Almost Back!

It has been a long winter. Being injured sucks. On December 8th, my entire back froze up. I couldn’t move anything. It was one of the scariest and most painful moments of my life. I talked to multiple chiropractors and doctors in Jackson who didn’t seem to know what exactly was going on. After two weeks of lying on the floor with my feet up and no closer to recovery, I flew to Orange County to see a well know Chiropractor. Dr Gooing in an athlete himself as well as the best chiropractor I have ever seen. One look at my x-rays and I finally had an answer. “You are lucky to be alive. You have a 30 degree subluxation of the C1-C5. You should be dead.”

It took me a while to process that I had seriously injured myself. I remember the accident, but there was no blood or physical malformation, only pain. I kept asking Dr Gooing how long it would take to be ready to compete. He finally said, “Jess pretend you blew out your knee and broke your leg. It’s that serious.” This hit home and finally started to relax and begin the heeling process. I spent six weeks at his clinic working on getting my spine straight.

It feels good to be back in Jackson and skiing. My spine is straight, but I also tore multiple ligaments. The ligaments help to keep my spine in place. When they are weakened, my spine is unstable. Everyday I feel myself getting stronger and there are even moments when I feel like me skiing at 100%. Currently, I feel like I am skiing at 85%. I want to set goals and dead lines for when I’ll be back competing, but I am learning that it is up to my body not my mind. I can only push my body so far. The injury is not permeant, but it is serious. Healing takes time and right now I need to enjoy skiing and let my body heal.

The Adventures of Being Injured – Judging Not Competing

Judges Pit - Freeskiing World Tour Qualifier, Jackson Hole

Almost every athlete has a story of being injured. It is just part of the game. I haven’t really been injured since I was teenager. I don’t know why. Maybe I am super human or not pushing it hard enough. I’d like to think that all of the hours in the gym and pilates helped me stay injury free for the last ten years. Or maybe it was just luck. Either way, I now know how fortunate I was.

The one benefit of being injured is that I have had the opportunity to experience things I normally wouldn’t. This weekend the Freeskiing World Tour came to Jackson Hole for a qualifying event. There were 100 skiers in the event with 100 more the waiting list. Jim Jack, the president of the International Freeskiers Association, asked me to be a judge for the event. I was really excited and honored to have the opportunity to judge an event.

As a competitor, the judges opinion means everything. Every skier is out there skiing their hearts out, trying to show the judges that they deserve to stand on top of the podium. At the end of the day, it is up to the judges and whether or not they thought your run was the best. Needless to say, I took the position seriously.

The IFSA has developed criteria for judging. The criteria consists of 5 categories and score 1-10 in each category. The categories are: line choice, technique, fluidity, control, and style. Line choice is the most important category. The line choice score dictates how high or low you ca score in all of the other categories. A competitor can not score more than three points higher than their line score. Technique is based on how the skier executes the line. Do they have strong big mountain skiing form. Did they make good decisions in their line or did the ski right into their slough above exposure. Fluidity creates an esthetically pleasing experience for the spectators. The skier should look like a water droplet flowing down the mountain. It shows confidence, skill, and experience. Control is control. Was the skier in control throughout the entire run or did they go screaming down the hill out of control. If fall, you were out of control and the score will reflect that. There is a point when the skier may be “too” in control, meaning the skier does not have the skills to ski a zone faster. Style is a new category this year. Style can be anything from tricks to how the run looked, overall impression. Did the competitor throw a back flip or look like they were having a blast? The interesting part of style is that it does not have anything to do with the line score. A competitor may have had a really low line score, but the judges may have really liked the run and they may receive a high score in style and vise versa. At the end of the day, it is subjective. It is the opinion of the judges, whether or not they liked it.

The morning before the competition, the judges skied each zone in the competition deciding how difficult it would be to ski and then creating a value for each zone. This means when a skier entered a zone, their line score would start with a given value. If they hit an air in the zone, their line score would continue to rise until they finished the run. As an athlete, it is hard to know what value the judges will place on which zones. When I am competing, I like to stand at the bottom of the venue and look at the entire venue. It is pretty easy to figure out which lines look the most difficult or aesthetically pleasing. Then I decide if I have the skills to rip the line.

