GB snowboarder nearly died after smashing into ‘wall of ice’ while training
She was told she might never walk again after the crash
A snowboarder who survived a life-threatening crash is back on the slopes preparing for next year’s Winter Olympics, despite being told she may never walk again.
GB Snowsport freestyle snowboarder Maisie Hill, 24, from Cheltenham, suffered severe injuries in January 2023 while training in Switzerland.
She crashed at extreme speeds into a "wall of ice" while practising a routine rail trick.
Hill said she was almost killed by the amount of blood she lost from a lacerated liver following the impact.
She was flown to Gaubunden Hospital in Chur, where she said she was told she may never walk again.
The impact also punctured a lung, caused a major brain bleed, and broke two vertebrae and four ribs.
However, through sheer determination and a “life-changing” grant from the Olympic Solidarity programme, within nine months Hill was back on the slopes doing what she loves.
She hopes to qualify for the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games in February 2026.
“I remember the doctor listing all the injuries I had. It was horrible how many there were, it just went on and on. I was crying, wishing they’d stop talking,” she said.
“In my first season competing again (2023-24), I was very scared and was losing confidence in myself.
“However, I find that smiling every time I get back to the top of the slope helps me perform, reminding me how lucky I am and that I love snowboarding.”
Hill was introduced to snowboarding by her father aged eight on the hill behind their house in Cheltenham.
In 2022, aged 21, she qualified to compete for Britain at her first World Cup, where she came seventh.
In January 2023, she had just returned from a World Cup in Austria and was preparing for the next competition in Laax, Switzerland.
“It was a foggy day and I was tired,” she said.
“I was just doing one last run before the tournament the following day.
“I don’t know how, but I was going extremely fast and I slipped off a rail.
“I slammed into an ice wall.”
Hill knew instantly that everything had changed.
“I refused to breathe because I was panicking so much,” she said.
“I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything.”
After surgery, Hill remembers a moment of pure relief when she was able to wiggle her toes.
She moved back to Cheltenham with her mother, and Team GB provided physiotherapy.
Slowly she regained her strength, though it was not easy.
That summer in 2023, she received an email from the Olympic Solidarity programme, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) global development initiative, saying she had been selected for a grant, after being nominated by GB Snowsport.
“It was life-changing. I don’t think my parents could have continued funding me,” Hill said.
“Suddenly I thought, ‘I’m going to do this!’”
The programme offers athletes from around the world a sum of money every four months leading up to the Olympics.
James Macleod, IOC Director of NOC Relations, Olympic Solidarity and Olympism365, said: “Currently 438 athletes from 89 NOCs are receiving a monthly grant from Olympic Solidarity, supporting their journey to the next Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.”
After coming fifth at an Austrian World Cup in March, Hill said she is on track to qualify for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics next February.