Near the end of last year, Kevin Pearce was one of the best snowboarders in the world. He had visions of winning more halfpipe contests, making the United States Olympic team and returning home to Vermont, perhaps with a medal.

Now he is on the verge of what feels like a greater victory: simply making it home.

Pearce sustained a traumatic brain injury during a halfpipe practice on Dec. 31. He was airlifted to a Utah hospital, took days to regain consciousness and watched February’s Winter Olympics on television from a brain rehabilitation center in Colorado. Far from the spotlight, Pearce continues daily therapy to retrain his muscles and his mind.

“Everything has been getting better,” said Pearce’s father, Simon. “It’s been across the board.”

Pearce’s progress has been so steady that he is expected to return home to Norwich, Vt., in the next few weeks, his parents said. They expect him to be driving by year’s end. And Pearce’s doctor believes Pearce will snowboard again.

“I don’t know that he’ll be doing halfpipes, because we don’t want him to hit his head,” said Dr. Alan Weintraub, medical director of the brain injury program at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo. “But he’s going to snowboard. I can pretty much guarantee it.”