As I was flipping through some images of a recent Snowbird snowstorm to post online, I noticed that one of the skiers looked quite familiar. “That looks like Jesse,” I thought as I drooled over images of powder flying up and into the faces of skier after skier. Finally, I realized— that grinning girl was Jesse Ambrogi-Yanson’s twin sister, Molly.

Jesse and Molly grew up on the icy slopes of upstate New York. They competed against each other in ski ballet, aerials and moguls. “She always won, and I was sick of being second or third,” says Jesse. Jesse began training in big air and slopestyle events, where Molly did not compete.

When the girls went off to college, Molly stayed close to home to attend Alfred University in Alfred, NY, and her skiing career dipped off the radar. Jesse jetted across the country to the University of Denver, where she studied marketing. Both girls decided to pursue a master’s degree at DU. After graduation, Molly moved to Utah to work in the Marketing department at Snowbird, and Jesse packed her bags for park mecca, Breckenridge.

On Jesse’s Facebook profile, you’ll find this quote: “The ski bum trades security for face shots, the future for the moment. Considering how hollow the promise of a corporate career has become, who can say the ski bum is not the wiser investor in his or her youth?”

While her twin sister has adjusted to life in a “corporate career” (although the powder-perks in the marketing department at Snowbird can hardly be considered corporate), Jesse has stayed true to her ski bum aspirations. She is now a big mountain skier who rides for Fat-ypus, a garage-born company in Vail. Putting her degree to use, she helps with their social media strategy, and  manages to ski across the globe as one of their athletes. She also finds time for some freelance blogging for Vail Resorts. So, while living wholly as a hard-working ski bum, Jesse has sprinkled brain power and savvy throughout everything she does. Her sister would be proud. –Sally Francklyn

All photos shot by Heather Erson and Drew McElwee of Heather Erson Photography at Breckenridge.