Pro snowboarder Kimmy Fasani to screen new documentary Thursday at Riverwalk Theater in Edwards
The athlete and breast cancer survivor shares ups and downs of the sport, parenthood and life’s challenges at Vail Health event
KimmyFasani.com/Courtesy photo
Kimmy Fasani answers to a lot of titles: pro snowboarder, Burton team rider, mother, award winner, advocate, pioneer, breast cancer survivor, just to name a few. She will share her remarkable story of passion, perseverance and resilience at a film screening of her new documentary, “Butterfly in a Blizzard” on Thursday at the Riverwalk Theater in Edwards. The event is hosted by Vail Health and will include a panel discussion with Fasani and Vail Health professionals after the film screening.
Fasani is a household name in snowboarding. The Burton Global Team Rider was the first woman to land a double backflip in Silverton, Colorado, in 2011. In 2016, she was part of the heavily male-dominated crew in Absinthe Films’ “After Forever” and won an industry-wide recognition, Rider of the Year, from Transworld Snowboarding and Woman’s Rider of the Year and Women’s Video Part of the Year from Snowboarding Magazine.
The idea for a documentary about Fasani has been in the works for eight years, and the filming has covered the past five years. What Fasani said was first going to be a documentary about how to balance being a pro snowboarder and starting a family has taken many twists and turns, including heartache and loss, a deadly diagnosis and learning how to give back to others. The film stars Fasani, her husband, Chris Benchetler, an artist and pro skier, and their two sons, Koa and Zeppelin.
Fasani talks about how she pioneered rights for women athletes who wanted to start families and even got Burton to change the wording of contracts to include pregnancy and maternity clauses. The film also includes medical professionals who talk about the transition from being a woman to becoming a mother, which is a newly coined term called matresence, which is similar to the transition period of going from a child to an adolescent.
Can Fasani “have it all” and balance the life of a professional athlete while juggling motherhood and much more? Find out on Thursday and ask her yourself during the panel discussion, which will also feature Dr. Stephanie Miller, a board-certified breast surgeon at Vail Health, and Erin Perejda, the supportive care services manager and licensed clinical social worker at Vail Health Shaw Cancer Center.
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This film doesn’t just inspire mothers, women in sports and breast cancer survivors but everyone who has had to overcome struggles of their own. Tickets are $10 and the event starts with a Welcome Reception and light bites at 5:30 p.m. The screening of the film will be at 6:30 p.m. followed by the panel discussion at 7:45 p.m. To get tickets, visit RiverwalkTheater.com.
