She doesn’t admit it, but Kiley Staples is kind a of renaissance woman.

She thoroughly enjoys reading, playing tennis, mountain biking and being active overall.

But she also loves to ski, and ski fast.

The U.S. Ski Team member and 10-year Park City resident has begun to hit her stride on the slopes this season.

“It’s been really good so far,” said Staples of her season start.

What makes her impressive start more notable are the obstacles she has been forced to overcome dating back to last season. Like many downhill skiers, she has had to contend with knee injuries. She suffered a torn ACL in March of 2009, but has been able to bounce back as well as she hoped.

She gave credit to her rehab regimen and the overall effort she put in going forward.

“I felt like after all that training I was able to get back to where I wanted to be,” she said.

Staples uses the word speed quite often.

She thrives on it, enjoys it, and looks to go even faster, if she can.

She bounced back from the ACL injury at the end of the 2009-2010 season, rattling off four straight first-place finishes in FIS slalom races following the U.S. Alpine Championships in Lutsen, Minn.

This season has been more of the same.

In 13 FIS races so far this year, Staples has finished in the top 10 eight times, winning two of them.

“I’m just enjoying skiing,” she said.

Enjoying skiing is nothing new to Staples; she’s been skiing since she was 5 years old when her late father put her in a NASTAR program at Snowbird Resort.

The oldest of five children, Staples and her four younger siblings who range from age 11 to 17 all are involved in skiing programs. One of her siblings is on the Park City Ski Team and her 17-year-old sister aspires to ski at the University of Utah.

“We all love to be active,” she said.

Staples grew up in Bountiful until she was 10, moved to Park City, became familiar with the local resorts and even went to the Winter Sports School for a year.

Since racing competed with her schooling, she got her high school diploma through BYU independent study school.

The 21-year-old Staples says she eventually would like to take college classes somewhere, but would like to capitalize on her time with the U.S. Ski Team.

“It’s an amazing thing we get to do,” she said. “I feel really lucky and sometimes I tell myself I just need to stop and take it all in.”

Being able to travel worldwide, Staples relishes seeing the sights at every new stop.

“I want to enjoy it and remember it all,” she said.

She singled out St. Moritz in Switzerland as her favorite international ski resort and named Snowbird, the hill she learned to ski on growing up, as her favorite domestic resort.

But it’s Staples’ love for speed and her desire to improve that is getting her results this year. She hopes to turn enough heads to make the alpine B squad. Being surrounded by teammates and other top downhill athletes on a weekly basis will only help her get to where she wants to be.

“It really inspires me,” she said. “It pushes me to step up. My goals are to win.”

Her goals this season are to compete for the NorAm overall title and hopefully earn a World Cup spot.

“I just need to keep skiing fast and hopefully everything will fall into place,” she said.