Perth skier Charlie Guest is aiming to be fit for competition by February following a potentially career-ending crash which left her with a broken back.
The 20-year-old is back in the gym following the training accident in Sweden, where she hit a boulder.
She broke four vertebrae and was strapped to a board for eight hours as an ambulance took her 250 kilometres to hospital at Ostersund.
Her injuries would almost certainly have been far more severe had she not been wearing a back protector, which she had donned only twice before the accident.
However, just three weeks after the incident, Charlie is working on getting back to full fitness and aiming to return to competitive skiing.
Before the crash, she had qualified for the world championships in America and says she has not ruled out being fit enough to compete.
“After the initial shock of the accident, it feels good to be training and I’m definitely making progress every day,” she said. “I have to be patient, though, and I realise I need to let my body recover and build my strength up again before I even think about getting on my skis.
“I try not to think too much about what could have happened as it is pretty terrifying. My back protector made all the difference and I owe my coach so much for insisting I wore it.
“I want to encourage everyone in ski racing to wear the kit. It could be the difference between walking away from an accident, or not being so lucky.”
She added: “At the moment I am taking one day at a time, but ideally I would love to be back competing in time for the world championships in February.
“This competition would be my first senior championships which I was delighted to have qualified for.
“At this stage, it’s a great motivator and something to aim for.”
Charlie is working on her rehabilitation with a team of dedicated experts at Sport Scotland’s Institute of Sport in Stirling.
Scott Crawford, Charlie’s strength conditioning coach, said: “We have started working with Charlie on building her strength back up so she is doing some low impact strength training initially.
“We also need to work on Charlie’s mobility as she can’t think about skiing until she has full movement back on all sides of her body. She will get there though Charlie is a true professional and is incredibly positive so everything is going in her favour at the moment.”