Ricci Kilgore-Ailes is one of the world's top monoskiers, flying down snowy slopes with daredevil intensity in spite of her spinal cord injury (SCI). Eleven years ago, she was flying through the air as an Olympic hopeful in pole vaulting. Two weeks before the Trials, she was involved in a car accident that ended one dream and led to the fulfillment of another.

A monoskier since shortly after becoming paraplegic, Kilgore-Ailes is one determined chick. When she's not on the slopes, you might find her fire dancing, kayaking, rodeoing, rock climbing or hunting.

After the accident that caused her SCI, doctors told her she would never walk again and that motherhood was impossible. But Kilgore-Ailes held out hope. She credits a series of stem cell treatments available in the Dominican Republic for her ability to walk on crutches ... and for becoming the mother of a baby girl.

Husband Daniel Ailes is in the Navy's Special Forces, stationed in San Diego, Calif. He helps coach the monoskier when he's home on leave. His wife lives in Fraser, Colo., in the winter for ski race season and joins him at the base in the summer months.

“We're both living our dreams,” Kilgore-Ailes says.

Kilgore-Ailes says hippotherapy sessions she took shortly after her accident prepared her for skiing, a sport she learned at Mount Rose Ski Tahoe outside Reno, Nevada. She honed her skills as an instructor there for five years and got a taste of ski racing. As a monoskier, she specializes in the Giant Slalom and Slalom, a pair of events that demand superb technical skills.

So how tough is this Paralympic monoskier who's sponsored by Sports Authority and who refuses to give up or give in?

“My daughter's name is RicciJo,” she says, pronouncing it “Ricky Joe.” “It's like the Johnny Cash song,” she adds.

The lyrics to A Boy Named Sue read, in part:

"Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the name that helped to make you strong."

While Kilgore Ailes has no intention of leaving RicciJo, she wants her daughter to be ready for anything. Just in case.

Photo shows disabled skier Joel Hunt and monoskier Ricci Kilgore-Ailes sharing some down time at the Wells Fargo Ski Cup in Winter Park, Colo., on Feb. 21, 2010.