the ski flexes and performs.”
The crash was the hardest thing Stevenson has ever faced—but also the most transformative.
“It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me,” he says. “Because I started from ground zero and just found love in my life and beauty in the world.”
Let there be resilience. Let there be big air. Let there be anything.
Watch Autodesk CMO Dara Treseader chat with Erin Jackson, Team USA, Speed Skating; Mike Schultz, Team USA, Para Snowboarding; and Colby Stevenson, Team USA, Freestyle Skiing at AU 2025.
Autodesk is the Official Design and Make Platform of the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games and Team USA. Learn more.
