Planes, Trains, and Race Cars?

It has been an amazing three weeks.  My adventure started in Revelstoke for the first stop of the Freeride World Tour.  As soon as I arrived in Revelstoke,  the snow began to fall.  I didn’t see the sun for ten days.  I was starting to wonder if it was possible to see the sun in Revelstoke.  I finally asked a local on the chairlift and he said, “I think we saw the sun a couple times at the end of the season last year.”  It was looking like we might not get the finals off for the Freeskiing Competition, but on the very last possible competition day, I woke to a beautiful beam of sunlight.

The day was amazing.  Mount Olympus is one of the most picturesque venues I have ever competed on.  The day couldn’t have been more perfect.  A heli shuttled us to the top of the venue, a knife edge peak.  The venue was stunning and the feeling at the top of the mountain was powerful.  It was one of those moments when I felt incredibly lucky to be a professional skier.  I skied my line exactly how I had planned and came flyin into third place.

Riding my high from the day, I returned to my hotel room to receive a text message on my iphone: Jess can you be in Telluride on sunday.  Sorry for the short notice, but it is the only time Regan Smith and his team have time this month.  It was thursday.  My plan was to drive the 15 hours back to Jackson, recharge my batteries, and fly to Chamonix on the following thursday.  It felt like a quick turn around without a trip to Telluride, but it’s not every day you get an opportunity to ride in Regan’s Furniture Row Race Car.  So, yes of course, I can squeeze a quick trip to Telluride before I fly to Chamonix.

I can’t begin to describe the feeling of sitting in a race car.  The feel of the engine is powerful.  As soon as Regan started his engine, my heart rate jumped to 170 and that was before we went 200mph.  I have never thought of myself as a motor head.  And I never thought I would watch a Nascar Race.  Never say never.  After spending two days with Regan and his team I found myself watching Nascar on my flight over to Chamonix.  And I can’t wait to go to my first Race.

It started to snow as soon as we arrived in Chamonix for the second stop of the Freeride World Tour.  My timing couldn’t have been better.  It snowed so hard the first night I arrived that the mountain didn’t open the next day.  Luckily, the competition was postponed because as soon as I arrived in Chamonix I came down with the stomach flu.  I was my first time catching the stomach flu and I never ever want to have the stomoach flu again.  Thirty hours of sleep later, I emerged from hotel room feeling like I had been hit by a truck and “ready” to compete.

Chamonix Competition Venue 2012

I have to admit, I wasn’t feeling my best, but I rallied to the top for my competition run.  I chose a winning line, but it wasn’t my day.  I choked when I arrived at my biggest feature.  Why did I choke?  I wish I knew.  What I do know is that I don’t like fourth place.  It’s time to head back to Jackson, recharge, and get ready to kick some ass!

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!

Revelstoke Freeskiing Competition – Day 1

Day 1 Venue - Revelstoke

I am currently in Revelstoke competing in the 2nd stop of the Freeskiing World Tour. If you have never been to Revelstoke, it is a must. Revelstoke is a small town with big mountains along side the columbia River. The people of Revelstoke are extremely friendly and the skiing is even better.

Columbia River from the Chairlift of Revelstoke

I am really psyched after Day 1. I chose a different strategy for this competition. I usually ski to win; playing the point game and erroring on the side of caution not to fall. This year it is my goal to challenge myself every day skiing. Believe it or not I am a relatively conservative skier. I rarely fall. This year I would like to challenge myself and see what happens. My line consisted of three large airs (some of the biggest for the women). I was really nervous because I have not had a lot practice in the air this season. My only practice was a ten foot air the day before. I figured I had a 50/50 chance of sticking my line. Not the best odds, but I also knew I would be stoked if I did stick it. So I went for it and stuck it, finishing second for the day.

Mac Face, Revelstoke - Day 2 Venue

The finals of the competition will be held on Mac Face (above). I am so stoked. The venue is untouched and will be a privilege to ski. Check it out live on www.freeskiingworldtour.com.

La Parva Day 1 – Freeskiing World Tour

[Vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/6436780[/Vimeo]

The first day of the La Parva Freeskiing Competition went off! The competition was held on McConkey’s face. The venue was technical with lots of features to play around with. It was amazing to watch the athletes compete. Most people had one or two days of skiing under their belts since last year, but skied like it was mid-season.

Day 1 Venue - McConkey's Face

There were 43 athletes from around the world who came to compete in the first stop of the Freeskiing World Tour. It has been over a year since I have competed in a Freeskiing World Tour event. It felt like coming home. It was so nice to see all of the good people from MSI and of course Jim Jack and Shcmitty, along with all of the IFSA athletes.

Jim Jack and Schmitty Enjoying the Local Cuisine

The venue for day 1 was a challenge for me. I had a difficult time finding a line that would showcase my best skiing. I chose a line that was very tight and technical. It happened to be the same line that all of the women skied. It is not very often that all the women ski the same line. It was very difficult for the judges to make a decision, but Jacqui Edgerly came out on top with a score of 35.94. I skied into second with a 35.38 and Soledad Diaz from Chile finished third with a 35.25.

The women are stacked and we were all looking forward to charging the second run. The day 2 venue is perfect for my style of skiing. I could barely sleep with the anticipation of ripping my line. Mother nature seemed to have other plans. When I opened my eyes at 6:00 this morning snow was gently falling. All of the athletes loaded the t-bar at 7:00 to find out that the wind was nuking at the top. With 100 mph winds and no visibility, MSI regretfully had to call the competition. I am super bummed I will not have another run to prove myself, but tomorrow should be an epic powder day.

La Parva, Chile – 1st Stop of the Freeskiing World Tour

McConkey

The Freeskiing World Tour is starting early this year and in Chile. The competition will be held on McConkey’s run. I can’t tell you how cool it was to hike to the top of the venue and see the face of an icon stoked that you came to enjoy one of his play grounds.

McConkey

The competition will be held on Friday and Saturday. The first run will be held on the skier’s right side of the main chute. Saturday will be held on the skier’s left side of the venue.

Looking Down Day 1 Venue

Both venues appear to be really fun. Day one is very playful. There are a ton of super fun features and nothing with heavy consequences. Day two is the day to put your “Grandpa Boots” on. It is the day to do some stomping. The venue is wide open. I would expect to see ripping fast skiing and huge airs. I am super stoked to be competing in Chile!