Judging seemed like a mystery when I first started competing, but as I gained experience I also gained the skills to rip the more difficult lines and found myself standing on top of the podium more often. There were times when I thought the judges were wrong. This feeling also became less and less with more experience. I realized that everyone has an opinion and it may be different than mine. Judges do make mistakes. Judges are human. There was definitely a few times during the weekend, that I wished for instant replay. That is also what makes the sport cool. There is no instant replay. So the runs with emotion are going to stick with you. I was really nervous to talk to the competitors about there runs. Would I remember every run. I was surprised to find that I did remember almost every run. I was able to recall the run and justify the given scores.

My favorite part of the weekend was ripping around with skiers. There was so much excitement and enthusiasm. I thought judging would make me sad. I thought it would be hard to watch the other skiers rip their lines while at sat at the bottom injured. What I felt was not sadness it was joy. It reconfirmed that I love my sport and I am so happy to be a part of it regardless if I’m standing at the top of sitting at the bottom.

The Adventures of Being Injured – Lasers, Mud Baths, and Chiropractic

Almost every athlete has a story of being injured. It is just part of the game. I haven’t really been injured since I was teenager. I don’t know why.  Maybe I am super human or not pushing it hard enough. I’d like to think that all of the hours in the gym and pilates helped me stay injury free for the last ten years. Or maybe it was just luck. Either way, I now know how fortunate I was.

I have been trying to convince myself that I am not really injured, but considering that I haven’t skied since December 8th, it is time to admit that yes I am injured. I had no idea how hard it be to admit. I have wanted to hide it from my friends, sponsors, and anyone else who I might run into. “I’m not injured, just taking a few days off.” Days have turned into weeks and now I find myself in California rehabbing.

It turns out, I am injured. An x-ray revealed that I have a 30 degree subluxation of my neck. What does that mean. Basically, it means that when I was nuking down the mountain and things went wrong, my head should’ve popped off. Luckily, it didn’t. At least I have that going for me. My doctor actually said, “You are really lucky that you have such strong neck muscles.” Really? Well I have been working out. I think it is a funny comment because I have never spent much time thinking about strengthening my neck muscles.

The good news is that I’m not out for the season. I am scheduled for another x-ray today to see if I am any closer to being back on skis. Keep your fingers crossed. I am finally feeling better and am back in the gym. Mentally, I am ready to fly over Chamonix for the Freeride World Tour today, but physically I’m not quite ready. Anyway, the adventures of being injured.

Injury Adventure in California – Mud Baths, Lasers, and Chiropractic

I’m not one to sign up for surgery right away. I am always looking for an alternative. Which is why I am in California seeing a chiropractor. And let’s just say he’s not your typical chiropractor.  He amazing!

Dr. Gooing found that many of his patients were unable to hold their adjustments and needed to return on a regular basis for upkeep. He did not consider this a state of wellness and went on a mission to discover a solution. What he found was a subluxation, or structural misalignment, was not the root cause but a symptom of a deeper cause. With the new technology available for diagnosis and treatment, he was able to uncover the root causes of your “back” problems and correct them for long lasting relief and wellness.

Gooing Chiropractic Clinic embraces the new tools to help us address the cause of your symptoms, correct those underlying causes and then correct the symptoms to restore your body to wellness.

One of the most remarkable advancements is the understanding that the body is electric. Your electrical body must be in balance to keep your organ and structural body in balance. An imbalance in the body can happen from environmental factors, DNA factors or traumas. Traumas can be emotional, physical or chemical. Traumas can include foreign organisms in your body that most Americans are in denial about but over 90% have.

This is how I found myself taking a mud bath in the Motel 6. The injury I sustained to my neck left me vulnerable to heavy metals, micro-organisms, and other dirty little bugs. I have to admit, sometimes it all seems a little out there. The theory is that every organism has a frequency. If this is true, by using laser frequencies it is possible to detect what gnarly little bugs are messing with your body and keeping it from being well. What does this have to do with my neck? If your body is busy fighting bad guys, it cannot concentrate on healing itself. The mud baths help to draw out all of the heavy metals in your body, while the laser can zap all the bad bugs.

