gilman was born and raised in grand junction, colorado. hailing from an athletic family, gilman began skiing at a very young age and competed in the ussa u14 prater cup at the age of 11. she later began snowboarding and was competing on the professional half pipe circuit by age 17. she was a member of the us junior olympic snowboard team in 2002 as well as held multiple snowboard sponsors including never summer, bolle, 686, and tech nine. as a child, gilman appeared in several commercials and a few television shows for local businesses.