Loving Life

On the road again

2012-01-17T09:35:00.001-08:00

Somewhere almost to I 70

Photo fun with Gill Montgomery

2012-01-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

I met Gill a couple years ago in Vermont at the Gatorade Free Flow Finals, we clicked right away and have amazingly stayed in touch despite our hectic schedules. We met up in Breckenridge a couple weeks ago and took some fun pictures around town, see if you can spot some familiar places!
Thanks for the shots Gill i'll see you soon!

The U.S. Revolution Tour at Northstar at Tahoe.

2012-01-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

Having driven to Park City the previous day from Colorado, I squeezed in enough time to Ride at Canyons to stretch my legs out before heading to Tahoe on Monday the 9th of January.
We left around 10am after stopping by Starbucks of course. Anyone who knows me knows how addicted to coffee I am so there will be many more references throughout this post. The skies were blue, the road was clear, and we had my one and only Highlander set at a comfortable 78mph cruise control.Tthe speed limit is 75) With about 500 miles of open road in front of us, we thought it was necessary to set out at a diligent pace. Fortunately for me, I just got an I phone, thanks to my stepdad, so I had lots of entertaining things going on during the drive. I have become an instragram user as well so we took a ton of pictures.

Upon arriving, I was devastated to see how little snow there was in Tahoe, I had heard there wasn't any, but it's hard to believe until you see it! We checked into our place at the base of Northstar, and got to bed early to get ready for training the next morning.
Another beautiful spring-like morning in California had us up on the mountain around 9am. The course wasn't open until 10, so we had a bit to check out the other features on the mountain. The rail line that was setup before you got to the course was really fun to play around, and get warmed up on, but the course was the place to be if you were trying to ride park.
I had a great day training on the course, and felt pretty good. Considering I didn't compete until Friday, I didn't want to push it too hard. A few more days of fun in the sun and Friday had already snuck up on me.

It was a crisp bluebird morning the day of the 13th, and the course was incredibly fast. I had no complaints about the course which consisted of; two options up top, on the right was a down box to a flat-down box, and to the left was a down rail, to a really fun wall ride. To finish it off was two jumps. I chose to hit the left side because the judges had determined it was the "more difficult" line of the two. I had a blast weaving my way through the course, and got two laps in before the contest started.

I was 3rd to last in the heat of about 30-40 girls, so I had a long time to try to stay warm, and focused. Being so early in the morning, I knew people would have trouble putting a run down due to the shady conditions on the course, so I played it pretty safe on my first run, and qualified 2nd for finals.
When finals started the top 6 ladies were gathered at the top around 11am the sun was just peeking out around the trees to light up the course for us. Again I was 4th to drop so I had to stay entirely focused, and warm while waiting for my other competitors to take their runs.

I stomped both of my runs, but in the end I played it just a little too safe. I took third on the podium behind some very talented girls that were really fun to watch. Lots of respect to all of the other women throwing down on this course, it was wildly entertaining! I did my research before awards and found there was a Starbucks conveniently located right in the village where awards were being held so once again, I got some coffee.
We left early the next morning to head back to Park City, arriving a little later than expected we were both so tired at the end we had to hit the hay. Now, off to to Breck for some training, big jumps, and S.I.A.
Thanks to everyone at the REV TOUR and NORTHSTAR for putting on a wonderful event, as well as a thanks to all of my sponsors for your support (Gatorade, Capix, Akinz, Fydelity)
And one special thanks to ECHELON SNOWBOARDS for making this trip possible for me!

Getting the shot in Colorado.

2011-12-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

Since I have been in Breckenridge I have had the chance to work with a couple of new photographers, and we have been able to produce a couple of great pictures despite the lack of snow due to preseason conditions.
We started at Arapahoe Basin before anything else was open and were able to get a couple of fun shots on the features with Ryan Bregante, I also made a trip to Vail to hit their setup in the backyard and take some lifestyles..

Thanks to Dave Roth over at Copper Mountain, Joe Large and I were able to go shoot in their park before anyone else had jumps to offer. Fortunately we had beautiful weather, and were able to ride all day with very minimal traffic through the park.

The next morning we met again at Starbucks to take a couple of lifestyle pictures, I thought the location was very fitting since I am a coffee fanatic! Thanks again to Joe, Dave, and Ryan for getting the shot!

Woodward at Copper Sessions- JUST DO IT IN THE PARK.

2011-10-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

The main reason I wanted to get to Colorado so badly was to go and use the facilities at Woodward. Fortunately, I got a pass so I have been taking full advantage of it. Thanks Don, and Phoebe! A couple of my girlfriends and I decided to start a little project and film our sessions. This is a little edit from our first two, we had tons of fun and learned some really good corked spins both ways, doubles, and even a triple front! Enjoy... and remember, just do it in the PARK!

EARLY BIRDS AT ABASIN

2011-10-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

Early Birds at the Abasin from erika Vikander on Vimeo.

After many hours spent prepping to move to Breckenridge I finally made it on Wednesday. I stopped through Park City on my way to break my drive up, so I had a nice little 7 hour drive. Lucky for me Arapahoe Basin opened the following day after I arrived. I am ecstatic to be in Colorado for the season and I can’t wait until Breckenridge opens! But in the meantime I shredded the opening day at Abasin with Courtney Cox and Bev Vuillemier. We had tons of fun playing frogger with all of the people everywhere on the “white ribbon of death” and we were all smiles

A summer of FUN in ORegon.

2011-09-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

The weather in Oregon is... unpredictable to say the least, and I captured a lot of it on my GoPro this summer. Not only was it amazing to come from the clouds under Mt. Hood in Welches up to the sun at the top of Timberline, but the roads around that area are indescribably spectacular. That is why I filmed most of us driving around, we went to some great areas including, Lolo Pass, Bagby Hot Springs, Estacada, and a few secret spots, we did plenty of fun activities along the way. Here is a little taste of the simple Oregon life.

S3 Supergirl jam Video from FOX

2011-09-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

I got the opening shot!

5th Annual S3 Supergirl Jam 2011

2011-08-31T14:28:00.000-07:00

After a restful night of sleep on Saturday night, I woke feeling very refreshed the morning of Sunday the 21st of August. I had my friend and fellow Shred Betty team rider Randa staying with me as well as our team manager Diana who drove all the way down from mammoth area just to come support. Thanks lady!
We hopped in the cars early at 8:00 am to get up there by 9:00am which was my designated interview time for before the contest. After finding an awesome parking spot in Venice which is hard to do I went and got my interview out of the way, then found Diana again to grab some breakfast.
This contest is always a ton of fun, and it's fun to see people you haven't seen all summer, and what they have learned. After chatting with some friends who were also interviewing, Diana and I went to my favorite "Sidewalk Cafe," for some much needed consumables. With about 2 hours to kill before the riders meeting, we leisurely ate and drank coffee and watched the colorful people of Venice Beach, CA.
Finally at about 12:30pm the riders' meeting took place. We were all antsy to get up to the top of the drop in to practice on the same setup as the previous year which included; a down rail on the right and a skinny down box on the left. I only took a couple of practice runs in order to save energy for the main event. I was in the second heat, so I had a little time to sit back relax, visualize, and support my fellow supergirls.
When it was time for the second heat, I was more than ready to get things going, and put down a few solid moves right away. I wasn't trying to kill myself and the judges said they wanted to see consistency and landing tricks, so I made sure thats what I did. I felt pretty good about my performance, and was happy to hear my name announced into the top ten finalists. It was a hot day in Venice, and though I didn't have all of my snowboard gear on, I was still feeling the effects of the heat. It was awesome to see how much girls have improved and really got after it at this contest in the middle of the summer!
In the end it was Laurie Currier who took the title again with her smooth riding, and technical tricks. I was happy to end in 9th place, after all i'm really NOT a rail rider!

