Some photos from Europe!!!

Dufourspitz Peak Switzerland!

My trip to Europe so far has been amazing! Expensive, but well worth the experiences I have had! After Verbier I ventured to Saas Fe, Switzerland to meet my friends Don and Sarah to do a hut ski traverse to Zermatt. I had no idea what to expect and was grateful for the invite. The night I arrived in Saas Fe I was struck with food poisoning and was not able to join them on the first ski adventure. I ended up meeting them later in the afternoon at the Brittania hut not far from the summit of Saas Fe Ski area. The hut system here is pretty amazing, very accessible and the only thing you needed to carry is the essentials. We stayed the first night at the Brittania Hut and then planned to traverse the next morning to the Monet Rosa hut near Zermatt. We awoke at 6 am for breakfast the next morning and I was feeling a little better, but very fatigued. We traversed up and down through the Alps for 6 hours and I was so happy when the Matterhorn came into sight and I gained a second wind to make it to the hut!! As we arrived at the hut I had know idea what to expect, it was very modern and sat surrounded by glaciers and tall peaks. Everything in the hut was run my solar panels and the design of the windows were so they would catch sun at certain times of the day. The views from the dinner table were unbelieveable, I could not believe that I was actually here! The next day we decided to go for the highest peak in Switzerland the Dufourspitze which is about 15,203 ft. I have never been above 14,000 so I was stoked to get up there! We skinned up through glaciers and over crevasses as the sun rose through the mountains I could not believe how lucky I was to be here. As we approached the saddle I could definitely feel the altitude, but just kept moving slow and steady. At the saddle we exchanged in our skis for an ice axe and crampons and decided to go for the left peak first ( this one was about 14,700) it involved walking along a very exposed ledge that made the border between Italy and Switzerland. The walking was pretty easy, but falling was not an option. After this little trek we made our way back to Dufourspitze proper. This was a lot steeper and involved using crampns well and climbing a rope! This also had a lot of traversing above exposure, so I was greatful when I reached the summit.

Bec Des Rosses

Competing in the Verbier extreme has always been a huge goal of mine and today that goal became a reality! Standing in the start my nerves started to elevate as the helicopters were flying over and I could see the large crowd across the way. I was the last girl to drop in, which made it hard for me to decide which line I wanted to ski. I saw a few girls crash on the line I wanted to ski, but I decided to ski it anyway. I really had nothing to lose and this might be my first and last Verbier extreme. As I droppped in my nerves went away and I hit my top air and landed in some rocks, but stayed on my feet and skied fluidly into my next main air. The air was a lot bigger than I thought and again there were rocks in my landing. I landed and excelerated into the chute with a ton of adrenaline pumping through me, as I slowed down and skied into my bottom smaller air I did not have enough speed and the snow was incredibly punchy! I punched through to my knees and did a somersault. Such a bummer!! Skiing into the finish I was incredibly bummed because I had made it past the hard part of my run and then had tough luck at the bottom. Going back up to the top to watch guys was such an amazing experience, there were VIP watching areas and thousands of people were watching the competition. We drank wine out of nice glasses and watched the men compete on the Le Bec! Such a cool day, I feel so lucky to ski here! It definitely is a little bittersweet though! I might need another chance at the Bec Des Rosses!

Verbier!!!!

Yesterday I arrived in Geneva at 630 am, jess and I jumped in the car and were skiing verbier by 10 am! I have never skied here before and I could not believe how big and beautiful the mountains were. Everywhere I looked there were the Alps and Verbier just kept going and going with trams and gondolas. The terrain is amazing and i think there are approximately 6 trams, that make the Jackson tram look small! ( our tram is still faster) The jet lag was tough and it was hard to ski confidently with very littel sleep. Last night after staying up for nearly 24 hours I was able to get some sleep!
The weather is amazing, it is perfect for competing sunny and warm!
Today was inspection day and bib draw, I drew bib 9, which is last out of all the ski ladies! This is not a terrbible thing, but wish I was running earlier! This event is incredibly big in Verbier the entire street is closed and setup with ski shops, food, wine and a huge stage where we were presented our bibs. I have never seen anything like it, signing autographs taking pictures with people, it is pretty amazing to see the support for this sport that I love so much! I have 2 options for a line tomorrow, so I will just have to see how I am feeling in the morning! I am just so pumped to be here and skiing the Le Bec. I have waited 6 years for this opportunity!!! The competition will be live at freerideworldtour.com. The ladies start at 930 am euro time! Around 130 mountain time.

Snowbird and Verbier!!

