Three Days in Taos

Ever since my firth grade state project on New Mexico, I have being dying to check out Taos. After three weeks of competition, 3 days of school we got back in the car for a little more traveling. This time we started at 4 am in the morning and arrived  in Taos, New Mexico just in time to load the athlete chair. Pulling up to Taos was different than I am use to. Maybe it was because Taos was having a bad snow season but it was crazy to see dry grass and desert for miles, then pull up to the mountain with snow. 

In the process of hiking Kachina

I was excited to check out the resort, but it was a direct path to the venue. Taking into account last weekends events, I decided to pick a line and stick with it. I think I got lucky in finding a way down the mountain that was within my ability level and that was a lot of fun at the same time. The Taos Freeride championships is a very fun event to watch and it made it even better that it was a beautiful sunny day out. 

Qualifying day one went really well. All of our athletes advanced on to the next day. The next day was more challenging going up against the pre-qualified athletes. I went out just to have fun. I picked a solid line and took my airs as big as I could. I was smiling at the end of the run and that was all I could ask for. I was pleasantly surprised that night when I was sitting in 7th at the end of day 2. A group of us inspected the finals day venue which was Kachina peak. The group was an awesome group of girls and we stopped at the top to take a picture. Such a fun group of girls. We started out to scope out a line, and I think we all ended up at the bottom a little disappointed which the snow conditions and the line we picked out. This meant we would all be doing the 45 minute hike to the top of Kachina the next day, twice. 

Relaxing in the hot tub

Just before I dropped in on finals day most of the guys team had made it to the top of the venue. It was awesome having them at the top for support. Again I got down to the bottom with a huge smile. I had for the first time put together 3 days of competition and making my way from qualifying day to finals. It was exciting. I finally could relax. Watching the rest of the girls come down and watching the guys was awesome. They all put down some awesome solid runs. 

Girls Podium

Guys Podium! Congrats Chris - Resolution Skis

Ending up forth was icing on the cake. It was an awesome experience meeting and competing against all the awesome girls that showed. Taos was a great resort, I can't wait to ski it again sometime with some powder!  

Cliffed Out: Nowhere To Go But Up.

We are quickly approaching closing day here at Crested Butte and I think its a good idea to give a quick recap of the past few weeks. Just like anyone's ski season, it has been all over the place. 

A few weeks back February 25th I headed to Aspen Snowmass with the team to compete in the Colorado Freeride Championships. A cold and windy weekend, the first day was a cancelled for weather day. Day 2 came around and it was even worse. As we were sitting in the warming hut at the top of the venue, we were all making bets as to how likely we would get the competition off. And so 2 pm rolled around and they decided to start the girls. There were two of us from Western State competing and Carly dropped in first. At the top you really only know how someone does if they send the next competitor shortly after. This means the person most likely didn't fall and there is no gear collection. So, I was pretty stoked for Carly when the next competitor was sent on her way about 2 minutes later. 

Pumped and ready for my turn I decided to take my more difficult line, a line which I had not inspected from the top of the venue. Note to self... never, never 'wing' a line. I assumed I was right on top of my line so I took a small pillow drop, pumped and thinking "Yeah, I got this." However, I was very, very wrong. Looking down I realized I was in a bit of a pickle. I found my self on top of a cliff quite out of my ability. From my view it look like a 20 foot cliff with the landing flat and the runout into trees. As I attempted to climb my way back out I realized it was not going to be easy. I remember the cinematographer below me saying "girl send it, I can't hold this camera any longer." After finally getting some help off the cliff with my dignity a little bruised I meet up with the team. There wasn't much to say. I laugh now because every experience leads to knowledge and now I know to carry neon pink zip-ties to tie to trees and mark my line. 

Carly did have an awesome run and finished 2nd. We had 6 male athletes in the top 20. Coach Jason Holton was 4th. It was a fun weekend and even though I left a little disappointed,  I met some unique people and had a great time watching our team put out some really great results. 

It has been a whirl-wind the past two weeks, and there is no slowing down for a few more weeks. 

Two weeks ago I headed to Winter Park on my own to check out the first ever Weekend Warrior Tour. I heard about the competition from Ben and Collin from Sick Stickz at SIA and I am so excited that I decided to go compete. I was a bit nervous headed there alone and not know what to expect. It was an early morning on Saturday as we waited for the athletes meeting. Guys started to walk into the room, but no girls. I was the only girl signed up. Being solo the hosts asked me if I would like to join in the boys league. Why not? So out we went to inspect the venue. The chutes were tucked away in an awesome part of WP and I was excited to get the chance to ski the area. I went in with the idea of jumping off anything and everything in front of me. I dropped in fifth and I had a fun run! It was such a fun environment at the bottom of the venue. We all went off to ski Winter Park. At the end of day one there were 13 guys, me included. I ended up tied for 2nd. 

Day two started off later in the morning. We took an inspection of an area we were unaware that was open. There was some awesome lines in the new area and boy the the guys throw down! We had a blast and ending up 4th after day two was exciting for me. Everyone was so supportive of each other and it was a great community of skiiers. The crew put on an awesome event I saw some awesome skiing and was so excited that I could be apart of the event. The 4 hour drive home went by quickly with all the energetic vibe I got from the competition. I can't wait for the next Weekend warriors on March 19th and 20th. 

Top 5 finishers at Weekend Warriors

Im headed off to Aspen Snowmass this weekend after a fun Weekend at Crested Butte. Qualifier day was hosted on headwall. After a day of snow and wind the venue was filled and looking the best conditions I have seen. I took a conservative line with the goal of staying on my feet. It was a success and I had such a fun time skiing my run. Headwall was more filled in than I have ever seen. Francesca moved fast through the venue and had a great finish. The boys had a good show as well. Mike Curran stomped a spin of box rock. The rest of the guys on the team had impressive runs making work of a big drop out of Pocket Air. Because of the weather day cuts were drastic. It was exciting to have two boys (Max Lindsey and Alex Mitchell) and two girls (Francesca and Ciera Glenn) and moving on to the big event on day 1. The venue Staircase showed some impressive runs. Unfortunately, Western had a bit of a disappointment on Day 1 and only Francesca moved on to the Finals day. Finals day was a powder day And there was some crazy style from the guys side of things. It was an awesome event thanks to all the supporters of Crested Butte including skiers, judges, ski patrol, and of course the fans! A big congratulations goes to Francesca Pavillard who had an impressive qualifier day, killer day 1 run, and an awesome final run to put her into 5th overall!

Qualifiers Venue- Headwall

The Finish on Day 1

Check back soon for a link to Crested Butte FWT edit by Sour Steezle's Film and editor Matt Clark.