The Start of Ski Season in JH

This year has been a rough start to the ski season in Jackson. We have just had warm and freezing cold temperatures since November. The mountain is open, but is the least amount of snow it has seen since for this time of year since 1976. We all keep hoping that it will start snowing soon, but in the mean time I am making the best of the snow that we do have. I have been skiing the pass, which has actually been really good you just need to be light on your feet. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is still a the best training grounds I think around and the conditions are challenging, but I feel make you a better skier. I am leaving for Revelstoke in about a week, so taking nonstop runs has helped me get back into skiing shape. Also I have been physically training at the gym doing lots of core and balance stabilization, which I think is so important for any recreational athlete. I also skied Targhee for a day with my good friends Mike Leake and Sarah Felton. That was probably one of the best ski days I have had beautiful views of the tetons and fast nonstop runs. I feel for the most part I am ready for the first competition in Canada which is part of the Freeskiing World Tour. I then head to Chamonix for the the first stop on the Freeride World Tour, which I am really stoked about.

Europa!!!

I recently just went on a awesome trip to Germany, Austria and Italy. I have always wanted to travel to Europe just for fun and not the stress of competing in skiing. So for me this was a trip of a lifetime. We started in Munich, which is a beautiful city with great churches, lots of farmers markets and of course great beer. We then ventured to the beautiful city of Salzburg and received a great tour from a  family friend and stayed with him and his wife a little south of Salzburg out in the country for three nights. We went to some amazing ice caves and just enjoyed time on the farm. The Dolomites were our next stop and definitely the highlight of the trip for me, I can not believe how easy it is to take trains all over europe and it is such a great way to see the countryside. The U.S. really needs a train system. We went to the beautiful town of Cortina, which is a ski town similar to Jackson. I definitely need to go back in the winter and ski, there are some amazing couloirs. We decided to do some Via Ferata, which means the iron way, I never realized how big this was in Europe. The main route we did was the Punta Ana, we started in the village and climbed 7,000 vertical feet up from the valley floor. The route was definitely exposed in spots, which made it very exciting. We did not have correct gear so just used our anchoring device which was connected to our harness an clipped and unclipped as we climbed. The best part about this was being able to take three trams down from the top. These trams were extremely exposed and the views were breathtaking. This area also has great hut system that we also took advantage of, these huts are up in the mountains and have some of the most breathtaking views, hot meals and cold beer.  I can not wait to go back and explore more in the dolomites, there is still so much to see. Now I just have to wait for the snow to fall and dream of Europe.

Climbing Open Book and Do it For Doug

This past weekend my boyfriend Brian and I went climbing in the Tetons. I always hope each time I go I am getting a little better. Climbing is one of those sports that you have to do a lot to actually get really good at it. I still enjoy being in the mountains and pushing myself. We went up to Garnet Canyon to do a classic route in the Tetons called Open Book. I have been up the climb before before, but I had taken a fall, so I needed to redeem myself. When we got to the pitch I was a little nervous but the as I started to climb it, I realized it was not a big deal and cruised through just fine. The next day we then headed to Rock Springs Buttress and climbed Do it for Doug. This route was really challenging for me and I really had to push myself and my strength because it was very sustained 5.10 and exposed, which always makes me nervous. Overall a great weekend of climbing I just wish I could climb more often, because I always feel like I am getting stronger and then I do not climb for two or three weeks. I just love being in the mountains, especially the Tetons!

