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.