Emily Cook, a 22-year-old on the U.S. ski team that is based at Park City, Utah, shares a weekly diary on her preparations for the Olympics. This is her first installment.

My name is Emily Cook, and I am a freestyle aerialist. Some of you may not know exactly what that means, so I'll give you a little background.

EMILY COOK

Cook Birthdate: July 1, 1979 Hometown: Belmont, Mass. Sport: Freestyle skiing -- aerialist Accomplishments: The No. 1 freestyle aerialist in the United States, she won the gold medal at the 2001 U.S. Championships and the silver medal at the 2001 Grand Nationals. She won a bronze medal at the 2001 World Cup at Deer Valley. Personal: She attends the University of Utah. When she's not on the slopes, she enjoys scuba diving, rock climbing, yoga, fly-fishing and reading. When she was only 2 years old, her mother was killed by a drunk driver. Her father taught her how to ski when she was 4.

My sport consists of skiing down a hill at about 25-30 mph into a 12- to 14-foot jump with a 70-degree angle at the top; we then fly about 45 feet into the air and do flips and twists until we land on a hill with a 38-degree pitch. Our landing hill is usually a bit steeper than a black diamond trail at a ski resort and chopped about a foot deep so if we crash the impact will not be as hard.

One of the tricks I will perform this season will send me for two flips with three full twists in it, we call it a full double full.

Often people ask me how I possibly got into such a sport. As a child I was extremely active. My dad taught me how to ski when I was 4, and I started gymnastics that year, as well. I immediately fell in love with both sports. When I was 12, I began the sport of freestyle aerials in Lake Placid, N.Y., and spent my days bouncing on a trampoline and learning to do flips off a jump that lands you in a swimming pool.

Even then I dreamed of the Olympics and was quoted in the Boston Globe talking about 2002. When I was 16, I decided to go to Carrabassett Valley Academy, a ski academy in Sugarloaf, Maine, where I could combine my high school education with skiing. When I was 18, I moved to Utah to train full time and be in the city where the Olympics would be held. That year, I also was fortunate enough to begin an incredible relationship with my sponsor Visa, which helped me survive my first few years on the U.S. ski team.

I currently live in Park City, Utah, where our team trains June-October at the best summer jumping facility in the world. During the summer we also spend long hours in the gym lifting weights, spinning on bikes, working on trampolines and doing many other activities to enhance our jumping abilities. I personally love yoga and kickboxing, as well.

In the winter, we travel all over the world training and competing. I am currently at Apex Mountain in British Columbia, Canada. Unfortunately the snow is not yet perfect and it is a balmy 55 degrees outside. My teammates and I have been spending our days preparing for the season in ways other than jumping, which includes a few hours in the gym each day. We are hoping for cold weather, and I'm sure will be jumping very soon. In a few days, we will begin the process of building our jumps, which will take probably about two days shoveling and moving snow around.

I am so excited for the season to begin. My summer went almost perfectly, with tons of jumps into a pool, hours of gym time and extra help from our team psychologist and nutritionist, who will soon be joining us in Canada. I feel entirely prepared and can't wait to show what I have learned this summer in competition.