Dennae was introduced to winter sports at a young age and loved to ski and snowboard, but she decided to focus on snowboarding in the 4th grade. After graduating high school, she began working at a local ski area and was able to practice her snowboarding skills everyday. During her third year working at the hill, she began to experience leg pain, which led to a diagnosis of Ewing Sarcoma. Dennae battled with cancer for three years and underwent a limb salvage surgery that ultimately led to an above-the-knee amputation. Russell’s goal through the entirety of her battle with cancer was to snowboard again, and by 2019 she was back on snow. That same year at an event she was noticed by Paralympic athlete Brittani Coury, who invited her to participate in the upcoming Dew Tour, and an official IPC race.

Following this invitation, Dennae started training with Team Utah, and was named to the U.S. Para Snowboard team in 2023. Her biggest goal is to make it to the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina.