Feeling Good in Chamonix! I Won!

What a crazy day. Chamonix received 40 cm, which felt like three feet, of new snow the day before the competition. I was so excited about the new snow, but was also a little nervous that the it did not have enough time to set up. The week before the competition the weather was really warm and then the temperature dropped to -1 degrees farenhiet creating bullet proof conditions. The new snow was really light and I was pretty sure I would still feel the hard layer underneath. I was also worried that the new snow didn’t have enough time to bond to the hard surface creating a potential for avalanches.

The face was controlled the night before the competition with little movement. The guides assured the riders that the snow was very good. We were told that when the guides skied the face, they did not feel the hard surface underneath. Great news. I chose a line that would push my limits and be a ton of fun. I was ready for the competition.

The men started first. As the first male competitor dropped into the face, the riders watching realized that the information we were given was not accurate for all aspects of the venue. The first five riders broke off big slabs which exposed the bullet proof layer that was there from the week before. The line that I wanted ski had a fracture of one foot above my first air and the landing looked like ice in my binoculars. I was really bummed to see that the conditions were exactly as I thought they would be, not great. I was forced to find another line with only an hour to my start time. As I was scouting, I was also watching a lot of the men really struggle to ski the face. The snow looked inconsistent and many of the men were falling. I found a line that I liked until I watched Seb Mitchaud ski. Seb skied the ramp I was planning on going down. He is one of the best skiers in the world and made the skiing look really difficult. I was pretty sure if Seb was struggling that I would be in trouble. I was sick about it. I kept searching for a line on the left side of the venue. As I was observing, I noticed the general public ripping down the powder field next to the right side of the venue, which is north facing and protected from the sun. The snow looked amazing! I knew the snow would be really good on the skiers right side of the venue, but I was having a hard time finding a line that would flow well.

I couldn’t make a decision. The snow would be excellent on the right side of the face, but lines on left side were more impressive. I was convinced that the winning line would be on the skiers left side of the venue. I kept going back and fourth on where to ski. I talked to many of the girls, who all seemed to want to ski the exact same line as I did on the right side. Finally, I decided that my skiing would look more impressive in good conditions. I decided to go for the good snow! The only problem was that if I was going to go to the good snow, and not the most impressive zone, I would have to find something big to jump off of. I found the biggest feature with the softest snow and decided to go for it.

I headed up to the top of the mountain and started the hour boot pack to start #1. The boot pack was super gnarly. When I arrived to the top, I realized I wouldn’t be able to access my line from start one. I asked the starter if I could start further down the ridge. He said absolutely not. I would have to leave from the starting gate. The problem was that if I left from the starting gate, I would have to ski uphill to get to the line I had chosen. I was freaking out. I hadn’t inspected anything else from the starting gate. I didn’t really know what was below start gate 1. All I knew was that the snow was terrible and the starting gate was over huge exposure. I didn’t know what to do. I could’ve cried. The rescue team at the top saw how worried I was and came up with a plan. They stomped out a ramp for me and with enough speed out of the starting gate I would be able to ski uphill and make it to the ridge I needed to be on to access my line. It was so nice of them. I was psyched.

I had two minutes to get ready. Before I had my boots buckles the starter told me to go. I pushed out of the gate and skied right up the packed out ramp. It worked! I headed over to far right side of the venue to find the entrance to my line. As soon as I got to the ridge, I knew I had made the right choice. The soft snow was billowing around my waist and felt bottomless. I traversed the ridge to my first air, approximately 25 feet, and sent it. The landing was unreal. It felt like landing on feathers. The snow flew over my head as I skied to my next air. There was so much snow on top of my second air that I lost all of my speed before I reached the take off. I was forced to jump off the right side of the drop. It was still a good size air, but not what I had planned on. By this time I was having a lot of fun. I ripped huge pow turns, face shots and all, to my last air. It was a small drop. I knew that to make it look impressive, I would have to hit it with a lot of speed. I sent it, maybe with too much speed. It was the only firm landing I had my entire run. My back slap was quick and I was up ripping powder turns again. I skied into the finish covered in snow with a huge smile on my face. My run was so much fun!!!!

The awards ceremony was held on the mountain right after all the riders finished competing. The announcer started with 7th place Jaclyn Paaso, 6th Crystal Wright, 5th Janette Harigin, 4th Lorainne Huber, 3rd Janina Kuzma. I was going to be on the podium. Next the announcer called both myself and Eva Walkner to the podium. We joined Janina and with a drum roll he announced, ” And in first place, from the United States of America……..Jess McMillan.” I screamed! I had just won in Chamonix! The best part of it all was that I had a ton of fun while skiing my line. All in all a fantastic day!