Cowboy Christmas

I have been competing in the sport of rodeo for almost twenty years. I still have never lost my love for the sport, but because I do like so many sports I have not had as much time to dedicate towards rodeo in the last couple years. This summer my rope horse Katie is in her prime so I decided to take advantage of her an try and ride and rope as much as possible. I love to barrel race as well and have done that longer than I have roped, but I had to put my barrel horse down this winter (RIP Dapples I love you!) I have been running my sisters young horse so that has been fun. This last week I decided to dedicate my week and weekend to rodeoing a bunch. The month of July starting around the fourth is what cowboys and cowgirls call Christmas, because there are so many rodeos and people try to compete in as many as possible. I do not have a ton of time to do so, but I decided to compete four nights in a row with the help of my loving parents I was able to make it work. I started with Wednesday night in Jackson and just competed in Breakaway, for those who have never heard of the sport you do not have to throw the calf down. We have a piece of grocery string tied to our saddle horns along with some type of flag, I use a bandana. When you catch the calf it then break lose from the saddle horn, sounds easy right? Not exactly you have to not leave the box to soon or you get a ten second penalty, also you have to take into consideration that the calf is not going to do exactly what you would like. They are very unpredictable, anyways the first night I caught my calf in 3.6 seconds and placed third which was a great start to my cowboy Christmas. The next night I was up in Pinedale, Wy for their annual Rendevous Rodeo. These calves were huge and slow, which made them hard to catch and easy to break out of the box to soon. I happened to time this one perfectly and roped the calf in 4.6 seconds which won me the night, I was stoked. Now all I had to do was go for the average, which was the combined of all three nights, it is kind of like a big mountain competition. The following night I missed my first loop, but because everybody is gunning after the average you can pack two loops. (you can see it tied onto my horse in the photo.) I caught the calf on my second loop which only dropped me to second in the average. The Championship round was the following night and I knew if I could just catch my calf I had a chance at the average money. I ended up getting that 10 second penalty, but was able to come out in second in the average and make myself some cash. Overall a very successful and fun weekend! I wish I had more time and money to do more because it is so much fun.,

Ellingwood Couloir Middle Teton

I really wanted to get another big day of skiing before the summer kicked into full swing. I found two partners my photographer friend Johnathan (he took the pics) and Chris Kroeger a awesome ski mountaineer. We left the trailhead at 4 in the morning skis on our back and hiking shoes on our feet. I felt like I was going back packing not skiing due to the heavy pack, but I figured it was great training for climbing this summer. We hiked in our shoes for about 2 hours until we reached the mouth of Garnet Canyon we got a little lost because there was so much snow, it was hard to tell where the trail was. I had tried to put my skins on to early and the warm temperatures made it very difficult for my skins to stay on my skis, so I had to boot pack all the way to the bottom of the Ellingwood. It only took us about another hour to reach the bottom of the couloir. Looking up at it, it did not look great there was a huge runnel down the center of it from the warm temps. Skiers right looked skiable though, so we decided to give it a try. We put on our crampons and started up the right side of the couloir it definitely was a lot steeper than it looked. The couloir was probably about 1000 feet long and a consistent pitch of 55 degrees, most the way up it was soft ice which was perfect for crampons and a ice axe. It was definitely a hard climb because of the elevation and the continual pitch. I followed Kroeger up the entire way and we finally made it to the top in about an hour and thirty minutes. I was so excited to ski down, it was definitely the steepest and most consistent descent I have ever done. I went first and just took my time because there was a lot of slough which made it very challenging to ski. It was nice and soft and easy to carve turns, so fun. I made it to the bottom safe and sound and totally was stoked the climb up and the ski down were such a rush! I can't to ski more in the Tetons.

Attempting to ski in the Tetons

The weather has been really funky lately, lots of rain and warm temps. There is still a ton of snow in the mountains, but the snow has not been setting up great for spring skiing. A couple of my friends and I attempted to ski the Sliver a sweet couloir on Nez Perce. We did not start early enough or the snow did not freeze, because as soon as we started to skin up the ridge of Shadow Peak snow started piling up on our skins. We tried to stop and put some wax so hopefully the snow would not stick. It only worked for about 10 minutes at a time. I felt like I was walking on stilts that weighed a 100 pounds. We finally made it to the top of Shadow after about 4 hours of skinning. We still had not gotten to the bottom of the Sliver and were exhausted from the first part of our skin. We decided to turn around because it was already 1230 and temperatures were only getting warmer. The views from the top of Shadow were still pretty amazing on one side you had the Grand Teton and Teewinot and on the other you had Buck and Wister. We had some pretty decent skiing half way down and then it became rotten wet snow. Not getting to the tope of the Sliver is frustrating, but now I want to go back and get it hopefully soon.
Two days later my friend hannah and I decided to get up early and go for Wimpys which is just a small sub peak, but is a great long run with a good pitch. It kind of reminds me of the Hobacks at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. We timed it perfectly and had no problems with snow sticking to our skins. We reached the top around 9:40 am it was so calm and quiet and we had amazing views of the Grand, Buck and Static Peak. We just took some time to enjoy the warm sunny day! We then skied awesome corn snow. I hope I will be able to have some bigger days in the Tetons soon!

