Thursday, March 19, 2009

Billabong's Flaunt-it at Mt. Symoure







Canada was quite the adventure.  Halo and I started our way into Portland to meet up Karim Hadid, who was rad enough to come with us to shoot photos.  From his house we hit mad rush hour traffic so we scoped out some stuff at the zoo.  There we chilled in the train, drinking beers in mailing envelopes and killing some green.  Our final destination for the evening was Bellingham, WA at a friends house to post up before crossing the boarder the next morning.  The next day started out amazing.  We made it through the boarder to Mt. Seymour with ease and the morning was sunny and splendid.  Billabong was holding a competition called Flaunt It for female riders only.  There was a huge turnout, I thought, with 30-35 girls.  The slopestyle course was really fun. There was a pseudo stair feature at the start going into one easy to clear jump into an impossible to clear jump.  The second jump needed to be pointed straight at from the first.  I went for the large side, only to case it and bruise up my heel.  From there I stuck to the small side.  Halo was killing it.  She has been recovering from a knee injury and I thought she had a great performance.  The second part of the day was dedicated to a rail jam that was held on the pseudo stair features.  The comp was based on best trick, not overall performance, so I focused one doing my best stock trick...tail 270 out on the flat down box.  That landed me a spot on the podium in 3rd.  From there we drove to Whistler.  Thanks to a group of Australians, we had a place to crash and people to party with.  The village was a riot that night.  Halo and I got our dancing shoes out for the occasion.  Did I mention we polished a bottle of 151 prior to going out.  Unfortunately, I lost 20 canuck dollars and my hoodie.  Where they went?  I wish I knew.  At least I didn't loose myself.  We were expecting fresh snow the next day, which was a total deception.  Due to the lack of snow and our major hung over state, home is where we found ourselves late that night.  

Nikita Chikita





The road trip to Mammoth from Tahoe was awesome.  Halo, Diana, and myself caravaned down there and stopped at a skate park and hot springs on the way down.  A few beers later and some rips, we were ready to hit the road again.  Nikita Chikita was a lot of fun this year...a challenge as well.  Since I broke my neck, the northwest hasn't had a jump over 25 - 30 feet, so going to the comp was really intimidating.  Getting the right speed during practice was impossible.  The second jump had a giant wedge to a short steep landing with very little table top to clear, so it was sending the girls easily past the landing to the flats.  One girl was taken to the hospital on a back board during practice.  This caused the jump to be closed for the majority of practice and watching her go through what I did, deterred me from wanting to hit the big side of the second jump.  I had planned on hitting the large side of the first jump, then the small sides of the last two.  Oh how quickly my mind changes.  Once the comp got underway, just about every chic in the pro was hitting the big sides.  How could I enter a comp in the pro division and ride like an amateur? So of coarse I had to go and hit the big sides to make sure I didn't make an ass of myself.  I am so glad that I did.  The pressure of the comp helped me overcome some jumping fears that developed from my injury.  I did not place well, but I was proud of myself personally and Ashley Thornton.  Ashley placed 4th at the comp and I think that is oober.  Thanks to Diana and Shred Betties for being so supportive.  Diana is a killer team manager.  

Tahoe




I was planning on competing in the Nikita Chikita at Mammoth Mountain, so I decided to drive down to Tahoe prior to the comp to visit friends and get some shredding in.  After rolling in late at night, we got to ride Squaw Valley thanks to some help from Candice. The pow was incredible that day.  I totally understand Tahoe now.  Big storms followed by lots of sun.  We were there early and the snow was good until about noon.  It started to get warm and the snow was getting really heavy.  We  checked out Donner pass with the hopes of building some stuff the next day, but with the snow warming up so quickly, the avalanche danger was really high the next day.  Friday I had planned to go to Kirkwood for a photo shoot with shred betties, but on my way there from north lake, the highway was closed because of an avalanche.  I would have had to go all the way around the lake to make it there, which would have been a 4 hour drive. I was bummed that I didn't get to go to the shoot with my fellow lady shredders, but everything happens for a reason.  Noble and Driver were nice enough to invite Jeff and I to hit feature with them that night.  They set up a wall ride on a post to a high bridge.  I am really grateful for the experience.  Riding with a bunch of legit guys was really intimidating, but I am glad I got over my fears and joined in on the fun.  We had wanted to stay through the week, but mother nature brought us some rain instead.  It was dumping at Hood, so we called it, and drove back to Hood for some major freshies.  Thanks to Christine and Candice for letting us crash.  

Sunday, March 15, 2009

PB&J at Snoqualmie































The PB&J was a super fun event.  The set up was awesome.  There was a box line set up as a flat down with a gap to the down.  There was a corrugated pipe that was set up as a down feature.  The last feature was a pole jam into a down box.  The girl turn out was really good.  I have to say after doing comps in the northwest for a few years, there is more and more of a girl turn out every year.  I think that is awesome.  I had first place going into the finals, but I ended up with 5th in the long run.  There was a group of chics from Canada rolling through. The level of riding for girls snowboarding is stepping up every year.  

Mission Ridge


Mission ridge demo days was a great time as usual.  Even though there is some work involved, it is always sweet to be there and see lots of familiar faces.  The ride booth was crowded as usual.  There was a chinese down hill that was really interesting.  There was a mogal field that was a bling spot at the start of the run.  I guess the guys run was a total white out and dudes were falling all over the place.  I wish I was there to see that.  The girls run was a little more mellow, and Raelyn gave me a run for my money.  She was on my tail the whole time.  Thanks to Kyle's mom for being so hospitable.  Staying at her house is always a treat.