Tanner Hall competed in his first X Games in 2001, at age 17. In 2008, he became the first person to three-peat in two Winter X disciplines, with three straight Skiing SuperPipe and Skiing Slopestyle victories to his name.

Tanner has earned seven X Games gold medals. This month, he'll return to X Games Aspen after missing three years due to injury.

"X Games has always been a good contest, and I'm just going to love my life because I'm blessed with the opportunity to get back in that start gate," Hall says about his return to Aspen.

The last time Tanner Hall competed at X Games Aspen, he was 26. Now 29, he'll be competing against skiers as young as 16. "What do I have to prove? Win or lose, no matter what, I've come this far and I've gotten myself back into fighting form," he says.

Hall fractured his tibial plateaus in both legs and tore both anterior cruciate ligaments in his knees after overshooting a landing in Stevens Pass, Wash., in May 2009. Doctors thought he would never ski competitively again.

Hall sought alternative therapies for treatment of his knees, traveling to Mexico to undergo prolotherapy injections. The injection causes inflammation that increases blood supply to cause growth in tissues that have been torn or weakened by injury.

"My life changed after that injury," Hall says. "Before, I was getting out of control with my partying and my lifestyle. I wasn't being healthy. I wasn't treating my friends and family the way I should. I think karma put me in my place."

In 2011, Tanner met Jessica Tidswell, a physical therapist and athletic trainer with the U.S. Ski Team. She helped him rehab his legs/knees and develop stability, strength and range of motion. He spent five hours a day in the gym for months.

Hall got back on snow last year, and in August 2012 he won gold at the New Zealand Freeski Open, his first halfpipe contest since injuring both knees in 2009.

"Because he was able to get his focus back, he was able to once again do anything he wants in life," says Hall's friend Eric Iberg. "He is now stronger and more focused than he has ever been in his life."

"If I'm on my skis, I've got a big smile on my face. I want to keep it that way," Hall says.