Alaska and the Overall Title

I went to Alaska feeling pretty great about my last competition. I had a pretty good buffer for the overall tour points and I was really excited to ski what I wanted to ski and not worry how I placed. We got up early on Friday to see that it had snowed over a foot and was continuing to snow. Friday became a weather and an amazingly wet powder day and we all enjoyed an awesome powder day at Alyeska. Saturday we awoke again to more snow, but the visibility was not nearly as bad. This day marked the year anniversary of John Nicolettas death. We all loaded the tram and had an amazing memorial service for him and then we hiked up a little ways and all skied some very deep powder in his honor. The competition then started finally, I was so excited to finally ski, I picked out a pretty mellow line which I kind of regretted later because there was so much snow and I could have easily hit some bigger airs. In the end I was judged pretty hard and went into the finals in 7th place.
The next day was Easter Sunday and we woke to clear skies but the weather deteriated pretty quickly so we were on the hurry up and wait schedule. We finally were allowed to go inspect around 330 in the afternoon and they pretty much called the competition for that day. I was so bummed because I really just wanted to ski and be done so I could enjoy Alaska. As we were hiking up for inspection it was hard to see a foot in front of you. As we neared the top all of a sudden the fog and the clouds decipated and you could see the entire venue. We were able to see really well during inspection and I had this hope that we would be able to still compete. I picked a line that I was pretty excited about that had about three airs. I knew I needed a strong line to move up from seventh. They decided to try and run us so we waited for the helicopter. I could not believe that I was going to take a heli to the top of my run. As we loaded the heli I snagged the front seat which was awesome because as we flew to the top I was able to get an amazing view of my line and also the ride of my life. I was pretty pumped up to ski after the fast ride to the top. I ran third and felt that I had a strong aggressive and fun run. I skied what I wanted to ski not what I thought the judges wanted to see. I placed second and was so excited that Rebecca had landed her first win. I also in turn took the overall title. I could not believe that I had landed on the podium in every one of the comps this year! I look forward to going home and skiing some fun peaks in the Tetons.

Alaska

Coming back to Alaska is always such a great experience. As soon as I see the amazing mountains I realize why I was so excited to come back here. I am here for the "World Championships" of the Freeskiing World Tour. I am really excited to be back and have a safe and uneventful competition. Last year was really tough on all of the athletes so this year we are all very excited to come back and honor John Nicoletta. The competition starts tomorrow and will be broadcasted live both days at freeskiingworldtour.com. I am just really excited to be here with all my close friends, we have become family through the last couple of seasons and it is so fun to be able to come to Alaska and ski with everyone. The field is a lot smaller this year which I think will be better, but weird because some of the family of skiers were not able to make the trip. I am heading out to check out the venues now and am really excited to ski on my new skis.

World Tour Stop # 3 Kirkwood, CA

Kirkwood was interesting to say the least. The conditions were not the most ideal for a big mountain competition but everyone skied really well and safe. Day One was 50 degrees and sunny and the venue got better as the day went on. I chose to run 18, which I thought was a good call so the conditions had a chance to soften a little. I picked a strait fall line run with four features, I was pretty happy with my run and ended the day tied for first with Karine. Being in first after the first day was great except I had to run last the next day and the weather was supposed to deteriorate as the day went on.
I inspected the next morning with my good friend and competitor Crystal-Rose Lee. We were both shocked with how bad the conditions were, I forgot to mention that we were skiing a permenately closed area called the Cirque. This is one of the most amazing venues on the tour if it had fresh snow and one of the worst without. I picked out a line that was steep and exposed and had very few airs, I was not really in to jumping onto hard pack. Two hours after waiting at the top it was finally my turn to go and they had moved the start down to a place I had not inspected. I was not sure where I was going but hoped I could find my way, just before I skied the weather came in and they sent me anyway. I could not see two feet in front of me but I just went for it and it seemed to work out okay. I am not sure how I was judged on the top half of my run but oh well I was ready to ski and be done with my run. Overall I had a solid run, nothing fancy, but was able to end up in second, which was still very exciting. My good friend Sonja Lercher won, which was awesome because she has worked so hard and had a great run. My second place helps me out for the overall and hopefully I can hold onto it if I ski solid in AK. I can't wait to go back to Alaska!

