Behind the Design: Breezy Johnson's Helmet Art Competition

Growing up, JHMR Athlete and Jackson Hole native Breezy Johnson dreampt of competing in the Olympics. Drawing inspiration from her childhood hero Lindsey Vonn, she fell in love with the idea of competing in the winter Olympics in Beijing with custom artwork adorneding her helmet. Thus, Breezy's helmet artwork contest came to fruition.

We launched the contest on New Year's Day and submissions began pouring in immediately. Artists from varying locations submitted their very best creations, bringing Breezy's dream closer to life. In total, over 160 artists submitted designs; we highly recommend viewing them all here.

Breezy faced a tough task: narrowing down all the incredible designs to just four finalists. She eventually decided upon the following:

• A visually captivating bison skull containing Corbet's Couloir, the Tram, and an American flag. Piece by Brittney Ziebell (@bzeebs)

• A dreamy mountain landscape and winter sun. Piece by Nathan Mortenson (@growhuts)

• A stained glass-esque rendition of the tetons and the iconic Mormon Row. Piece by Elyse Mock (@elyse24k)

• A patriotic racecourse through gates containing milestones in Wyoming's history with the Tetons looming in the background. Piece by Charlotte Johnson @charbemiss

After a day of voting, the people chose two lucky artists to move into the final round: Nathan Mortenson and Charlotte Johnson. The final day of voting came down the wire! At an almost even split, local 12-year-old Nathan  barely edged out Charlotte by less than 40 votes, aggregated across our Instagram and Facebook stories. Nathan, from Victor, ID, is a passionate skier and artist. Inspired by his hero Chris Benchetler, he diligently worked on his creation for a week leading up to the submission deadline. Elated to win the contest, he was awarded some new skis; natrually, he gravitated towards this year's Bentchetler skis, covered with ethereal nature graphics. See the winning design below:

Racing doesn't pause just because the Winter Olympics are on the near horizon. Breezy continued her dominance across multiple races and her 2022 Olympic dreams were in reach. Tragically, Breezy crashed during training and sustained a knee injury. Although she is tough as nails, the injury was unfortunately severe enough to put her Olympic pursuit on pause and force her out of this winter's Olympic Games. We are devastated for her, especially with how successful she had been up to that point in her season. However, we know she is strong-willed, tenacious, and a hard-working athlete. We have full confidence we'll see her dominating race courses once again. When asked if he had any words of encouragement for Breezy, Nathan Mortenson replied, "stay strong, good luck, and don't give up!". We're all on Team Breezy and we're here to support her recovery each step of the way.