Sponsored: The Stories Behind The Skiers

On this episode of the "Sponsored" podcast, presented by Powder Radio, host Mike Powell interviews Michelle Parker, one of the most well-rounded skiers in the sport and an eternal optimist. "Skiing is the most fun thing in my life. It is my biggest passion. I love it so much," says Parker. "The second that it starts to become not fun, I'm doing something wrong and I need to reevaluate. My whole thing was no pressure, have fun with it, always smile." Parker retains her positivity despite the number of difficult injuries and tragedies she has experienced among her Lake Tahoe community. "I don't think it's normal for someone my age to have lost more people than I can count on both hands that I consider to be close to me," says Parker. "Every death I personally deal with it differently, and the most recent one that affected me super deeply was Timy Dutton, and he was my best friend since day one and we were like babies together and our moms were super close... I haven't had the nerve to delete his name