SO HOOD.

2011-08-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

I have never been able to spend my summer at Mt. Hood before and I was fortunate enough to make it up there this year thanks to Gatorade, Fydelity, and my family. I didn’t quite understand the dynamics of how the summer shredding works, but I think I finally figured out how to keep a happy balance of working hard and playing hard. This is what I’ve been working on for the past month and half, check it out

A day in the life...

2011-08-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

I stopped through Monterey, CA on my way to Orange County to see my mom and my stepdad. My stepdad is THE MAN having won Le Mans when he was 24 he still he drives cars professionally, and was kind enough to host me at the track one day. Enjoy the ride...

WHY WE RIDE

2011-08-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

It took about 2 or 3 weeks to finally track down all of these girls to ask them “why they ride.” When I finally sat down to start editing I was very pleased to see how it turned out and how everyones answers were almost the same, we all know snowboarding is fun, but can you guess any other reasons “Why We Ride?” Enjoy!

Going all day at Mt. Hood.

2011-07-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

ERIKA DONE HOOD from Alice Owens on Vimeo.

Getting the shot at Mt. Hood with Rocky Maloney

2011-07-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

My friend Rocky Maloney was in town for a couple days and we got a couple shots while he was here at the end of the day yesterday. Check em out!

The enchanted forest...

2011-07-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

My friend Alice Owens flew up to Mt. Hood to take some pictures with me and make a web edit for Gatorade that will be coming soon, but we took some lifestyle pictures with my new bags from FYDELITY in the mean time. Have a look!

Woodsy Shenanigans in Oregon

2011-07-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

My friends and I were bored in Oregon one day so we decided to take a little hike up to Bagby Hot Springs, I hadn't seen them in a while so we were all excited and documented our adventure on the Go Pro. Here is a little edit I made from it, enjoy!!

vimeo.com/25846428

Moab, UT and Grand Canyon National Park

2011-06-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

On a side note to the Colorado trip, my mom flew up from southern California to accompany me on my trip and spend a little time together. We took the scenic route leaving Colorado through Moab, UT and the Grand Canyon National Park. We had tons of fun together. My mom rocks! Love you!

Moonrise

Following along the Colorado River

Welcome to southern Utah

The typical yoga pose..

Pretty Flowers!

Life is good.

Love my whip!

What is that?

Negro Bill Trailhead

My lizard friend striking a pose.

Everything important to me fits in my car. Can you tell?

Transparent Leaf

Moonflower Canyon

First view of the Grand Canyon

Don't Fall.

Cool Tower!

Breathtaking views.

Winding staircase..

Two of the most spectacular places I have ever seen.

Coaching and Riding @ Woodward at Copper

2011-06-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple months I have been looking forward to being a "guest pro" for Woodward at Copper's first session sponsored by angrysnowboarder.com. So when June 13th rolled around, I was more than ready to hop in the car and drive to Summit County for adult week at Woodward.

The campers arrived on June 14th and had the day to settle before a welcome dinner that evening. After the dinner the wonderful staff at woodward took the time to walk everyone through the facility and the schedule for the next day. I am still in awe as to what an state-of-the-art facility they have to offer. With real snow jumps, and an airbag outside, to multiple trampolines, foam pits, and snowflex jumps in the barn, Woodward offers a variation of features for all ability levels.

The following morning was the first day on snow, the excitement was in the air as we all loaded up the buses after breakfast, which was supplied all week including lunch and dinner! (Thanks Woodward!) When we got to the snow, we had a little time to check out the features and decide whether or not we wanted to hike, or take car laps, I opted to take advantage of the car laps and not tire myself out hiking in the hot sun. First day was pretty mellow as everyone was getting their legs back, and I had some work to get accomplished as well. I showed up to camp with several awesome products from my sponsors; NICHE SNOWBOARDS, GATORADE, AND AKINZ to give to the campers. Niche had given me a snowboard to specifically give to the girl I thought deserved it the most, and I had already made a decision the first day. Just as anxious as the rest of the campers, I had trouble sleeping that night and couldn't wait to get back on snow the following day.
We woke to a beautiful sunny morning. With the sun dancing on the iridescent mountain-tops it was one of the most inviting spectacles I have ever seen. Fifteen minutes later I arrived back at breakfast got my coffee and was back on the bus being shuttled to the hill. There were a couple of other invited pro's there, and I had the chance to get to ride with those guys, which was awesome! Woodward was also flexible enough to let me interact as much or as little with the campers, and especially the female campers. I gave pointers where I could, but most of the girls were separated into all male groups, so I went around to the girls and let them know that the following day we were having an all girls group and it was ON!

Before leaving on Thursday, myself and the two other male snowboard pro's were invited to stay after the campers left and have a private photoshoot in the park. We were all so excited to just be able to ride without a lot of people there, but we also got snowmobile laps on the park! What an end to an already amazing day. WOODWARD you really outdid yourselves there! And a huge shoutout to RYAN SABOL for taking great shots! That evening there were some fun activities geared towards the adult campers, I came out and spectated for a while at the beer pong tournament, we had some fun!

Friday was the last day of camp, although the spirits were up, the mutual feeling about camp being
over was a sad one. Determined to make sure the girls specifically had a good time, I grabbed each one from their separate groups, and formed our own. I wanted to work, but also make it fun for the girls, so I told them that I would give them each prize packages for really trying new things. Every single girl in my group took at least 3 huge steps up their personal ladders, which is more than any coach can ask for. The looks on their faces at the end of the day was priceless, and it feels awesome to get people stoked on something you truly love as well. The day flew by, and we barely had enough time to hit the jump, before we started the highest high-five contest for the entire camp. Everyone participated and had so much fun, the pictures will justify.

After the on-snow session we came down to "The Edge," to have lunch, and do the giveaways. I had prize packages put together for all the girls, and the seemed pretty stoked! I had one snowboard to give to a girl, as well as Scott having bindings and boots to giveaway. Lisa Collier was a camper in my group from New York who clearly deserved a new setup, she had a great attitude, and was riding a setup straight from 1997. Upon receiving her new setup, she wasn't sure what to do, cry, laugh, jump, scream, or just stand there in total disbelief. In the end she was so excited and it was rad to see what an impact you can make on someone's life. Around the same time we had cases of Gatorade show up for the campers and staff to enjoy... Thanks Tera!

Hope everyone had as much fun as me and comes back for the Angrysnowboarder.com session at Woodward at Copper! THANKS ESPECIALLY TO AVRAN, GATORADE,NICHE, AKINZ AND OF COURSE WOODWARD FOR HAVING ME!

Sunrise shoot...

2011-06-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

My friend Alice Owens just got a new camera, so we decided to wake up at 5am and go take some pictures over looking the city with the sun rising... enjoy!

Campus Rail Jam Tour Finals 2011 Portland Oregon

2011-06-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

Friday May 26th I hopped on a plane from Salt Lake City up to Portland, OR. This is the second time I have attended the Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour Finals, and probably my tenth time competing in the series. The guys at the tour do a great job keeping everything legitimate, therefore its easy to come back year after year! I landed around 7pm and my friend Janessa came and picked me up, we got some food then went to her house to rest up for the following contest day.

The following morning we woke up to some true Oregon weather, rain. Thankfully I had checked the weather prior to leaving so I was prepared. Janessa was patient and kind enough to play tour guide all day before the contest, and she took me to some pretty spectacular places around Portland. We checked out Pittock Mansion, downtown, and some other areas, it was really nice and I appreciate her putting up with me being such a tourist!

