Lindsey Vonn

Residence: East Vail

Event: Alpine Skiing

Olympic chances: Lock

As she skis into the twilight of her career, Lindsey Vonn is looking to solidify her legacy in PyeongChang. The 33-year-old celeb has identified winning a second Olympic gold medal in the downhill as a top priority before she even considers retiring to her new home (and permanent residence) in East Vail.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Residence: Eagle-Vail

Event: Alpine Skiing

Olympic chances: Bet the farm

At 22, Mikaela Shiffrin already has won an Olympic gold medal, three straight World Championship gold medals, and a World Cup Overall title. Shiffrin will undoubtedly be looking to repeat in the slalom—her principal event in which she is already considered among the all-time best—but she’s also an easy medal contender in the giant slalom and could surprise in the super-G.

Taylor Seaton

Residence: Avon

Event: Ski Halfpipe

Olympic chances: Dark horse

 A rebel who always champions tight, clean, controlled style over undisciplined, inverted trickery, Seaton, at 27, finally got the nod from the US Freeskiing Team in 2017—an unheard-of development in a sport that habitually taps teenagers in forming its national roster. Why now? Seaton unveiled a halfpipe run that included back-to-back-to-back-to-back 900-degree spins.

Tess Johnson

Residence: Edwards

Event: Freestyle Moguls

Olympic chances: Toss-up/coin flip

A local wunderkind, who at the age of 14 was the youngest ever named to the US Freestyle Moguls Team in 2014, Tess Johnson has been rocketing up the World Cup rankings with a sequence of career-best finishes, including a top-10 result at Deer Valley last year.

Ryan Wachendorfer

Residence: Edwards

Event: Snowboard Halfpipe

Olympic chances: Fair shake

Closing out the 2016-17 season with a win at the USASA National Championships at Copper Mountain, Wachendorfer has good momentum heading into the Olympic winter. Last year, the 20-year-old’s signature run (consisting of four consecutive double flips) was enough to land him on the podium alongside Shaun White at the US Grand Prix.

Jake Pates aka Pates

Residence: Eagle

Event: Snowboard Halfpipe

Olympic chances: Up in the air

Last spring, 18-year-old Jake Pates thrilled the hometown crowd at the Burton US Open in Vail by qualifying in spectacular fashion for the finals among some of the best riders in the world. At 16, Pates made a name for himself a year earlier, claiming double wins in slopestyle and halfpipe at the Youth Olympic Games in Norway.

Hunter Bailey

Residence: East Vail

Event: Freestyle Moguls

Olympic chances: Better than yours

East Vail’s Hunter Bailey was named to the US Freestyle Ski Team after a gold medal–winning performance at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in 2016. But the highlight of his career came last spring, when the 21-year-old finished up the season with a pair of wins at the US National Championships in Steamboat.