In 2009, as a Pilot, Karen’s plane crashed after take off at the Truckee Airport, on Labor Day. The plane flipped, and she almost didn’t live because the engine came into her. Karen had bilateral cognitive TBIs, broke her orbital bone, fractured C6, T6, T10 and T12 vertabrae. The injury left Karen paralyzed from the waist down.

Karen would love to walk again, so she continues to do exercises to reach that goal. She also wants to return to being adventurous.

Karen is a current patroller at Northstar, and attended the USOC ski camp with the High Fives Foundation in 2016 at Alpine Meadows. She is a great skier, and would make an excellent representative of the organization.