The contest didn't start until about 3:30 after we had about thirty minutes to practice. Trying not to get too wet or wear myself out, I only hit it twice during practice to feel the speed.The girls were all grouped together, in the 3rd heat, so we had a while to hang out and socialize. I spent most of my time with Janessa and her boyfriend and fellow Shred Betty team rider Randa Shahin. Between the crowd, the setup, and those two girls my spirits were high and I was ready to get out onto the course.
With about eight or nine other girls competing, I wasn't sure what to expect. These girls not only met, but exceeded my expectations for the level of riding. I was very impressed with what girls were doing, and trying to do. It poured rain on us the whole time, but I had enough in me to get some solid tricks on every feature which included; a down-flat-down rail on the lookers right, a launch box in the middle, and down rail with a kick at the end of it on the lookers left. The jam lasted about 30 minutes, then they announced the top 5 finalists which included myself and Janessa!

The crowd was pleased to have this going on downtown Portland and the CRJT guys always find a way to get them involved. This time they had a dance off featuring some of the very colorful people in the audience. Needless to say it was amazing to watch. After the dance-off it was time for finals to start, all the the guys and girls on ski's and snowboard's were at the top strapped in, itching to drop first.
In the end I believe they were looking for consistency across the board and a variety of tricks. I cleaned the down-flat-down rail a few times, got some solid back lips and 180's on and off the down rail, and some good 180 taps over the launch box. I was very happy to take 1st and Janessa got 2nd and another lady shred friend Krysta got 3rd! It was a great event and a lot of love goes out to the guys who put this on year after year. Another successful year down, and I can't wait to see what's in store for next year. THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT EVENT GUYS! Till next year...

Check out a video of the event here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-NcYJCa5uo&feature=share

Come to camp with me!

2011-06-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.nichesnowboards.com/blogs/news/3314702-woodward-at-copper-signature-session

PARK LAPS WITH ERIKA VIKANDER

2011-05-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.vimeo.com/24390255

enjoy!

Shred Betties | Erika Vikander: Powin’ Around

2011-05-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

Shred Betties | Erika Vikander: Powin’ Around

A fun video I made from some powder footage at Canyons, UT as well as Grizzly Gulch. Enjoy :)

Ms. Superpark 2011 @ Keystone

2011-04-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

Ms. Superpark happens once a year when the top 50 female riders from around the world are invited to a private photoshoot hosted by Snowboarder Magazine, Gatorade, and Keystone resort, so when I received an invite for the first time this year, I was ecstatic. I traveled to Breckenridge to meet up with the founder of Akinz, Suzanne, and stay at our friend Avrans house. The drive took about 7 hours, with minimal bad road conditions, I arrived with daylight left still. I was so excited to see what the next day had in store, I could hardly sleep.
When I woke the next morning early, the sun was out, the air was crisp, and it was time to shred. We drove the short 20 minutes over to Keystone Resort to meet Pat Bridges to check in and get credentials. After checking in we went right over to the course, and it was the most insane thing I have ever seen. With huge features with big consequences everywhere I was slightly nervous. But determined to not let my nerves get the best of me, I stepped right up to the triple jump line. My first run through I just barely cased on the knuckle of the second jump and tweaked my knee. Frustrated, I shook it off and started sizing up the channel gaps. The course was too crazy to put into words, and pictures can barely do it justice.

I rode hard from 9 to 4pm, and was tired and ready to go home and put some ice on my knee. The next two days were supposed to be bad weather, and when we woke the next morning, we were aware the forecasters were right. As I stood up to get ready my knee gave out and then stiffened up. Slightly alarmed I decided to take the day off and go get it checked out at the doctors. Three and a half hours later, I left knowing I had severely strained my LCL, and I shouldn't snowboard on it anymore according to the doctor, but that wasn't going to happen.

I went back to Avrans house and religiously iced my knee for the remainder of the evening. The next morning it had snowed quite a bit more, and we took our time getting up to Keystone. When I got the the Superpark scene it was impossible to hit any of the jump features so most of the girls were hitting the hip, or hitting rails. I cruised around and did a little bit of both, I had a ton of fun goofing around and watching everyone play in the snow.

The following morning the sun was out and inviting everyone to come play in its' rays. We were on the mountain by 9am and I had already hit everything and was warmed up by 10am. I introduced myself to a couple of the photographers and asked them to take pictures including; Laura Austin and Chris Garrison, without their help I would not have gotten any shots at all! Thank you two! I ended up with about 5 really good shots and I was pleased. I rode hard all day again and didn't leave till around 4:30pm. The very last session of Ms. Superpark was incredibly fun, and it was so amazing to see so many talented female riders who were all there supporting one another. I also had the pleasure of meeting and riding with riders who I personally look up to.
The day after the Ms. Superpark ended my friend Kumara invited me to come up to Keystone with her and a couple of other girls including; Izzy, Michelle, Channelle, and Kjersti to have a private shoot in the park while the course was still up. Between the talent, the attitudes, the weather, and the crew of girls, I had the best time snowboarding and even stomped some Cab 720s finally!
The experience of Ms. Superpark is one of the most out of this world things I have ever done. I can't wait to see where women's snowboarding goes, and I hope to be part of that progression. Thanks to SNOWBOARDER MAG, KEYSTONE, AND GATORADE for hosting a great event.
A special thanks to Pat Bridges for inviting me to participate, I look forward to next year!

Neff Beach Bash at Brighton 2011

2011-04-30T09:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday April 23rd marked the second annual Neff Beach Bash at Brighton, I attended the event last year and had a ton of fun, so I decided this year should be no different!
I picked up my friend Nick around 8:30 am to head up to Brighton, we arrived there ready to go after some coffee. After registering we looked at the course for a bit, and waited for practice to start. The setup was just as fun as last years and consisted of; a big single barrel rail to a wall ride on the right, a launch box in the middle, and a reverse tear drop rail on the left side. The box itself was my favorite feature because you had to gap about 10ft. off the end of it to make it to the landing. With half an hour to practice, I had enough time to hit each feature once, and not wear myself out.
They put the open ladies division in with the grom boys. There were about 8-10 girls total there, which was a great turnout I thought! With tons of people hyping up the energy in the crowd, the intensity of riding was pretty high. I pushed myself to get at least one solid trick on every feature, and was most proud of my 180 onto the rail to hard way 180 off onto the wall ride. The girls were riding very well including one of my friends and fellow competitors who is only 14! She landed a couple very solid backside 360s over the gap which was awesome to see!

Forty five minutes flies by when your having fun, and before I knew it, my heat was over. I was joined by my big brother and his girlfriend who came up to watch, and support. THANKS DANE AND LAUREN. We talked and laughed and people watched while the rest of the competitors went, it was quite a scene as it was the last Saturday before closing the next day.
Around 1 o'clock the contest was over, and we were anxiously waiting the results. My friend Nick ended up in 4th, and I tied for 1st with my fourteen year old friend! It was all in all a very fun day of riding and another great event put on by Brighton Resort, and Neff Headwear. Thanks everyone!

Billabong Flaunt-It Finals at Sierra

2011-04-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

Once again Billabong has outdone themselves. I have been greatly anticipating this contest all season, and I'm glad I made the trip out to tahoe once again. After convincing my friend Vic to come with me the morning we left, we took off around 12:30. Eight and a half hours later we arrived at my friend and fellow Akinz and Shred Betties team rider Claire Demeyer. Claire was gracious enough to host us for our entire stay, and even made us dinner upon arrival! With full bellies, and a comfortable couch, it wasn't long until we were all asleep.

Registration took place at the same time and place as last year, and we were greeted with friendly staff, and an awesome backpack from Dakine. I got right out to the hill to start practicing since we only had about an hour to do so. Everyone got right after it, including myself, there was a slight nip in the air, so I was ready to get the blood flowing. Not feeling quite ready to do the spins I wanted, I took it easy until the slopestyle jam started. With two hours to get some runs under our feet, I just wasn't feeling on top of my game, and didn't put down a clean run until my very last run, and I finally got a cab 540 to backside 360 on the double jump line. After landing that, I felt a little bit better, but I was slightly disappointed about my performance. However, I did the best I could, and had a ton of fun riding and watching the other girls.

Not only does Billabong give out great goodies, and put on great events, they feed us lunch too! The setup of this contest is unlike any other, and it was one of the best events year after year. After we ate some delicious burrito's, it was time for the rail jam to start. I was feeling a little hesitant about doing the rail jam, because there were a TON of really good girls there. But I just did my best and had fun, and it worked out pretty well. I cleaned the down-flat-down rail a couple different times, and got frontside 180 on, hard way 180 out of the long down rail. I think the judges were looking more for consistency, and that is why I did better than some girls who were doing more technical tricks. Regardless, it was awesome to watch all of these girls push themselves to the limit, and overcome some pretty intense features.
All in all it was another extremely successful event hosted by Billabong and Sierra at Tahoe. I ended up taking 4th place in the rail jam which is awesome considering the talent that was there. The top 5 in slopestyle and the rail jam were awarded with some cash, a jacket, and a Billabong backpack stuffed full of all sorts of things. Huge thanks to Sierra at Tahoe, and Billabong for putting on such a spectacular event, see you next year!

One hit wonder series @ Sierra-at-Tahoe

2011-04-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

Tahoe is one of my all time favorite places. Between the snowboarding, the scenery, and the vibe, I always have a good time when I go there. So I imagined this recent trip would be no different, unfortunately things don't always work out as planned.
Dreading the long 9 hour drive to South Lake Tahoe, I hit the road a little later than I had intended, and ended up leaving around 11am. When I finally got on the road, I was relieved to finally get a little time alone and to think. The day actually flew by, and before I knew it I was meeting up with my cousin at the base of Heavenly gondola. My cousin Jenn lives in San Francisco, so she makes it up quite often. After all she is the one who taught me how to snowboard so it's nice to come back to where it all started. After a quick bite to eat at a local brewery, we were all passed out soon after arriving home.
Rising early the next morning around 8am, I stopped off for some coffee before heading up to Sierra. Upon arriving, I ran in, registered, found a parking spot, then met my cousin and her friend Christina at the base of Grandview lift. Sierra always builds amazing features, and the last contest I did there was one of the most fun contests I have ever done, so I had high expectations for the setup of the course.
My expectations were far exceeded. The course was amazing and Sierra put in a lot of hard work to make this course for us. We had about an hour and half to practice, which was plenty, considering it was a jam format.
When the event started I was ready to begin. With only two of us girls in the contest, we were both having fun pushing each other. There were so many different features to hit, I almost wished we had more time to jam, but was relieved when they told us "last lap!" I had a ton of fun riding the course, and felt good about my performance, so I was anxious to get the awards going.

After they had announced all of the men's division, and didn't even mention anything about women being there, a dark cloud overtook my good mood. I finally realized that they weren't going to say anything, so I went up and asked them what the deal was since I drove all the way from Utah to do that contest. I was informed that due to the insignificance of the ladies performance the last few years, they were not going to honor a women's division. That was not what I was expecting to hear, and I was slightly offended. But before I could get any more heated I left, and decided to go visit my grandmother outside of Sacramento.
Happy with my decision to leave, as soon as the dark clouds came they were pushed right out by my "grammy's" smiling face when I showed up at her door. The trip ended on a high note, and we spent most of the night catching up. It was a very nice visit. I woke early the next morning and took I-80 for nine hours to get back to Park City. Man that drive is painful. But nonetheless I still had a great time and Sierra and Snowboarder Mag put together an amazing course.

Monster Slopestyle Stomp!

2011-03-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

Many contests end up falling on the same day. I guess there just aren't enough weekends in the winter. Usually when making a contest decision it comes down to where there will be a cash prize. So between competing at Canyons, or Wolf Mountain, it was a no-brainer to go to Wolf Mountain. With a $2,000 prize purse for the contest my friend Max and I drove about an hour early Saturday morning to get there. We showed up in time to register, and I was informed that they would not be paying the girls, because they consider us "amatures." That did not sit very well with me, and I was a little upset to say the least. I understand there are not as many girls as boys competing, but if you advertise a Women's Open contest and clearly state on the flyer that ALL OPEN divisions would be paid, I expect that they would follow through with that. Regardless, I was angry enough that I entered in the men's open division too.
We had about 30 minutes of practice left before the contest started, and that gave us just enough time to go through the course once and straight air everything, before putting our runs together next time through. The course was tiny, but really fun! With a boost of confidence from somewhere, I was feeling pretty good all day. I was trying to do cab 540's to backside 360's but I kept over-rotating on the five and taking it to a 720. That was fine with me! I had been trying to get past the hump of 540 for a while now, and I just accidentally thrust myself into the next level. With my mind pretty much everywhere but the contest, I spent my whole 6 runs (3 in men's open, and 3 in women's open) going for that 720. I didn't land it really clean, but I landed well enough to still finish my run and do a swith 360 on the last jump.
I had so much fun pushing myself all day, and with some helpful pointers from Max, I will have it on lock by the end of the week.
The contest seemed to end just as quickly as it started, so we decided to go ski the hardest run on Wolf Mountain. Max and I tore up some runs for about 30 minutes before we headed back over for awards. We were all ready to see the results, in the end, I got 2nd. Slightly disappointed, and confused, I happily accepted my award and congratulated Elin on getting 1st. Better luck for me next year I guess! But on a lighter note, Max got 1st place and won $500! So all was not lost and at least we didn't drive all the way to Wolf Mountain for nothing. I would like to say thanks to Monster, and Wolf Mountain for hosting this event, we had a blast.

Canyons Footy 2010-2011

2011-03-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

Campus Rail Jam Tour at the University of Utah

2011-02-27T20:09:00.000-08:00

The Campus Rail Jam Tour is always one of my favorite contests to participate in. It's always a fun crowd, there is good music, a great setup, and lots of familiar faces! I showed up on Thursday the 24th, to an unpleasantly gray day in Salt Lake City. I got there around 11am to register. Having done the contest almost every year they have put it on, I am pretty comfortable around the campus, and had no trouble getting myself all situated. I was greeted by some good friends who came out to support, along with my big brother, and some of the Niche crew. I spent most of my time hanging with my friend Cat and her roommate Maddee. We were having a blast watching everyone, and dancing our hearts out.

When it finally came time to compete I was more than ready, and the setup looked really fun. From lookers left to right the setup consisted of; a down-flat-down rail, a launch box with a gap on the end, and a down rail with little kink at the end for added technical difficulty. I climbed all the way to the top of the scaffolding, strapped in, and dropped into the launch box. Trying to set a high standard for the girls, I tried to do a smooth press and grab my board off the box, when I landed I sunk in about 6 inches into slush, and had to readjust my game plan.

Next up I tried my luck with the down rail. I got it first try, with a clean frontside 180 out, but that slush got me again, and I couldn't stick the landing. After that, I decided I would not fall anymore. Nervously peering over the edge of the drop-in to get a look at the rail, I strapped in and went for it. Success! I was feeling very good about that rail, and spent most of my time on it. I did some pretty good tricks on there including a solid frontboard through the kink, which was a personal goal of mine. By the end of the 40 minute heat we were all down right exhausted.
I cheered on the rest of my friends who were competing including Cat who was up next. She killed it the whole time and WON! YAY CAT! In the meantime while Cat and I were competing, Madee was holding it down on the dancefloor for us. She even won the "Teach me how to dougie" contest! We all had a blast hanging out all day, but it was finally time for the results! With the suspense building up inside me, knowing there were some good girls there, I couldn't barely even listen when they announced the 2nd and 1st places. Lejawn Allen ended up in 3rd. Alexa McCarty took 2nd, and I ended up in the top spot on the podium! After a quick interview with Fuel Tv I had to fly up the canyon to get to work! Needless to say, it was a long, busy, and super fun day! Thanks to CRJT for putting on yet another great event. Keep up the good work guys!

P.S. A local newspaper snagged a quick little interview with me. Here is the link:
http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/news/winners-announced-at-jam-tour-1.2481919

Friday Night Live @ PC

2011-02-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

Friday the 18th of February marked the 2nd event in the "Friday Night Live" series hosted by Park City Mountain Resort. After snowboarding for a little bit at Canyons Resort, I headed to the base of PCMR around 4:30pm to register. With the contest starting at 5, I had just enough time to hit each feature once before they started the "17 and under" competitors. I was a little surprised at how many girls showed up for the contest, considering there usually are only like three girls total, enough girls showed up at this event to have a 5 girl final!

Our heat consisted of all open class men, women, skiers, and snowboarders, so it was a fight to drop in. We had fifteen minutes to jam and try to make it to finals, with quick hike back up the hill, I got a sufficient amount of drops, and some really solid tricks. Temperatures dropped quickly, and we were all anxious to get the finals started. They announced the finalists, including myself, and some other great riders, and we got the show on the road! My first drop I did a frontside 180 on and off the down rail. As soon as I landed, the lights went out. Apparently this is the first time this has happened, and it was a little ironic that it happened at a time when we REALLY needed the lights. I hiked back up, and waited for about 20 minutes with the rest of the competitors before we were allowed to drop again.

When the lights came back on, everyone was back on the course with full force. I did a couple of legitimate back-lips, and 180's onto the down rails, along with some proper boardslides, and frontboards. I felt pretty good about my performance by the end, but I was exhausted! Awaiting patiently at the bottom of the course for results, everyone was all smiles. After working so hard, and then standing around, most were shaking from the cold, and everyone was ready to get out of there.

They announced the top three in each category and I'm happy to say I got 2nd, behind my friend Wiki Jones who had a great night of riding. Thanks to PCMR for hosting a great event. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that fifteen minute jam sessions are the way to go!

The Aspen Open 2011

2011-02-19T09:23:00.000-08:00

With no place to stay the night of the 7th, myself and four friends drove to Glenwood Springs to stay the night. Having just beat the huge cold front, and storm that was moving in, we safely made it to our hotel. I-70 was closed due to an accident, so fortunately for us, Aspen was the last open exit you could take. We have all driven by the hot springs almost every time we come through Colorado, although none of us have ever stopped to enjoy the natural hot springs. At 9pm we decided to go for a quick dip, before winding down for the night, and embarking on our journey to Aspen the next day for training.

It had been relentlessly snowing all night, and it hadn't let up much the next morning. Apprehensive as to whether or not we would even be able to hit the course, we got to Buttermilk around 9:30am. With so much snow overnight, we were told the course was unable to open until further notice. A couple of us decided to go check into our place in Aspen, and get settled. The weather forecasted sun for the next few days after, so we were anxious to train the next day.
It proved to be sunny, and bitter cold the next day. The course was big, and fast. With a semi-sore ankle still, I was nervous on the course. The jumps are big step downs, which have bad consequences if you don't clear them. I trained for a couple hours, and planned to visualize my runs, which usually ends up being just as helpful as actually doing them. After a long day of skiing, we wound down at our condo next to the fireplace.

Thursday the 10th was another beautiful sunny day. With a little bit of the chill dissipating from the air, it was a much more inviting day. After drinking some coffee, and sleeping in, we went up to the hill around 11am. I hadn't intended on snowboarding, and was going to film Jonny in the halfpipe, when I looked around and realized, there was only one other girl riding the halfpipe! I walked down to registration to find out there were only 5 girls registered to compete in the competition which was taking place the next day, so I signed up. Halfpipe is not my strong point, but I do have fun riding it, so I figured I'd give it my best shot! I bought a ticket for the day, and lapped the pipe. With some solid runs through, I called it day, and got some rest for the next day.
The next morning was just as beautiful, I got up at 9:30am, registered, and took the extremely long lift ride to the top of the mountain. With a quick warm-up lap under my feet, I dropped into the halfpipe, made it to the bottom, and figured well that's about as good as it will get! All of the girls stood up top anticipating the others' drop. I was very last, so I got to watch everyone throw down! When it came to my turn, I took in a lot of speed, did some good grabs, and some alley-oop spins in the pipe. The 3 run final seemed to fly by, due to the snowmobile rides we were getting back to the top of the pipe after every run. When it was all over I wasn't sure how I was really going to match up to the other girls who only ride pipe. I ended up in 4th, which I was pretty excited about considering I haven't done a halfpipe contest in years.
Saturday the 12th, more sun in the sky, I took a couple laps in order to get ready for the rail jam that was taking place that afternoon, only to find out that they called it off for girls! Apparently there were only about 3 of us signed up, so they decided to just kick us out entirely. That did not sit well with me, but it was fun to watch my friends kill it, and I enjoyed cheering them on. We got back to our condo around 6oclock, and got some well needed rest before my slopestyle contest on Sunday.
I still had reservations about the course, mainly because my ankle was still sore, and weak. So when I showed up on Sunday morning to practice, I was scared. I rolled through the course without hitting anything twice, and then decided to hit the first jump the next time around. Bad idea. I came up short on that jump by about 5 feet, and seriously hurt my ankle, figuring I would definitely clear it next time, and charged even harder into the jump, and came up even shorter! Ouch. That was it for me, I decided to call it a day and not compete. With a sore ankle, and a knee that started to hurt after that silly mistake, it really wasn't worth it to end my season for the Aspen Open. But watch out next year!

Cholula Triple Air at Mountain High

2011-02-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

Awaking to the brisk morning air of Salt Lake City, I drove myself to the airport at 6am. After finding self parking, and taking the shuttle bus to my terminal, I was incredibly tired. A sleepless night, full of anticipation before, I went right to sleep on my plane. About an hour and a half later, I touched down in Orange County. The time was 10am, my mom came and picked me up, and we started the commute to Mountain High.

We made extremely good time on the way up to southern California’s closest resort, it took us about an hour. A couple of my other friends from Utah had traveled down to compete, and were kind enough to take my snowboarding stuff in the car with them, so I wouldn’t have to fly with it. After meeting up with the boys, I stopped by registration, got my bib, and headed to the hill to practice.

The wind was blowing so hard on the course the boys were having a hard time clearing the jumps, so I realized it was hopeless for me to even try. Having lightly sprained my ankle a couple days before this contest, I already had reservations about hitting 70ft. jumps, and I wasn’t about to end my season due to poor conditions. I ended up not even hitting the course once on Friday, instead I practiced some stuff on the other features that are offered on the mountain. We rode hard until about 3pm before we drove back to our hotel, which was right off the freeway. I got to spend some quality time with my mom, who I rarely get to see, and it was quite enjoyable and relaxing to literally have NOTHING to do.

Saturday, February 5th, Mountain High hosted the 13th annual Cholula Triple Air contest. We woke up to a beautiful sunny sky, light winds, and about 55 degree weather. Perfect! With a newfound confidence, I was ready to begin. We had an hour and a half to practice on the course, in which time I had hit the first and second jump, but not the 3rd (which was the 70 footer.) It wasn’t until the contest started, that I actually rode the whole course.

I dropped 4th in the starting line-up. It was really fun to see all of the girls being so supportive of one another, and it’s always fun to see my friends from mammoth! We had to drop in from way above the actual drop-in point due to the wind. First run I took was solid on the first two jumps, as I approached jump number 3, I went to do a shifty, when I brought it back around, the wind caused me to over-rotate into a backside 180. Fortunately, I landed it, and then I sat down. Thrilled I was still alive after accidentally spinning over a 70ft. jump, I realized that was way less scary than doing a straight air! It is amazing to push yourself and see what your body is capable of. After surviving that, I now know I can push a lot further within myself.

They ran everyone all the way through one time, before starting the girls in our second runs. Since there were only 7 girls in the contest, we were being judged on the best of 2 runs, with no finals. After washing out a little bit on my first run, I was determined to put down a clean run. I dropped into the first jump with as much speed as possible, and spun a backside 360. Pointing into the next two jumps, I did two clean straight airs to make sure I landed a clean run. Relieved it was over, and I was alive, I went and got my GO PRO and started getting some shots with my friends Kim, and Nirvana.

We tore up the mountain and had a blast being total goofballs for the rest of the day. I’m pretty confident we were having the most fun on the mountain, therefore, we were shredding hard! After a long day of competing, filming, and having the MOST fun, we were all anxious to see what the results were. They announced the women first. Props to Melissa, and Mikayla for taking 4th and 5th. They had Nirvana, Izzy, and me come to the podium to build up the suspense of the order we had placed in. In the end, Izzy took 3rd, I took 2nd, and I’m happy to say Nirvana took 1st! She was riding very well, and definitely deserved it. Congrats girls! Thanks to all of the sponsors of the event, and Mountain High for always putting on great events.

After the awards, my mom and I drove back to Orange County to meet my stepdad for a delicious celebration dinner at Thai Bros. Thanks Ricky! With our bellies full, we drove up to my sister’s house in Newport Beach. There is never a lack of fun, or laughter when my family gets together. We know how to have a good time :) Finally midnight came around, and it was time to go to sleep before my flight at 8am the next morning. Another quick turn- around for me. I landed at 2pm, had to be at work at 4:30pm, pack, then leave the next morning for Aspen. Busy, busy, busy, but I LOVE my life and all of my supporters. THANK YOU!

The Gatorade Free Flow Tour at Mtn. High 2011

2011-01-18T15:22:00.000-08:00

The 2nd annual GFFT has begun. The first stop was this past weekend at Mtn. High. I decided to catch a ride down to southern California with my friend Tim, who was also competing. We left around 8a.m the morning of the 13th. We were driving all the way to Orange County, so he could drop me off with my family, then continue down to San Diego. After 9 hours in the car, we hit some traffic around Riverside area, with little patience left, we made it through, and he dropped me at my sisters house in Newport Beach.
The next day we had off to re-cooperate from the drive, and spend some time with our families. My sister and I took the ferry to Balboa Peninsula, walked around the shops, and grabbed lunch. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day, but my mind kept wandering to the slopes regardless of the 75 degree weather on the beach. I met back up with Tim in the early evening,
and we drove up to our hotel just outside of Wrightwood.

Registration started in the morning at around 7:30, and we were there right on time to get registered, and indulge in some great breakfast that was provided for us. It was a perfect day. Sunny and about 55 degress. We had about an hour to practice on the course, which was relatively smaller than last years. With 3 jumps that were all under 20 feet, and one rail, or box option, I felt pretty confident about the competition. After landing my run I wanted in practice, my friend Kim and I ventured to the West side of the mountain to meet up with a couple of my other friends who were up there riding. We all rode around the cluster of people and slush for a couple hours, before catching the bus back down to where we were competing.

We showed up just in time to take our runs! I was happy to be surrounded with a couple of friends from last years competition, and we all encouraged each other at the top of the course. My first run went well, I landed everything pretty clean, but it was my safety run. The next run I decided to step up my run, and unfortunately I slightly butt-checked doing a 540, determined to not let it shake me, I continued with the rest of my run, and was actually scored higher on that run than the run I landed clean. With no finals for girls, and the best of two runs format, I was a little disappointed with myself, but was having such a great day in sunny southern california, nothing could get me down. We hung out in the lodge for a while before the awards started. I ended up getting 2nd place! I am very happy being on the podium, despite not landing the run I really wanted. Congrats to Jamie and Nirvana who took 1st and 3rd! And thanks to Mtn. High and Gatorade for putting on a really fun event.
Another two hour drive back to orange county, and I was back at my sisters house in Newport. It was Saturday night, so we went out to a little place on the peninsula and danced! We had a great time! The next morning, my mom came and picked me up, and we took Pacific Coast Highway down to her house in Laguna Beach. My stepdad came and met us with some delicious lunch, and we all caught up and figured out the rest of my schedule for the season. After a successful meeting he took off, and my mom and I met my sister and her boyfriend at their new house in Laguna.
After a while, they hit the beach, and my mom and I cruised around Laguna Niguel. The day ended too quickly, and before we knew it, it was dinner time! With full tummies, we decided to go see the movie Black Swan, it was by far the craziest movie I have ever seen. Knowing I had to leave the next morning we stayed up late that night and watched movies, and caught up on the past couple of months, its always nice to hang out with family.
Monday the 17th was another beautiful day at the beach, which didn't make it any easier to leave. We hit the road around 11am, and didn't make it home until about 11pm. It was a long drive to say the least, but we hit some really great souvenir shops on the way! All in all it was a successful trip for everyone!

The Slug Games Night Riders 2011

2011-01-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

The 11th Annual Slug Games took place at Park City Mountain Resort on January 8th, 2011. After a solid morning of snowboarding, I was pretty anxious to get the contest started. Around 4p.m. the registration had closed and they let everyone practice on the course. Due to the massive amounts of competitors, and the long hike back up the course, most riders only got 1 or 2 practice runs. I opted to take the lift up the first time, and got two runs in before the contest.
The course PCMR and Slug Magazine built was definitely a step up from most rail jams that I have done. It consisted of two different sections with some very unique features. Only pictures can do it justice. With about an hour to kill before the girls division, I rode pick and shovel park under the lights! Night riding at park city is incredibly fun right now, and they now have the park lit up too!

When the girls division finally started around 5:30, I was tired. Just thinking about the tedious walk up the course was exhausting, and I hadn't even stared yet! Fortunately, I had a couple of friends competing who were keeping me lively. We jammed for about 30 minutes, and I wasn't feeling quite right. But, it was fun to see a lot of other girls competing and having a good time, so I put my game face on, and tried to step up.
When they announced the finalists, I was thrilled to hear my number, regardless of the fact I had no energy. The finals lasted for about half an hour, and people were really getting after it. I kept catching on the features and I wasn't sure why, but I got a couple of good tricks down, and was happy to hear the 5 minute countdown. With five minutes to spare, I hiked all the way to the top of the drop-in, and pointed it to the side of the jump by the gondola's. I did a huge method grab, into a 270 on the box, and almost fell, but I shook it off and awaited the awards.
When I looked at the base of my snowboard while waiting, I realized I had completely blown out an edge, and had a piece of my base about 3 inches long dragging along the bottom of my board. That explained a lot. I ended up in 3rd place, and was pretty pleased with that considering my board was totally sketchy to be riding the whole night!
Thanks to PCMR and Slug Magazine for putting on a great event!

New Years Eve Rail Jam at Canyons 2010

2011-01-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

The Annual New Years Eve Rail Jam took place at Canyons Resort on Friday, December 31st. With some architectural improvements to the base of the mountain, this years' layout was sure to be much more efficient than years previous.
I showed up around 4 p.m. to register, and with great ease was out and on the hill practicing within 10 minutes. The setup proved to be a step up from the past couple year and consisted of; a gap to down rail, with a pole launch on either side, into two lines at the bottom, on the right you could hit a flat rail to the Skullcandy wall ride, and on the left was a wall ride into a down rail. We practiced for about 45 minutes to an hour, when I noticed something was terribly wrong. There was not one other girl at the competition!
Slightly disappointed, I decided I would still ride as if I were competing with the boys. Fortunately everyone was very encouraging and supportive to me as we all hiked the course for an hour long jam session. The lighting was minimal, the snow had turned to ice, but everyone was still charging as hard as possible. With ten minutes left in the first session people gave it their all to earn their spot in the finals. The judges were handing out bandanas indicating whether or not you made the finals, and after not receiving one during the competition, I figured I didn't have to do finals since I was the only girl!
Wrong. Between the first session and the finals, one of the judges approached me with a bandana and said that they would like me to ride in it.
Once again, I decided to push myself, and ended up having a really great time! With some solid tricks laid down throughout the night, I felt confident about my performance, and am greatly anticipating what the rest of the season has in store for me. Thanks to Canyons for putting on this rail jam, it's always a great way to start off the season right!

Back on Board in Colorado

2010-11-15T17:43:00.000-08:00

With so much anticipation and build-up for this trip, the last thing I expected was to get sick the day before I left. I had been planning this trip to Colorado for weeks, and I wasn't about to give in to a little cold... little did I know this cold had a lot more in store for me.
Sunday November 7th. 6:30am. Ouch. A sleepless night before, I hopped in my new Toyota Highlander (Thanks to my wonderful stepdad Rick Knoop) and hit I-80. Groggy, achy, tired and oxygen deprived, I had to pull over in Wyoming to take a little nap. Upon waking, the winds gusting at the side of my vehicle were vigorous. Cars were being blown all over the road, and that inspired me to wake right up. Another four hours in and I arrived safely at my incredible team manager's home in Fort Collins. Suzanne has been doing so well with Akinz Boardwear, I was stoked to get to see where she does her work, and spend some quality time riding, and goofing around with her. When I arrived she so kindly cooked me chicken noodle soup, and made me lots of tea, to help me get better. However this cold was relentless and had no intention of giving up that easily.

We got up early the next morning and took off to Keystone. I haven't actually been snowboarding since the end of last season, so I ignored my cold, and was in the best possible mood. Two hours later, we were at the base. We threw on our stuff as quickly as possible, and went to pick up my comped ticket from the ticket window. Thank you Diana and Keystone for hooking it up! It was a beautiful sunny day, the perfect way to start the season. We unloaded at the top of the gondola and got right to it.
Its always a little awkward to get back on the board for the first time, especially when your wearing new boots. We took a warm up lap, then met up with our buddies Avran and JR. The four of us tore up Keystones' park setup, which was surprisingly legitimate, for being early season. After a few hours, we called it quits and went to the local mexican restaurant for some grub. Still not feeling up to the mark, I drank tea, and ate soup, while Suzanne, and JR had a couple of delicious looking margaritas.
One of my best friends who now lives in Texas was flying into Denver airport that evening, so we took off around 5:30pm to pick her up at 7pm. Courtney landed right on time, and was patiently waiting for us to pick her up at the curb. After snagging her, we drove another hour north back to Fort Collins to spend the night. Suzanne made us another fabulous meal, we watched a couple of movies, and passed out. I should say they passed out, I tossed and turned all night, unable to breathe or find a comfortable position to sleep.

Another early morning, and we took off to Loveland. Before we left town we stopped and grabbed some tea and bagels at one of the local places in FoCo. Two more hours in the car, and we arrived at a winter wonderland. Thanks to Dustin at Loveland Ski Resort, Suzanne and I got tickets and were so happy to shred some fresh snow. Courtney held it down in lodge with all of our stuff, while Suzanne and I took some hot laps. I had almost forgotten what it was like to have a fresh layer of that fluffy white stuff under your board. Singing at the top of our lungs, and having way too much fun we covered pretty much all of the mountain and slashed every available stash of powder. We had to call it quits earlier than we would have liked, but our legs were burning! We met Courtney back in the lodge, I got some more tea, then we hit the road to Breckenridge.

Our friend Avran so warmly welcomed us three girls into his house, and made us turkey taco's! Thank you Avran! After eating we decided to jump in the hot tub for a little while, and be complete dorks. Suzanne and I forgot our swimsuits, so we borrowed boardshorts from Avran, and wore tank tops... we pretty much looked straight out of the trailer park. It was hilarious. 45 minutes later we went back up to his house, and watched my favorite movie Grandma's Boy. Another sleepless night, and I woke up the next morning feeling far worse than the day before. I decided to take the day off and rest. I slept pretty much the whole day, drank a ton of tea, a gallon of orange juice, and still didn't feel very well. By the time Avran returned home from riding Courtney and I must have looked like we had died. Thankfully he is a great host, and made us feel very welcome at his home. The next day I had a photoshoot to do for a sunblock company. So we went to bed early, and I tried to get some sleep.

At 10am we met my rep for Roxy in the parking lot of the gondola. Still groggy in the head, I slapped on a smile and tried to make the best of the shoot. Fortunately, the group of people who were on the shoot were very mellow, and fun, so it we had a ton of fun. They took us back to this amazing house that they rented for us to stay in, we went over the goals for the shoot, then went back to the parking lot to start. We shot for a few hours then they took us out to lunch at Eric's Downstairs. Thank you Sun Bum crew for feeding everyone!
After lunch they dismissed a few of us, and I was happy to get to go back to the house and rest. Upon the arrival of everyone else from the shoot, the mutual consensus was to get in the hot tub. They snapped a few more candid shots of everyone hanging out in the hot tub, then it was time for the night to start. My Roxy rep Nichole Nemmers was turning 30 on this day, so the celebration was on. We ordered chinese food, and everyone else made some drinks. I still didn't feel well, so I pounded tea and orange juice all night. The group decided to go out to Cecilias to celebrate Nicholes' birthday, a few of us hung back... I was ready to get some good sleep and shred Breckenridges' triple line on opening day.
The following day, I finally felt rested, and ready to give Breckenridge 100% of my energy. A good nights' sleep under my belt, I woke to my alarm at 8am, and was out the door by 9am. Tickets were still pretty expensive, but luckily Avran met me at the bottom, and let me use his buddy pass. With some financial support from Nichole as well, I ended up having to pay only $16 to ride all day! I was utterly amazed to hear that Breckenridge Ski Resort gives out FREE breakfast on opening day.

Avran and I took full advantage and had some scrumptious french toast, and coffee. After filling our bellies, we hopped right on Chair 5 and went straight to the triple jump line Breck had to offer. The vibes were good all around, but I have to say we were probably the most stoked people out there. We met up with our friend JR and took some laps, as well as my friend Elise, Melissa, and one of her friends. We rode hard all day, got our air-awareness back and started to throw down some mellow tricks. Man it feels good to be back!

Around 1:30pm my fellow Shred Betties team rider Michelle Shea came up to meet us to do a little learn to ride video. Although my voice was still not fully restored to its original state, she was very encouraging, and we got the shots we needed for her to make her edit. Avran and I decided to take a couple more laps after re-hydrating, but by the time we went back up to the jumps, the landings were kind of icy. 3pm snuck up on us quickly, and we retired for the day.
A 5 minute walk down the hill and we were back at his house, where I was crashing again for the night. Once again he cooked some great food, and we watched Cash Cab. He had a demo to attend for a couple of hours, so I entertained myself by swinging back by the other house I had stayed in the previous night. I had left a couple of my belongings there, so I ran in and grabbed them.
After a hot shower, and a fresh change of clothes, I finally felt well-enough to go out for a little bit and experience Breck's night life. The night was very eventful, and full of good memories.
Early the next morning, I awoke to another beautiful day, unfortunately I couldn't find a pass for less than $50 so I decided to hit the road back to Utah. I got on the road at 10:30am, and was dreading another long day in the car. Thankfully, the day flew by, and I was surrounded by stunning scenery. I arrived safely home at 5pm, after making extremely good time through Colorado, and Utah.