My first mud bath was an adventure in itself. First I would mix up the mud and then put it on the affected areas in my body: my neck, major organs, and energy points.   I would hang out in the Motel 6 naked and covered in mud for twenty minutes.  As the mud would dry it will pull out any heavy metals and toxins in my body.  Then I would mix up a bath tub full of mud and soak for 20 minutes. The bath is followed by 10 minutes outside allowing the sun to regenerate your body. Finishing with another 20 minutes bath mixture of mud and crystals. Needless to say, I felt ridiculous.

Mud bath after mud bath left my skin shiny and wondering what I was doing in California.  It is hard to see how a mud bath would help the subluxation in my neck.  Meanwhile, the snow kept falling in Jackson and the competition season has started without me.  We took another x-ray after three weeks of mud baths, adjustments, massage, and acupuncture.  My subluxation had improved from 30 degrees to 20 degrees.  At this rate, I wouldn’t be skiing for another six weeks.

We went back to laser to see if we could find any other hidden traumas or bugs.   I was ready to pack it up.  Laying on my back in the doctors office with a laser shining across my mouth, the doctor used muscle testing to find out what was keeping my body from healing.  After a half hour of this, the doctor informed that I had picked up a bug when I was 26.  I really couldn’t help thinking that it sounded ridiculous, but then he informed me that it was most likely something similar to Geardia.  This was crazy because I did have Giardia when I was 26.  So maybe there is something to all of this.  So then we nuked the giardia with the laser.  It didn’t hurt and I really have no idea if it worked or not.

It was great to get rid of all the bad bugs in my body and have shiny skin, but I wasn’t any closer to skiing.  We decided to try to turn the clock up by forcing my spine into place.  I spent three days at the doctors office.  We began with pulling traction on my cervical spine and then knocking my vertebrae back into place one at time.  It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t pleasant.  It was incredible how it effected my emotions.

The vertebrae in your spine protect your spinal cord and thus your nervous system.  So as Gooing began to move my bones, it also moved my emotions.  I would go from feeling so tired I could barely keep my eyes open to huge rushes of adrenaline all in a matter of minutes.  It was a crazy three days.

At the moment my neck is still unstable.  It will take a little while for everything to stable out.  The good news is that I am back in Jackson and feeling great.  No more mud baths and I’m going give skiing a shot tomorrow.

The Adventures of Being Injured – Prolo Therapy in Mexico

Almost every athlete has a story of being injured. It is just part of the game. I haven’t really been injured since I was teenager. I don’t know if I thought I was super human or just wasn’t pushing it hard enough. I’d like to think that all of the hours in the gym and pilates helped me stay injury free for the last ten years. Or maybe it was just luck. Either way, I now know how fortunate I was.

I have been trying to convince myself that I am not really injured, but considering that I haven’t skied since December 8th, it is time to admit that yes I am injured. I had no idea how hard it was to admit. I have wanted to hide it from my friends, sponsors, and anyone else who I might run into. “I’m not injured, just taking a few days off.” Days have turned into weeks and now I find myself in California rehabbing.

It turns out, I am injured. An x-ray revealed that I have a 30 degree subluxation of my neck. What does that mean. Basically, it means that when I was nuking down the mountain and things went wrong, my head should’ve popped off. Luckily, it didn’t. So at least I have that going for me. My doctor actually said, “You are really lucky that you have such strong neck muscles.” Really? Well I have been working out. I think it is a funny comment because I have never spent much time thinking about strengthening my neck muscles.

The good news is that I’m not out for the season. I am scheduled for another x-ray today to see if I am any closer to being back on skis. Keep your fingers crossed. I am finally feeling better and am back in the gym. Mentally, I am ready to fly over Chamonix for the Freeride World Tour today, but physically I’m not quite ready. Anyway, the adventures of being injured.

