Jill Kinmont

Jill Kinmont


Jill Kinmont Boothe was born on February 16, 1936 in Los Angeles, California. She is a former alpine ski racer, who competed in the mid-1950s.

Jill Kinmont groomed in Bishop, California, skiing and racing at Mammoth Mountain. She became the reigning national champion in the slalom in 1955, and a top prospect for a medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics, a year away. While competing in the downhill at the Snow Cup in Alta, Utah, she suffered a serious accident during the Snow Cup in Alta, Utah, resulting in paralysis from the neck down. It ironically occurred the same week that Kinmont, weeks shy of her 19th birthday, was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.

After her rehabilitation, she went on to graduate from UCLA and earned a teaching credential from the University of Washington. She married in November 1976, and had a career as an educator first in Washington and then in Beverly Hills, California. She taught special education at Bishop Union Elementary School from 1975-96 in her hometown of Bishop. She is an accomplished painter who has had many exhibitions of her artwork.

Two movies were made on her story: The Other Side of the Mountain in 1975, and The Other Side of the Mountain Part II in 1978.

In 1967 she was induced in the National Ski Hall of Fame.