she's amy purdy. pioneer in adaptive snowboarding, a sport she first introduced at the winter x games. my colleague cynthia mcfadden hits the slopes and gets major insights, from an athlete who has overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. >> reporter: i love to ski. i've been doing it since i was a kid growing up in maine. but snowboarding? not so much. okay. i admit it. i was nervous. but the chance to learn from a world champion -- well, that was just too much to pass up. >> i tried snowboarding at 14. and i absolutely fell in love with it. >> reporter: amy purdy and i met up recently in aspen, colorado. we decided to take a run first. >> woo hoo. >> reporter: she on the board. me, on skis. on the lift, she told me a little bit about her life. a kid, growing up in the las vegas desert, dreaming about snow. >> i snowboarded every day off i had. every weekend i had off of school. every holiday we had off of school. and it became a huge part of my life. >> reporter: until one morning 13 years ago, when