My First Injury Adventure -Mexico…………

I am not one for modern medicine. I am terrified of surgery and not crazy about our medical/insurance system that we have in the US. I believe there are many alternatives that in long are probably better for you. I am always searching for an alternative, less invasive, therapy. This belief has took me to Mexico for Proliferent Therapy as opposed to having surgery on my MCL. I torn my MCL in Argentina a few years ago and the US docs immediately wanted to do surgery. Surgery meant my season would be over and I would spend a lot of time on the couch, not something I was into. A friend had recommended Proliferent Therapy. At the time Proliferent wasn’t legal in the US, so I had to go to Mexico.

Two weeks later I found myself sitting in a little hacienda just south of the boarder. Sketchy doesn’t even begin to describe the doctors office. The only thing that put me at ease were the posters of Bodi Miller on the wall and the NBA pros sitting next to me in the waiting area. When it was my turn, I asked the doc if he would like to see my MRI. He replied, “There’s no need for a MRI, I can will do a few tests and see what the problem is.” Really? He bent and twisted my knee and said your tore your MCL and PCL. Well okay. Maybe he has a gift or maybe I am getting completely ripped off. Next the nurse came in, and yes she looked exactly like a what you would expect from a sketchy doctors office in Mexico. She was young, fit, and gorgeous. What was I doing? The nurse came in with a tray displaying one of the biggest needles I have ever seen. “This is going to hurt a little.”

With a twinkle in his eye, the doc made small incisions in my MCL and PCL to create scar tissue. He then injected enough of the pro-lo solution for my knee to swell up 10 times bigger than normal. And yes, it hurt like hell. After he was finished he instructed me to ride the stationary bike for 20 minutes to help spend the solution throughout my entire knee. Once I finished riding the bike, he patted me on the shoulder and said I will see you in two weeks.

I limped out of the doctors office, my knee the size of watermelon, and tears running down my face. I wasn’t sure if I had just destroyed my knee and my skiing career. I sat with a glass of tequila and watched sunset convinced that I had just made a huge mistake.

My only rehab was to ride the stationary bike 1 hour per day. I rode the bike like my life depended on it. After two weeks, the swelling had gone down and I returned to his office. At this point I was pretty sure the doc was a complete fraud and wasn’t looking forward to hearing what he had to say. I was ready to head back to the states and have surgery. But figured I was in this deep, might as well see it through. The doctor did his same unconventional tests on my knee and smiled. “Looks like it is almost healed.” That was when I knew he was a fraud. It didn’t seem possible that my knee was ready to go. I gave him my best “you must be joking looks” and he said jump for me. I did and the knee felt fine. Better than fine stable and strong. He asked to do a few more plyo-metrics and the sent me on my way. And that was it.

I know it all sounds crazy or too good to be true, but my knee has been good as new for the last four years.

Freeskiing World Tour Qualifier in Jackson!

I’m psyched to have the Freeskiing World Tour back in Jackson. The three potential venues are awesome; Casper Bowl, Paintbrush/Toilet Bowl, and Tower 3. And with the amount of snow in Jackson, it’s going to be a really good show.

Wow!

Opening day in Jackson Hole was one for the record books. I don’t know if I can ever remember the entire resort opening wall to wall in November. I never thought I would ski Hobacks and the Alta Chutes opening day. And better news, it is dumping right now! There is another 20″ on the way! Yahoo!

Fall Training for an Epic Winter

Bonzai Tour – Awesome!

