Keri Herman grew up with a passion for competition. For the Minnesota native, that originally meant taking to a somewhat harder surface, i.e., playing competitive ice hockey all the way through high school. After a move to the University of Denver, Herman shifted that passion into skiing and turned it into a career, taking the slopestyle scene by storm.

In 2010 she made a grand entrance with a silver double dip, taking second in the Winter X Games slopestyle and then again at Euro X. Then she grabbed a Dew Tour slopestyle silver and the second overall spot in the 2010 AFP rankings. Herman proved 2010 wasn’t a fluke when she stomped a silver medal run at Winter X 2011, earned bronze at the inaugural women's slopestyle event at World Champs and took second overall in the AFP rankings.

In 2012, she consistently earned top five spots at all the major events, which landed her third in the AFP women’s overall rankings.

Coming in hot in 2013, Herman won the opening Olympic qualifying period slopestyle World Cup in Argentina as well as the Copper U.S. VISA Grand Prix World Cup. These wins helped Herman snatch up the World Cup slopestyle title, the first American female to do so.

KERI SAYS
I took a different approach to my training this season: just skiing for fun and learning with my friends and that was just what I needed. My wins this season were so exciting. I almost didn’t go to the Argentina World Cup, but I am so happy I did. The icing on the cake was the slopestyle title at the end of the season. I wasn’t expecting that. I’m really hoping to continue my success through next year, and I’ve got my eye on Sochi.

FIRST TRACKS
Herman only skied a little bit growing up because her main focus was playing ice hockey. She played on the varsity team from 7th-12th grade and wasn’t allowed to ski; not that she had the time. After high school, she moved to Colorado to attend the University of Denver, skiing only enough to pay off her season pass during her first two years. Then, in her junior year, she moved to Australia for a study abroad program and had a continuous year of summer. By the time she got back to Colorado, she was sick of the summer heat and she trekked up to the mountains much more, sparking her interest in skiing. She hit her first rail when she was 21 years old and from that point on she was hooked. It took until later in her life to discover her passion for skiing, but the late start didn’t cost her any hardware.

OFF THE SNOW
Herman is the perpetual gamer, she says “If somebody offers up an idea of something awesome to do, I'm always in." Examples: hiking, camping, exploring, swimming in lakes, rivers and the ocean, playing on the beach, biking, catching wildlife, boating, etc. "I like doing almost everything.”