Ladies Podium: left to right- Sonja Lercher, Angel Collinson and Kaylin Richardson

This past weekend I traveled to Snowbird, UT for the 2012 Freeskiing World Tour stop number 4. This was my 6th year competing in the Snowbird competition, it has always been one of my favorites due the crowds, the weather and the venues! This year I had a little more pressure going into Snowbird than usual. The lack of snow in the western states forced the tour to cancel Crested Butte and put Kirkwood on hold until April. Coming into this competition I was right behind Angel for the overall lead and after the current standings for Snowbird they would be sending the top male and female to Verbier for the World Championship. I have always wanted to compete there and this being my last full year to do the tour this was my last chance. Going into the first day on Silver Fox I felt confident about my line and skied it well. The score did not reflect as much and I was sitting in 5th place by about 5 points!



North Baldy Venue

That was a lot of catching up to do, but I loved the North Baldy venue. I picked a line that was incredibly technical and falling was not an option. It was something I had done before, but with the conditions it made it a lot more spicy! My nerves kept going up and down and they were hard to control, it is amazing how mental this sport is! Standing in the start gate my nerves subsided a little and I was ready to go have some fun! I cheered my friend Nicole out of the gate and then I saw that she went down, I was not sure what happened to her, but watched as she was taken off in a sled. This was hard to see, but I had to focus on myself first. I cleared my head and skied to the best of my ability, coming into my bottom air I was incredibly nervous and all I could see was the crowd I just had to point it and hope for the best. I landed and skied into the finish of friends and people cheering! I could not have been happier. I knew Kaylin would be hard to beat, but I ended up winning the run by 1.5 points! Also my 16th second place of my career! With this result I am now going to Verbier and I am also tied for first in the overall tour!!! The only problem is I have been planning for the last year to spend the entire month of April in Chamonix and La Grave! So now I have decisions to make! First decision, going to Verbier on Wednesday!!




Some good beer spraying fun!

Taos New Mexico Freeride Competition!!!!

Wedensday night I found out that the Crested Butte, Co stop was cancelled, I had always wanted to go to the Taos freeride competition but it never worked into my schedule. I felt that I needed to go compete for my mind and see the freeskiing family. My friend Karissa was planning on going and convinced me to use my miles to fly into Denver and we could take her parents car to Taos. I figured why not and booked my flight 12 hours before. We arrived in Taos at 1 am and had to compete the next day early! I have never been so ill prepared for a competition, which made it exciting! I inspected the wrong area and then had to get advice from the locals on what to ski! I found a fun line with a decent air that had a bit of a flat landing and next thing I knew I was a little to far forward and dug my ski tips in knocking me into a quick somersault, but was back up sking to the finish, I was greeted my cheers from the crowd at the finish which made me feel better! I did not think I would get another run, but when the results came out they decided to take more ladies than I thought and I was in! I was stoked to ski the venue of Kachina, it was a little more open than the previous venue and a beautiful run. I picked a fun line and skied it well, it was not enough to move up drastically but scored really well for the day! Taos is a very mellow, cultural and artistic town, we did not have a lot of time to explore but did get some great steep skiing in! I will definitely be back and it was awesome to have so much support from the locals during the competition. I have been wanting to come here for 6 years since I raced in college and I finally made it back! Next stop snowbird my favorite competition!

Jim Jack the King/Mayor of Freeskiing!!!

My first win!!!


Jim Jack is the Freeskiing World Tour!


Today we lost the king of freeskiing. The man with 3 first names Jim Norm Jack, it always brought a smile to my face when he was introduced. I have competed in 33 big mountain competitions and Jim Jack has been at every single one of them. He has never not been in the judging pit once in my 6 year career. After my first competition he was my inspiration to continue competing. He was so passsionate about this sport that I had to see what is was all about. He became a coach to me and I always looked to him for approval on my line and my skiing. When I won my first competition in Red Mountain he was there and could not have been more excited for me and it made the win that much better. Over the last 6 years he has become an inspiration to my competing,and skiing.


Jim Jack keeping us positive during a memorial service for John Nicoletta.

We did have our disagreements about judging throughout the years but he always inspired me to challenge myself more versus place blame on the scores. During this past competition in Revelstoke we both realized our shared passion for the sport of freeskiing is what made us see diferently at times. The Freeskiing World Tour would never be where it is today if it was not for him. He worked so hard for the athletes and cared so much about each and everyone of us individually. No matter what the conditions were or how long the judging day was for him, he always had the biggest smile on his face at the end of the day! He never missed an after party and was always stoked about life! I never knew how he did it day in and day out but he continued to have the energy!


Thanks coach!

Over the last few years we have lost some amazing people in the freeskiing industry and Jim Jack was the glue that always kept us together throught the hard times. Who is going to help us get through this now? The one thing I will always remember is that he always helped us celebrate life and now I want to help and continue to celebrate his life. Jim Jack thank you for everything you have done for the freeskiing community your smile, enthusiasm and energy will never be forgotten. RIP love to you always.


Bryan Barlow and him in Revelstoke, two peas in a pod!


The life of the party always!!!