“RAHLVES’ BANZAI TOUR” COMBINES BIG MOUNTAIN FREERIDING AND SKI/BOARDER-CROSS ACTION FOR A THREE-RESORT TOUR OF TAHOE AND A $50,000 PRIZE PURSE

(Lake Tahoe, CA) – Daron Rahlves, four-time Olympian, World Champion and current Sugar Bowl Ski Ambassador, has announced plans for a new multi-resort race series with stops at Alpine Meadows, Kirkwood and Sugar Bowl. Mixing disciplines of big mountain freeriding, downhill racing and ski & boarder cross strategy, the “Banzai” format, with roots tied to the original Silver Belt Banzai at Sugar Bowl, puts four racers at a time blasting out of a ski-cross start gate feature, maneuvering through strategically-placed gates on an all-natural big mountain course while navigating alongside fellow racers, with the limited rules to finish fast enough to advance to the next round. A grass-roots flashback to the days of simply racing your friends to the bottom of the hill, Rahlves, the most decorated men’s downhiller in U.S. history, says that while the racing is real, the focus of the Banzai is on having fun. “With so many competitions being of such a serious nature, the Banzai Tour invites skiers and riders to come out, get in the gate and point it, still maintaining a high level of racing of course, but also having a great time and enjoying the festive atmosphere that the Banzai is all about.” Complemented nicely with vendor village exhibit areas, numerous spectator viewing spots, finish line BBQ’s and post-race parties complete with live music and dj’s, the event draws more than just competitors.

Open to men, women, skiers and boarders age 18 years and older, historically the Silver Belt Banzai at Sugar Bowl has seen an eclectic mix of higher-level athletes, racing enthusiasts and everyday skiers and riders just out for a good time at a great event. With reasonable entry fees of $100 that includes a lift ticket on race day, and a $50,000 overall prize purse, the Rahlves Banzai Tour should see approximately 100 athletes racing at each tour stop.

Each race boasts a $10,000 purse, with an additional $10,000 given out to the overall Tour winners. And while Rahlves himself will not race in any of the three tour stops, acting instead as Banzai Ambassador throughout, he will await each of the Men’s Ski division winners from prior tour stops for a final day, one run, winner-take-all $10,000 “Banzai Super Final”, sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The three Tahoe mountains involved are perfect venues for racing of this style, offering big mountain terrain with impressive steeps, compelling routes to navigate and impressive annual snowfall totals every season.

Dates for the 2011 Rahlves’ Banzai Tour are:
Alpine Meadows Beaver Bowl Banzai January 22nd and 23rd
Kirkwood Mountain Resort Eagle Bowl Banzai February 5th and 6th
Sugar Bowl Resort Silver Belt Banzai and Super Final March 12th and 13th

Registration is just $100 and includes a lift ticket for Saturday’s time trials, as well as Sunday’s Banzai format racing should the racer advance out of Saturday’s round. Skiers, snowboarders, men and women 18 years and older are welcome to register at www.rahlvesbanzai.com.

In addition to the Rahlves’ Banzai Tour headlining sponsor Spyder, other Banzai backers include Bud Light, Contour HD, Giro, Sierra Avalanche Center, Atomic, Suunto, Snowbomb, Backcountry Access, 101.5FM, TahoeTV, Powder Magazine, Wend Snow Wax, Zinka SPF, and Crux Events.

For more information on the Rahlves Banzai Tour visit www.rahlvesbanzai.com. For more information on the three host resorts, visit www.skialpine.com, www.kirkwood.com, and www.sugarbowl.com.

The Things I Learned at Beer Camp, Sierra Nevada Beer Camp 2010, Chico, CA

Hops Have More Antioxidants Than Green Tea

Sierra Nevada has joined forces with the Freeskiing World Tour. Last weekend Sierra Nevada invited 9 athletes from the Freeskiing World Tour and North Face Masters Tour to fly to Chico to learn more about the company and the brewing process. This what I learned at Beer Camp.

1) “Hop Harmony” – Sierra Nevada cares about the environment. From 10,000 individual solar panels to hydrogen fuel cells the brewery generates 1.5 MW AC of clean, emissions-free power. It can produce almost all of it’s own power. Sierra has their own waste water treatment facility onsite. All of the wastewater is treated in a state-of-the-art, two stage anaerobic/aerobic digester. A portion of the water is then used to irrigate their 8 acre hop field. The spent ingredients used in the brewing process are sold locally to provide a nutritional food source for local farmers and livestock. The brewery also maintains its own herd of naturally raised cattle which are fed the spent grains, hops, and yeast and used in the restaurant. Which I might add are delicious. The wasted cooking oil from the restaurant is converted into biodiesel fuel which is used in local and long-haul delivery trucks.

