Keely Cashman back on snow, seeking confidence after crashes
For Squaw Valley native-Keely Cashman, the Olympic atmosphere has been embedded into her upbringing. The 22-year-old was rising to the top of the World Cup rankings last winter as one of only three U.S. women competing in all alpine disciplines. Despite a recent spill at Mammoth Mountain that left her face and hand cut from rocks, Cashman has fully returned to snow and is laser focused on the Olympic season ahead.
Cashman was well on her way to World Cup success last season. After three podium finishes in the 2020 U.S. National Championships at Copper Mountain, she made her 2020-21 World Cup speed debut in Val d’Isere in December, where she scored points in every finish and landed her first top ten World Cup finish in the super G. Despite missing the entire technical prep period due to contracting COVID-19, Cashman was taking the speed circuit by storm.
Her next speed race was scheduled for St. Anton just after the first of the year, providing ample time to train in Garmisch for the upcoming races. Yet a normal day of super G training led to a terrific crash that left her with memory loss, bruises, an extended stay at the hospital, and a premature end to the season.
Unconscious
Cashman recalls being on a somewhat flat, rolling section in the training course. As she moved over the roll, her inside edge caught, hooked up the hill, and slammed her body into the snow. The impact caused her to lose consciousness.
“I feel very, very, lucky because it could have been very bad,” said Cashman. “I think the fact that I was knocked out immediately almost helped me. Obviously I don’t want to have a head injury but it made my body super relaxed and limp so I think that really saved me from having a bunch of tears and injuries in my legs.”
While unconscious and without memory for hours following the crash, Cashman sustained a minor MCL strain, hematoma in both hips, and a temporary loss of feeling in her foot from bruising. Fearing her head injury was causing loss of feeling in her foot, Cashman was kept in the hospital for eight days. But her injuries ultimately began to heal, and she flew back to the States to recover.
Luck may have been with Cashman to prevent any serious tears, but her timeline for return to snow was uncertain. Healing her head was the priority, and upon returning home, Cashman and her team decided she would sit out the remainder of the season.
Return to snow
After spending time resting at home in California while taking on a full load of online classes from the University of Utah, Cashman began working back to her normal training and movements. Her concussion had healed, her foot had regained normal feeling, and her knee had full mobility. She began working out between her time at home and at the Center of Excellence in Park City before ultimately returning to snow with her dad at Squaw Valley in mid-April. Days later, Cashman was reunited with her tech team in Squaw Valley, and soon after, with her speed team in Mammoth.
The technical and tactical aspect of Cashman’s skiing returned with ease, but she says it’s been more of a challenge mentally. Riding on the chair and standing in the start, her mind is clouded with thoughts of her crash, and there’s a mental component she’s never faced before.
“I’ve never had a crash take me out with injury, so coming back into speed and having the right mindset and not skiing tentatively has been something new for me to figure out,” said Cashman. “I wouldn’t ever say I was really afraid of a speed race or to ski downhill. Now it’s really a mental game for me and really focusing on confident skiing is the safest way to ski. If I can do that, I feel safe.”
Despite a training crash in Mammoth during the American Downhiller camp, where she ejected face-first off the run into the rocks on the side of the late-season snow, Cashman has fully recovered from her injuries and embraced a few new scratches on her face.
The Olympic dream
Cashman’s time off snow has not deterred her goals for the 2021-22 season in speed, tech, or the Olympics. She trusts her schedule will leave her feeling prepared in both tech and speed before next season, yet at the same time, not overloading herself in training and races. This fine line also has school in question, will she continue taking courses at the University of Utah after the summer semester? While many questions are still unanswered going into the Olympic year, Cashman feels she is already in a good place for next season.
“Yeah, I got injured last year,” acknowledged Cashman. “But I don’t think it hurt me that much. I had good results before (the crash) so I was able to focus on those and not focus so much on the fact that I was injured and missed most of the season. I mainly just look back and remember how that felt. Bringing that back into my skiing makes me feel confident.”
Cashman’s focus since returning to snow has been rooted in regaining confidence. She finds focusing on a single objective keeps her mind in the moment rather than drifting back to the crash that ended her season. Recognizing she has a mental block to overcome, a schedule to balance, and an Olympic year at the forefront of her objectives, Cashman ultimately sees herself in the right spot to achieve her big goals for next season.
About the Author: Karina Schwartznau
