As the daughter of former U.S. teamers, Abby Ghent was born with the U.S. Ski Team in her blood. She also has an incredible base, coming from the same Ski and Snowboard Club Vail program that helped produce both Lindsey Vonn and retired great Sarah Schleper.

The 2013 season was a big jump in the learning and experience category for Ghent, who saw action in both the Lake Louise and St. Anton World Cup weekends. While Lake Louise might just be the perfect intro hill, St. Anton is anything but. It's steep, technical and downright hard. Ghent didn’t back down and was in the finish when teammate Alice McKennis won the first victory of her career. You could say the experience was inspiring.

Though she didn't compete in the full NorAm circuit, Ghent still landed third in both downhill and overall points and walked away from the season knowing what it takes to be fast on the World Cup.

ABBY SAYS
The NorAm overall chase was pretty close and we had a bunch of races canceled at the end of the season. It would have been tough to beat Julia [Ford], but I was skiing pretty strong and it was definitely possible.

I'll still race some NorAm this winter, but mostly it's going to be about World Cup starts and experience.

FIRST TRACKS
Ghent's parents were both ski racers and coaches. Her Mom was on the U.S. Ski Team and Dad was a coach for the U.S. Ski Team. Both of her older sisters are into skiing as well. Erika won a NCAA title for Colorado University, which also happens to be Dad's alma mater. Christa was also a racer, but knee injuries caught up with her career.

OFF THE SNOW 
She's a big fan of country music, beach time and hanging with boyfriend and Canadian Ski Team athlete Dustin Cook. Motto: "Are you working harder than your competition?"