2) BREWING BEER IS NOT ONLY AN ART. IT IS A SCIENCE.

Harvesting Barley and Hops

Malting, Milling, and Mashing

Wort Boiling - Which is really sweet and good!

Hop Addition and Steam Boiling

Refrigeration, Pitching Yeast, Harvesting Yeast

Cellaring, Filtration, Racking, and Dry Hopping

Celebration!

3) HOPS CONTAIN MORE ANTIOXIDANTS THAN GREEN TEA. JUST SAY’N.

Griffin Post Getting His Daily Dose of Antioxidants

4) THERE IS A BEER LIBRARY. The beer library contains a sample of every batch of beer that is made at the brewery. This is part of the quality control process. If a customer complains about a beer, the brewery can go back to the library to, find that specific batch, and try to find out what is wrong with the beer. The beer is tested for pathogens. It is tested by the sensory lab to see if it has been exposed to sunlight, oxygen, heat.

Griffin Post and Dylan Crossman Soaking it All In.

5) Sierra Nevada Brewery Bottles 600 Beers a Minute.
MVI_3760

WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO SPEND THE DAY LEARNING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE BREWING PROCESS FROM START TO FINISH.

Step 1 - Nicole Greener After the Hops Have Been Harvested

Step 2 - Milling Process

Step 3 - Mashing

Step 4 - Wort Boiling

Step 5 - Adding the Hops

Step 6 - Refrigeration

Step 7 - Cellaring and Filtration

Step 8 - Racking and Dry Hopping

Step 9 - Celebration!

I loved Beer camp! Thanks MSI and Sierra Nevada!

We Are Delighted to Announce…..That We Cut the Women’s Pro Tour

The Freeride World Tour has decided to cancel the Women’s Pro Tour. It came as surprise to all of us, more like a shock. I have been trying to decide how I feel about the decision. Is this good? The FWT has been such a huge part of ski career that I want to feel good about the decision. Before I made I statement, I wanted to be sure about how I really felt. So after a month I am finally ready to let everyone how I really feel.

It sucks! I don’t know how else to say it. It just really sucks. The decision was announced on September 3 via email to all of the competitors. I had to read the email multiple times because there was such a positive spin on what they were really saying.

The letter started out by saying, “Freeride World Tour 11 is on and we’re delighted to announce a whole range of new events and happenings.” And followed with, “Firstly, we are creating a new platform for female riders in order to increase the number of female participants and make the World Title more accessible to young and upcoming talents. Female competitions will be integrated within FWQ events with the final in Verbier where we will all assemble as in previous years. Further, the Female competitions will be featured within their own media showcase with on-line video features and a specific 26 minutes highlights show.”The changes on the men’s side included, “Secondly, the men’s series is increasing to six events with expansion into Austria and the German part of Switzerland. This is a key move as Freeride clearly needs to gain more traction in these hotbeds of European snow sports.”

All of this sounded really positive for women until I realized what the letter was actually saying. The wording was so positive, but it sounded like the FWT had decided to cancel the Women’s Pro Tour. I finally asked a friend to read the email and asked what he thought it was saying. He read the email and turned to me and said, “Wow! Looks like you girls just got screwed!”

The FWT had made the decision to cut the Women’s Pro Tour and thought we would all be really excited to compete on a 14 stop qualifying tour across the World. I wasn’t totally against the idea until I opened the attachment and discovered that there would be no prize money offered for any of the qualifying stops except Kirkwood. There was no way I would be able to travel across Europe competing without prize money. I don’t know anyone who can.

