Meet Erica Ryan and Shannon Irish, two amazing physical therapists from Avon, Colorado, in Eagle County.
Erica Ryan: Avon Physical Therapist
Erica grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, enjoying a very active lifestyle outside and in team sports. She played basketball and ran track in high school, doing every sprinting event as well as jumping and hurdles. Also, Erica was fortunate to have a horse and be involved in riding and showing in Western events. She attended Washington University in St. Louis, spending her junior year abroad in Toulouse, France.
She earned her Physical Therapy degree from the University of Missouri. Some of her clinical rotations were in pediatrics, and her first job was at Shriners Hospital in St. Louis. Erica maintains a passion for treating children with developmental and orthopedic needs.
She held a traveling Physical Therapy job for two years, with her last assignment in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2005. Erica moved to Vail that winter, fell in love with the mountains and community, and made the Vail Valley her home. Also, she has held an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist board certification since 2009 and also has certifications in Pilates and trigger point dry needling.
She specializes in walking and running biomechanics, hip, foot, and ankle treatment, and manual therapy. She loves to learn new assessment tools and exercises that will help optimize athletic performance.
Outside of work, Erica enjoys running (her goal is to run a marathon in every state—ask about her progress; it changes often!), cycling, skiing, and being outside as often as possible. She and her husband, Mark, love to travel, play games, and find new physical challenges.
Shannon Irish: Avon Physical Therapist
Shannon grew up in San Diego, CA, and was active in gymnastics and soccer as a youth. Her family
introduced her to skiing with trips to Lake Tahoe and Mammoth starting at age 7. She swam for 4 years
in high school, played tennis, and ran cross-country. She received her bachelor’s degree at UC Santa
Barbara and then her Physical Therapy Master’s and Doctorate degrees through the US Army- Baylor
University PT program.
She started her career as an Army physical therapist with assignments in San Antonio, TX, Walter Reed
Medical Center, Augusta, GA, and Colorado Springs. While stationed in Colorado Springs, she had a tour
in Bosnia during Operation Desert Shield for the winter.
Having missed the Colorado ski season, she decided to take a seasonal position in Vail after her Army commitment ended in 2003. She learned to snowboard during her first season in CO and then fell in love with Colorado summers and never left the valley!
Shannon has held an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist board certification since 2001 and has certifications in Pilates, trigger point dry needling, and as a Titleist Performance Golf medical practitioner. She has
traveled with the US Snowboard Team, volunteered with Parkinson’s boxing programs, and currently
serves on the Axis board of managers. She has been the director of the Edwards clinic since Axis started
in 2012.
In her free time, Shannon enjoys hiking with her dog Sadie, paddleboarding, golfing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, split boarding, and hanging out with friends. She lives in Edwards with her boyfriend of 7 years (who also happens to be named Shannon!). Her passion is traveling, especially beach vacations, and visiting family in California and Hawaii!
