ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK — The intimidating east face of Longs Peak juts toward a blue sky behind her, and the wind at nearly 12,000 feet blows so fiercely that bands of sugary snow sweep across the ice and sting her eyes.

She is tiny out here, like a miniature dancer twirling in a music box. 

Laura Kottlowski skates across the frozen lake, gaining speed before leaping gracefully into a wide-legged split jump and then whipping faster and faster in a sit spin until she stops with a pose, one arm reaching for the sky. Her blond braid flies. Her pink snow pants stand out against the browns of the alpine tundra.

Carving elegant designs in the ice against the backdrop of the rugged Rockies is what she craves.

Kottlowski, who as a girl dreamed of making it to the Olympics and then drifted away from the sport after competing in college, rediscovered skating as it first began — under an open sky, the wind propelling her forward, the creaks and groans of the ice echoing off mountain walls.

Read the full story at ColoradoSun.com.