ATHLETES
Competitive Edge for World-Class Athletes
Meet Tess Johnson
I’m a professional freestyle mogul skier competing on the World Cup Tour. For those who don’t know what competitive mogul skiing is, it’s a 250 meter course of big moguls and two jumps on which we have to perform two different aerial maneuvers. The goal is to get down as fast as we can without making any mistakes. Essentially, the goal is perfection. But anyone who has ever skied moguls before (or even seen them) understands the toll it takes on one’s body. I train rigorously in the gym, on the trampoline, on the water ramps, and on snow from May through November. The World Cup Tour begins in December and goes through March when we travel the world reaching a new country weekly to vie for the top spot on the podium. To say the least, it’s intense!
Maintaining a Competitive Edge
Most people ask me, “How are your knees?” While I’ve been fortunate in the knee department, I tell them it’s my back that hurts. I’ve experienced excruciating back pain from a bulging L4, L5 disc, and the 2021 competitive season was especially brutal. Every plane ride left me with sharp pain when I bent over, and every ski session left me with aches all down my glutes. I started to lose hope that it could be treated without taking time off since many PT’s I saw chalked it up to “mogul skiing”, which just so happens to be my career and biggest passion in life. But that’s when I thankfully started seeing Dr. Holen at Avail Soft Tissue & Spine. After a mere three weeks of treatment, I began to feel AND perform better. Dr. Holen worked with my chaotic training schedule to ensure I would have minimal to zero flare-ups while I was lifting in the gym and doing 25 jumps into the pool all summer. He also prescribed me several simple exercises to supplement with the treatment, and by the time December rolled around, I was pain-free, and skied pain-free ALL season.
This past year was an Olympic year, which meant that the entire year was the highest volume and intensity training I’ve ever experienced in my career. Not to mention, the stakes were the highest they’ve ever been as well! It’s no coincidence that I had my best season to date, with two World Cup podiums, two National Championship Titles, and a 5th overall ranking on the World Cup Tour, while skiing pain-free. And that is thanks to Dr. Holen and Avail. I truly believe that if this treatment can help me, without interfering at all in my crazy life, then I know it can help anyone!
THANK YOU Avail Soft Tissue and Spine.
Meet Karen Jarchow
Karen Jarchow is a professional mountain bike and gravel athlete residing in Eagle, Colorado. Her top achievements have been NUE Marathon Champion, Colorado State XC Champion and Fat Bike World Champion. Beyond racing, Karen gives back to her community as the founder and operator of Vail Valley RIDE, a program that gets more kids riding trails, connecting with their backyard and most importantly having fun! Karen is also a PR professional for Backbone Media. Karen has been under care at Avail for the past year to help with recovery from previous injuries in addition to maximizing performance. She is passionate about helping others so she takes care of herself in order to continue her goal of teaching kids & adults the joy of riding.
