Meg Gustafson

Quick Facts

• Specialty: Para Alpine Skiing (Vision Impaired) — AS4 Classification
• Competes with sighted guide Spenser Gustafson, her older brother
• Her father, Peder, ski raced at Boston College
• Involved with Sisters in Sports, an organization focused on empowering and uniting women and girls with disabilities
• Enjoys creating art through her brand EYEris art

Biographical Information

Born in Edina, Minnesota, Maragaret “Meg” Gustafson was diagnosed at birth with a genetic disorder affecting her eyes' ligaments. At age 12, her retinas became fully detached, requiring six surgeries and a six-week recovery period. Her father, Peder, an Edina Hornet alumnus who ski raced at Boston College, got all three of his children started in the sport early. Meg and her older brother, Spenser, started racing for Team Gilboa at Highland Hills in Minneapolis, where the foundation of their skiing partnership began.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gustafson family took advantage of virtual learning options and moved into a family friend's vacation rental in Vail for a year and training with Ski & Snowboard Club Vail. For Gustafson, training during daylight hours rather than at night made a significant difference. The family fell in love with the coaching, the club, and everything about Vail, eventually making Edwards, Colorado, their permanent home. It was in Winter Park that Erik Peterson, the Competition Center Director at the National Sports Center for the Disabled, directed them toward Para skiing partnerships.

Their first official race together came at the U16 Rocky Central Championships in Vail in March 2025, where 15-year-old Meg competed in all three events—slalom, giant slalom and downhill.

Meg Gustafson draws significant inspiration from her mentor, Danelle Umstead, founder and CEO of Sisters in Sports, a foundation that strives to "empower and unite women and girls with disabilities.”

In February 2026, U.S. Ski & Snowboard nominated Meg Gustafson and Spenser Gustafson as a pair to the U.S. Paralympic Team for the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the first Paralympic Games appearance for both athlete and guide.