KTVB

Boise native Dane Spencer

KETCHUM -- A former U.S. Olympian from Idaho who nearly died two years ago in a downhill race is still trying to get his groove back.

Dane Spencer, who grew up on the slopes of Bogus Basin near Boise, has dreams of making the U.S. team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

The 30-year-old will be training with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation this winter.

Spencer placed 16th at the 2002 Olympics in Utah in the giant slalom, but was left off the Torino, Italy-bound U.S. team in 2006.

That February, he broke his pelvis and neck in a downhill race in Montana.

Now, he's trying to regain his form, Spencer says, including mental hurdles that accompany "going from...death's door back to the race course."