Klug won bronze in parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Salt Lake Games, less than two years after undergoing liver transplant surgery. On July 28, 2000, Klug received a liver transplant, having been diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitits (PSC), a rare degenerative liver condition that requires a transplant and affects only one in 10,000, most of which are young adult men. Prior to the surgery, Klug had known about the disease for nine years, spending much of that time on the waiting list for a new liver. It is the same liver disease that afflicted former NFL great Walter Payton. Six months after the surgery, he won a World Cup event in Kronplatz, Italy.

As reported by the Associated Press, Klug failed to make the U.S. Snowboarding "A" team for the 2008-09 season, which meant he wouldn't receive funding during the run-up to the Vancouver Games. However, Klug founded his own team, which he called America's Snowboard Team, and managed to qualify for the 2010 Games despite his funding obstacles.

After not being named to the 2006 Olympic Team, Klug filed a grievance, believing that U.S. Snowboarding officials misinterpreted the selection criteria in choosing Tyler Jewell. The U.S. Olympic Committe ended up denying Klug's grievance and naming Jewell to the team. After Klug qualified for the 2010 U.S. Olympic team, he received some congratulatory words from Jewell, who will be his teammate in Vancouver. "He shook my hand after the race Sunday and said, 'We're teammates again,'" Klug told the AP. "He told me congratulations. I was really stoked about that."

According to his 2005 autobiography, To the Edge and Back, Klug was born prematurely and developed life-threatening pneumonia as an infant. He survived pneumonia but developed severe asthma, which sent him to the hospital several times. His scariest trip was on his 10th birthday, when he had a tube inserted into his body to pump oxygen directly into his bloodstream. He says that dealing with health problems as a kid helped him deal with PSC and with the aftermath of his transplant.

Though his transplant happened nearly 10 years ago, Klug remains active in promoting donor awareness, and gives speeches on the subject. His donor was a 13-year-old named Billy Flood, who was accidentally shot in the head by a neighbor. Klug speaks for the American Liver Foundation and created the Chris Klug Foundation to increase awareness among teens and young adults about organ donation.