WOMEN CALENDAR FWQ11
Final calendar including 1-4* level to be confirmed by September 30th.
Stop #1. LA CLUSAZ FREERIDE (FRA) 4*: 15-20 Jan
Stop #2. THE NORTH FACE MASTERS OF SNOWBOARDING – Snowbird (USA) 3*: 22-25 Jan (Snowboard only)
Stop #3. HOCHFUGEN FREERIDE (AUT) 4*: 4-8 Feb
Stop #4. THE NORTH FACE MASTERS OF SNOWBOARDING – Crystal Mountain (USA) 2*: 7-11 Feb (Snowboard only)
Stop #5. KITZSTEINHORN FREERIDE (AUT) 3*: 11-14 Feb
Stop #6. MORGINS FREERIDE – Morgins (SUI) 2*: 11-14 Feb
Stop #7. SNOWEEK KRASNAYA – Krasnaya (RUS) 3*: 12-17 Feb
Stop #8. ELDORADO FREERIDE – Vallnord (AND/SPA) 4*: 18-22 Feb
Stop #9. NISSAN MYSTIC EXPERIENCE – Monte Rosa (ITA) 3*: 18-22 Feb
Stop #10. SALOMON EXTREME FREERIDE CHAMPIONSHIPS – Taos (USA) 3*: 18-22 Feb
Stop #11. NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS BY SWATCH – KIRKWOOD (USA) 4*: 26 Feb – 3 Mar (Ski Only)
Stop #12. NORTH FACE MASTERS OF SNOWBOARDING BY SWATCH – Kirkwood (USA) 4*: 5-9 Mar (Snowboard only)
Stop #13. FREERIDE BATTLE SLOVENIA – Kanin (SLO) – 2*: 3-6 Mar
Stop #14. NENDAZ FREERIDE – Nendaz (SUI) – 3*: 11-16 Mar
FINAL : NISSAN XTREME BY SWATCH – VERBIER (SUI – Final): 19-27 Mar

Best 3 results out of an unlimited number of Stops attended count towards a cut made after Nendaz. NB: A 1-4* system will be defined with heavier points awarded in the 4* Events

The essence of the email was, “We are delighted to announce that we have cut the women’s pro tour. The women who can afford to travel to all 14 stops will get to compete in Verbier. Isn’t that great!” It would be great to increase the number of women who are competing and to make the Freeride World Tour more accessible to young and upcoming athletes, but the FWT has always put a cap on how many women are competing. For example, only the top three ranked women are guaranteed a position at each competition and 3-4 wild cards are given to athletes at each competition limiting the field to 7 or 8 women. This is true for Verbier as well this year. The top 5 skier women and top 3 snowboarders will be invited to Verbier. Again, limiting the field of women to 8. As far as making the Freeride World Tour Title more accessible to young and upcoming athletes that is what the original qualifying series was for and it worked. Athletes like Ane Enderud and Janina Kuzma battled their way through the qualifying series to guarantee themselves a place on the Pro Tour. Enderud went on to win the tour two years in a row. The incentive to compete on the qualifying tour was to make the Pro Tour. Now the incentive is gone.

The Freeride World Tour was an incredible opportunity and experience. The last three years I have been able to compete with and against some of the best skiers in the world traveling to places like Russia and Europe. The FWT has helped me become a better skier and opened my eyes to ski communities across the globe. Competing on the Bec De Rosses in Verbier is one of the more incredible experiences I have ever had. It is unbelievable to see 10,000 fans flood the streets of Verbier to celebrate skiing. I want to believe that the FWT has our best interests in making this decision, but it’s hard not to see this as a blow to women’s skiing.

Most of the women see this as a digression in Women’s Skiing, but not all. Lorraine Huber sees the decision as an opportunity. She writes, “Should this really be seen as a step backwards for the women as the first online reactions of the female riders have shown?” “Separating the women from the men allows the creation of an entirely new product which becomes attractive to a new group of sponsors wishing to advocate their women’s line or products.” http://skilori.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/freeride-world-tour-2011/

I am trying to see the good in the decision, but at the moment I think it really sucks. Time will tell. As far as me, I will be competing this winter. The Freeskiing World Tour is stoked to have women onboard and I will be competing in Revelstoke, Kirkwood, and Snowbird. I have also asked the FWT for a Wild Card to Verbier for 2011. I have placed second three years in a row at the Verbier X-treme and would really like to win it this year. So at the moment I am training hard and waiting for the snow to fly.