Danelle Umstead

Danelle Umstead is a Paralympian ski racing champion and motivational speaker.

At thirteen, Umstead was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye condition that results in total blindness. At twenty-nine, nearly blind, Umstead’s father offered to take her skiing for the first time. In the 3 minutes it took to ski down the mountain, she had found her passion.

A few years later, Umstead met her husband, Rob Umstead, and they became the Paralympic ski racing Team Vision4Gold.

In 2010, shortly after winning two bronze medals at the Paralympic Winter Games Vancouver, Umstead found out that she also had multiple sclerosis. The nerve disease paralyzed half of her body. She first had to relearn how to walk, and then how to ski again.

Umstead was named the Athlete of the Year in 2010 by the National Sports Center for the Disabled and Adaptive Athlete of the Year in 2011 by the United States Ski and Snowboard Association.

In 2014, Danelle and Rob earned a spot in the Sochi Winter Paralympic Games where they earned a bronze medal. They took the bronze again in the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio, Italy, in the Super-G and with a 4th place finish in downhill.

Umstead’s hobbies include hiking, paddle boarding, camping, cooking, shopping, composting, going on road trips with her family, entertaining guests and remodeling the family property. She is also passionate about giving back and inspiring others. She mentors junior disabled athletes by sharing her story and offering encouragement.