At Sochi 2014, Dara Howell won the first ever Olympic gold medal awarded in ski slopestyle. Howell dominated the competition, beginning with the top score in the qualification round. In the final, her incredible first run earned her 94.20 points, which gave her the victory by almost nine points. But after that highest of highs, she took most of the 2014-15 season away from skiing, although she did win bronze at the 2015 Winter X Games in Aspen.
She didn’t compete at a FIS World Cup until the PyeongChang 2018 test event in February 2016 where she finished fourth. Howell continued to compete sporadically as she tried to regain her confidence and love for skiing. With the help of coaches Geoff Lovelace and Sian Angharad, she started to rise from the lowest low she had felt in her career. She qualified for her second Olympic Games and competed at PyeongChang 2018.
As a 17-year-old, Howell was the youngest female competitor at the 2012 Winter X Games in Aspen where she finished sixth in slopestyle. She would go on to win the bronze medal at the 2012 Winter X Games in Tignes before she had even graduated from high school. The 2012-13 season saw Howell enjoy even more success. She won her first FIS World Cup medal and captured silver at the 2013 FIS World Championships behind Canadian teammate Kaya Turski. She also won bronze at both Winter X Games in Aspen and Tignes.