Chaffee's mother, who taught her to ski at the age of 3, would have been an alternative for the US ski team at the 1940 Winter Olympics. At age 19, Chaffee tried out for, and won a spot on, the first US Ski Team while a freshman at the University of Denver. She finished fourth in the downhill at the 1966 World Championships. Despite a season-ending crash in 1967 at Vail in the World Cup Series, she ended the season as the 10th ranked in Women's downhill skier, and the 16th ranked Women's All-Around skier. Chaffee was named captain of the US Women's team and was one of the favorites in the downhill at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. She finished 28th in the downhill, blaming her poor showing on using the wrong wax, but she made a global impression with her skin-tight silver racing suit. She retired from ski racing after the 1968 Olympics. She was also a three-time world freestyle skiing champion (1971–73). She was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1988.