"7th TIME IS A CHARM" SNOWBIRD NATIONALS!

Finally I was able to put three runs together and it happened in one of the most amazing venues on the world tour in Snowbird, Ut. I went down to Snowbird for the the second stop on the world tour trying not to have any expectations, but really wanting to ski well. To make a long story short I won my first stop on the tour since I started two years ago! Words can not describe how excited I am to have finally finished in the top spot. I have been in first six times and have never been able to hold on to my position. I skied the first day on Silver Fox fluid and fast. I started out tied for second with Emily Teague and behind Leah Evans. We were only a one tenth of a point behind her and then it was completely stacked behind us. I knew I had to ski well on North Baldy to move up. I had an air at the bottom that made me so nervous I had not been that nervous in a long time. I was just nervous because the snow was very hard and fast. The first run I hooked a rock on my takeoff, but was able to hold onto it and land comfortably, but fast. I had moved into the lead by 4 points I could not believe it, I decided to ski the same line on my second run and try and point it a little higher so that I would flow over the rocks and not clip a rock. I definitely had more speed, but I can not describe how fun it was to be solid in the air and have a good run. I was flooded by all of my girlfriends congratulating me which made my win that much more special. I also ended up winning by ten points which was that much more amazing. I am pumped about Kirkwood which is coming up this weekend!

Crested Butte Freeride World Tour Stop # 1

Crested Butte is always a tough venue for me and always leave disliking the competition. This year I tried to have a better attitude and go into it knowing that I am a strong skier and I should be able to ski all the venues on the tour. Day one was in a place called Dead End and Body Bag. These runs are two really steep cliffed areas that are very rocky especially on the bottom half. I picked out a line in Body Bag and felt pretty good about my line. I convinced myself that I could ski this steep chute and do some strong hop turns, I definitely excel more when I am able to do wide open fast turns. I had a pretty strong run except I sat my butt down on one of my hop turns when the snow fell away underneath my skis. I was docked pretty hard for my butt down, but was only two points out of first. I knew I still had a chance at the podium if I skied strong the next day.
The finals were held in The Hourglass a permanently closed area that is only skied when our competition comes to the Butte or if people poach the area. It has only been used four times in the past 18 years so the ski patrol love to be able to let us use the venue. I was able to compete in the Hourglass last year and it definitely got the best of me so I had a little different approach this year. I decided to ski a place called Bed Bath and Beyond, which is full of pillows and steep shots. The problem with Hourglass is that it is not open so it does not get skied and therefore is very sugary and has no base. This makes it hard to ski fluid or fast, I picked out a line that had a few pillows and then moved into a mandatory air at the bottom of the venue.
I started fourth which was a good start position and just told myself to slow down so that my tips would not dig in and I would not fall over due to the variable conditions. I had one of the best runs I have ever had in Crested Butte and was stoked with my run, I moved from 9th place up to 1st. They decided only to take three of us up for the Superfinal run due to the large point spread between third and fourth place. I knew all I had to do was stay on my feet and I could have won my first world tour event. I watched the other two girls ski and heard their scores. I decided to stick with my same line because I knew the line well. The only problem with skiing my same line was that the snow had changed a lot since my first run. My fourth turn into my run my tips dug into the bad snow and I fell over. This fall obviously cost me my placing, but i ended up third which is still a good start to the season and also my best result I have ever had in the Butte.

Rogers Pass

I have always heard great things about Rogers Pass, but it was more amazing than I had ever expected. We went to the hermit area which is just one of the many areas to ski. We skinned up through the trees for about 40 minutes and then it just opened up into a beautiful view of long powder fields and massive mountains for back drops. Angela who is our filmer was feeling a bit under the weather, so we decided to find the most accessible lines. We found three amazing lines so each of us three girls had our own lines. The snow was amazing and the light cast a perfect glow onto the snow. I was also feeling a little sick so I tried to regain my energy with one of my Probars and it did the trick. I was able to rally and get myself up the mountain and ski a couple fun lines. I just got a taste of Rogers so I am definitely going back soon.

