3000 miles later…
Two weeks, two comps, and 3000 miles later, I’m finically back home in Sun Valley, Idaho. It all started with the Subaru U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Championships in Crested Butte, Colorado. In typical ski bum style, North Parker, Bryce Newcomb, and I all mobbed over to the Comp in my mothers Big Blue Van. We were greeted with a much need blanked of fresh snow, followed by an amazing blue bird sunny weekend. With these ideal conditions I had the most fun I’ve ever had at Crested Butte. North kept his Jr. title for the second year in a row, and Bryce and I both fell which caused us to place further back than what we wanted(I ended up in 36th). I also skied the most burly line I think I have ever skies and aired a 50-footer at the bottom of the Dead End Chute. I got to meet lots of the alpine athletes and make friends outside of the SV-Possy. Then we were on the road again headed back to Sun Valley. After I dropped Bryce and North off, I only had time to Unpack, do laundry, Repack and get some food, before I was on the road again headed to California for the first extreme Telemark comp at Alpine Meadows.
The Alpine Comp was another great competition, and it felt good to be back in the company of so many rippin’ Telemark Skiers. The First day I skied well but I had an unfortunate bobble upon landing the bottom cliff out of the “Key Hole,” but I redeemed my self second run, with the highest total run score for the whole comp, which put me into 3rd place, right behind Jake Sakson, and JT Robinson. The next day in the Finals I was hoping to bypass JT and Jake by skiing the “money-line” faster and better than I had done the day before. I ended up being too aggressive and I lost my balance as I dropped into the keyhole and I fell in the “NO-FALL Zone.” Obviously my scores suffered, but I with the great run the day before, I was able to pull off a 8th place finish.
Now it feel like have time to breath, but im back to training, Crested Butte is coming up in a few weeks…
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Canadian Open Freeskiing Championships 2009
The Canadian Open Freeskiing Championships at Red Mountain Resort was my first big mountain competition of this season. In training I fell and when I self arrested I injured my wrist. I decided to take a more conservative line than I initially planned because I didn’t want to hurt my wrist any further and because the crash rattled me and shook me up a little. The event went well although I missed the cut to the finals by 0.8points! Even though I was cut, I feel good about the line I decided to ski and I stomped it. Also I feel that it is worth mentioning that this was an alpine skiing event and I beat over half the field on telemark equipment, and I’m happy about that… Hopefully I can heal up my wrist and come back strong and do well in my next comp at Crested Butte.
2008 Telemark World Championships “Telepalooza”
After competing in the 12th Annual Extreme Freeskiing Telemark Championsips in Crested Butte a weekend earlier, I knew that I was good enough to step up, and ski with the “big dogs,” the guys I had been idolizing in telemark movies just a few years ago. Guys like: Nick DeVore, Dylan Crossman, Will Cardemone, JT Robinson, etc… With the financial support of the Sun Valley Ski Patrol I was able to get a last second ticket to Alaska.
Alaska was amazing! I had only ever seen it in ski films. I had never imagined the vastness and the overwhelming scale of its beautiful and pristine mountains. I had never skied anything as steep and rewarding, and I cannot wait to do it again.
