MILAN-CORTINA — Zoe Atkin and Kirsty Muir entered the current freestyle skiing season with World Cup wins and X Games victories in their events. Both Team GB athletes described training approaches they said helped them manage risk and pressure while preparing for future Winter Olympics competition.

Atkin, 23, competes in ski halfpipe and is preparing for her second Winter Olympics as a Team GB medal hopeful. She is the reigning world champion in the discipline and this season won a World Cup event at Copper Mountain, reached the podium in each World Cup event, and won gold at the X Games.

In ski halfpipe, competitors drop into a 22-foot-deep pipe and complete tricks judged on amplitude, difficulty, and execution. Atkin said fear is a central part of the job. "The biggest challenge of my sport is definitely overcoming the fear," Atkin said. "Being able to understand fear from a biological process has helped me on the slopes," she added.

"When a spectator watches a sport, they might think we are adrenaline junkies. But it is very precise — we are just a niche athlete," Atkin said.

Atkin is a Stanford University student studying symbolic systems. Symbolic systems is an interdisciplinary field involving computer science and cognitive science and studies machines that simulate the brain. She said she uses routines to keep her attention on the present. "I do meditation in the morning, to focus on the now," Atkin said.

Atkin also said preparation includes learning how to manage falls. "Part of our training is falling safely; if you are about to over-rotate, it is better to open and land on your side. That air awareness is something you train on. We can take big falls and know we are prepared to take them," she said. She has avoided serious injuries in her skiing career to date.

Muir, 21, competes in ski slopestyle and big air. In December 2023, a scan revealed that repeated blows to her knee had resulted in a torn cruciate ligament that ruled her out for a year.

Muir said the layoff was unfamiliar. "I've never not skied for that long in my life," Muir said. "The injury wasn't my scariest, as it didn't happen at a specific moment," she said. She also described how some frightening moments in the sport are not tied to a single crash. "I've had skis come off my feet or my goggles come over my eyes when about to jump, and I've been flying through the air without skis on my feet. That is a weird feeling," she said.

Muir returned to competition this season with World Cup wins in ski slopestyle and big air and also won at the X Games. She said progression comes in steps rather than immediate leaps in difficulty. "When we are going for a new trick, it is never from zero to 100. You do each step to make sure you are comfortable. Then you go for it, which is difficult," she said.

GB Snowsport, the national governing body, has worked with athletes on calming techniques including freediving and breathing techniques under high pressure. "The most important thing is accepting that our sport is risky, but it is something I have chosen to do. I am the one in control," Muir said. Atkin and Muir both said managing fear and risk remains a daily part of their training and competition.