Zoe Kalapos is a rising force in women’s halfpipe. Originally a skier, she started snowboarding at age 5 at the behest of her father while the family was living in Michigan. Kalapos’ dad even built a miniature terrain park — dubbed “Mt. Kalapos” — in their backyard.

As Kalapos progressed with her riding, the family was faced with a difficult decision. In order to allow her to advance even further, she would need to start training in Colorado, so she moved to Vail with her father and brother while she was in high school. But her mother had to stay behind in Michigan for the next few years, traveling out to Colorado whenever she could.

Since then, Kalapos has had a lot of success on the Revolution Tour, a contest series for junior-level riders, and won a silver medal at the junior world championships in 2014. She’s now starting to make a mark at the pro level, as evidenced by her seventh-place finish at the Burton U.S. Open in 2017.

Kalapos is competing at her first Dew Tour this year.