Fourth Door and Mckenzie Couloirs

Laura Booting Up Skiing Mckenzie Couloir

Mckenzie Peak and Couloir

I am finally in Canada and have spent the last two days at Revelstoke and all I can say is wow! This mountain has some unbelievable terrain and we were able to ski some awesome couloirs today. I am up here with Arcteryx clothing and three other amazing women one being our photgrapher/filmaker. Yesterday I was staring at Mckenzie couloir all day and I could not wait to have the opportunity to ski it today. It is about a 800 foot couloir that has about a 45 degree pitch, talk about my perfect run.

We hiked around the back of Mt. Mckenzie and walked past a bunch of different couloirs unitl we arrived at door four, which also was a very steep couloir probably about 50 degrees and 400 feet long. The entrance was located between two large cornices and we had to do a bit of a hop into the chute. After skiing this couloir it dumped us out right at the bottom of Mckenzie couloir. We then boot packed up the couloir Laura and I switching turns putting in the boot pack. The snow was very deep and sugary. The views from the top were amazing mountains for miles and miles. I skied the couloir first and had awesome powder up to the knee. Then Laura and Andrea both ripped down the couloir as well beautifully done I must say. We were all so pumped that we were able to ski both of these awesome couloirs. Tomorrow we head to Rogers Pass.

Time at Home

  There has not been a lot going on in Jackson since I returned from Red Mountain. I have just been trying to work and save money for my next adventure. I am heading to Canada with Arcteryx for a girls trip including Andrea Huskinson, Laura Ogden and Naheed Henderson. It should be a great trip we are starting in Vancouver and heading to Nelson. We will hopefully ski at Revelstoke, Kicking Horse, Fernie and possible some more amazing places in Canada. We are doing a promotional video for REI, You Tube and other people that may possibly be purchasing Arcteryx products. I will then head strait to Crested Butte for the first stop on the Freeride World Tour. The skiing has been okay in Jackson we have had some clear days, which has made it fun to be able to see where you are skiing. I have been skiing Cody Peak quite a lot which has been so fun. I have some photos from cody peak pictured here we skied pucker face and no name face which was awesome snow. I also was able to go paragliding off the top of the tram which was really amazing. We flew over all the skiers and over all my favorite lines it was really awesome and I even got to do a little flying.

Red Mountain Final Day

This morning I woke up with a lot more energy and excitement than I had felt the previous two days. Today for me there was nothing to lose and I wanted to ski for myself. During inspection I looked at some new options for airs and a chance at improving my line. The lower lumbar, which was not included in Day one was in and there was an intimidating free fall line that I wanted to do. I tried it out in inspection and it worked great so I was ready for my line. 

I had a lot motivation to ski today, which what I had been lacking for the last two days. I jumped into my line and felt my energy move into aggression as I scaled across a rock at the top of my line. I didn't exactly mean to be on the rock, but there I was so I had to move with it. I made it to my first air smooth and with no problems and then it was time to charge the rest of the venue. I was on the verge of out of control, but at least I was skiing aggressive and having a blast in the process. I got to my last air with so much adrenaline pumping through me, and then I just went and felt my leg hit something but came out on my feet, what a rush. I came into a group of my friends and we talked about our runs and watched the rest of the girls ski really awesome but some have some difficulties staying on their feet. Janina my good kiwi friend skied amazing all week and won the competition hands down. I moved up to second which was exciting and had the highest score I have ever had on the last day. I was just so happy that my skiing was still there and I had so much fun skiing the aggressive way.

Red Mountain Day 1 and Day 2

I love Red Mountain Canada! Everytime I come here i get excited about exploring more of the mountain and of course competing. This is my third year here and I have done really well the last two years. Last year I won, which was very rewarding and still my only competition I have ever won. This year I feel like I have a lot of pressure to do well and I feel that the last couple days I have not been skiing like myself. I always forget how much mental and physical energy go into a competition. During this competition I have been skiing to not fall and I have completely lost my aggressive part of my skiing. I am sitting in 5th place going into tomorrow, so for me it is all or nothing. I want my aggressive skiing back and I am going to ski the way I want to ski.