All in all it was a successful trip, and set the mood for the upcoming season.

First Printed Interview!

2010-10-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

After two years of phone tag, we finally got the interview out! Thanks to Cory and the guys at Arkade for featuring me and taking the time to do this! See you guys soon! Snow is just around the corner...

www.akinz.com/blog/erika-featured-in-arkade-magazine/

The 4th Annual S3 Supergirl Jam

2010-08-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

After an eight hour drive from South Lake Tahoe Claire Demyer arrived at my house in Laguna Beach on friday afternoon. We wasted no time taking some lifestyle pictures down at the beach at sunset the following day. Since we both ride for Shred Betties Magazine, and Akinz Boardwear, we thought we would stoke everyone out with some new pictures flaunting our favorite gear! We ended up with some really nice shots that will surely show off our funny/modeling sides.

The following day marked the 4th Annual S3 Supergirl Jam at Venice Beach, CA. We got up at 7am to avoid traffic on the 405 North, to be pleasantly surprised to find NO traffic at all. Arriving a couple of hours early we had time to register with the wonderful staff at ASA, grab some breakfast, and do some interviews with the guys at FUEL TV. Fox News also covered the event, so I am looking forward to seeing our interviews this coming November.

It was great to see all of the girls again, most of whom I haven’t seen since last season. Everyone had huge grins and were sincerely happy to see one another, which is uncommon amongst females. It was great to see the Shred Betties girls, and we were happily greeted by our amazing team manager Diana, and the newest member of the gang, her baby boy Tosh. Thanks for making it out you guys!

Most of the competitors had been up at Mt. Hood for the summer, and their riding definitely displayed that. Unfortunately I was not able to make it up there this year, so I was a little behind on my skills on the rails, and these girls came ready to throw down.

The first heat consisted of a lot of good riders, the girls really stepped it up from last year in their twenty minute heat. After some redesigning of the course, it seemed to me that everyone was a lot more comfortable trying stuff since there were no stairs underneath the rails. With the anticipation building I was ready for our heat to start.

The second heat seemed like it was more “stacked” to me. Wishing I had some more practice under my belt, I dropped in and tried to get motivated by watching girls like Laurie, Gabby, Megan, Desiree, and Colleen just destroy this setup. Twenty minutes flew by, and I wasn’t feeling very confident about my performance. Mostly due to the fact I haven’t snowboarded in 3-4 months, and I have never ridden my current board on rails.

After the finalists were announced, myself not included, I hung around to watch the rest of the event. Finals were crazy! I was ecstatic to see how much every single girl was pushing themselves and truly trying new things. In the end I saw lots of stylish frontboards, some great 180’s on and off the rail, and some other amazing tricks. In the end it was Danyalle Patterson who took first, Desiree Melancon in second, and Laurie Currier in third.

I can definitely say that every single girl had a great time, and was truly inspired by girl power. We are all supergirls at this competition and the good vibes were high. Can’t wait to throw down next year at the S3 Supergirl Jam. Special thanks to Courtney Dornstein for putting this all together and keeping all of the competitors informed, as well as ASA entertainment, Fuel Tv, and Fox news, without you guys this competition would not get the coverage that it deserves!

A little Interview with angrysnowboarder.com

2010-08-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.angrysnowboarder.com/p?=7418

Interview with Jared Ishkanian from Snowbird Resort

2010-07-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your time Jared!

3 DAYS OF FILMING FROM 09-10 SEASON

2010-07-21T16:32:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all of my sponsors you guys rock!

Shred Betties Trick Tips at The Canyons

2010-07-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

My first trick tips video! Enjoy!

SNOW IN SAN DIEGO

2010-05-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

Having come down to California for a vacation, the last thing I thought I would be doing is snowboarding. However, when I found out about the Campus Rail Jam Tour San Diego stop, things changed. Just one problem.... I didn't bring ANY of my snowboarding gear with me.
My scramble to begin finding gear started on tuesday the 4th of May. I emailed my wonderful helmet sponsor CAPIX to see if I could get a helmet by Friday the 7th (the day of the competition.) Thanks Ronnie for making that happen! I also contacted my most recent sponsor ROXY to see if I could get a board, boots, and bindings from them in order to participate. Unfortunately, I contacted them too short of notice, and they were unable to get me a board in time. But I did get an amazing setup from them the day after the competition! THANKS NICHOLE AND ROXY!

So I had a helmet to use, but no snowboard, boots, bindings, or snowpants. Fortunately, Raelynd Tarnove brought me a pair of her snowpants to use, another friend from Irvine let me borrow her board from about 8 years ago with one of the first models' of Burton bindings ever, and I rented some Salomon boots straight from the 80's from Sport Chalet.

The competition started at 5p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Garrett and I arrived down there a little bit early after happily missing the heavy traffic. While standing in the registration line I was excited to see lots of the same guys putting on the event. Feeling pretty confident going into this competition, despite being on an old setup which I had never ridden before, it must have shown. Before the competition started I got interviewed by ABC 10 News, and Fuel Tv. . . they asked me the usual stuff about competing, and asked if I would be competing in my swimsuit. My immediate response "No i'm going to represent the ladies in a decent and respectful fashion." And thats just what I did.

The ladies were in heat two. We all watched the men's snowboard category in anticipation of getting on the setup ourselves. I was happy we didn't have to waste time practicing. In a jam format like this, there really is no reason to practice. Not to mention I have hit this exact setup about 3 or 4 times already this year. Trying to encourage the rest of the girls who looked a little nervous, I dropped first for the ladies. I chose to hit the gap-to-downbox first, the speed was fine, and my confidence grew just a little bit.

After about a half an hour to forty five minutes later, I had laid down at least a couple of solid tricks on every feature. Half of the battle was landing and riding away- due to the warm weather the landing was quickly melting away straight to the asphalt. Luckily, I didn't take one hard fall and wreck myself. They announced the top three girls to move onto finals.

Including myself, two other girls, the top 5 skiers, and the top 10 men's snowboarders the finals lasted for only 30 minutes. That was more than enough time for me. The judges were judging us on overall impression. After landing almost every trick I tried , I felt good after it was all over. After they announced the results, I took 1st, and my friend Raelynd got 3rd! Joe from Fuel TV asked to do another interview with me, it felt good to have another solid result on my resume. Oh, and it was a LOT OF FUN! Great job to the guys at the Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour- you guys always know how to do it right!

1st Annual NEFF Beach Bash at Brighton

2010-05-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 17th of April marked the very first Beach Bash competition hosted by NEFF and Brighton. Garrett and I picked up Cory from Arkade Magazine in the morning and headed up to the hill. We met Cory at last years Campus Rail Jam Tour's Finals in Portland. Cory asked me last year if I would like to do an interview with the magazine, but unfortunately we couldn't get together until the last weekend of the season this year. So we planned to get some pictures for the magazine, and the boys watched me compete.

We couldn't have asked for nicer weather. After registering, I was pleased to see lots of other girls around ready to compete! However, since this was a "Beach Bash" most of the girls were there to hang out in their bikini's and not to try hard and throw down on the course.

Practice lasted long enough for me to get one run in on each of the features which included; a flat rail all the way to the right, a fun box in the middle with a 5 foot gap off the end, and a wall ride, all over a pit of beach balls! I was very eager to get going, and after watching the 14 and under boys destroy this course, I was inspired to do so as well.

I like dropping in first and setting the standard for everyone else in the competition. To make sure I had enough speed to make it to the landing of the fun box, I charged in fast, and popped hard. No problems there. I decided to next hit the flat bar rail. After competing in multiple rail jams this year, I felt comfortable enough to just go right for a front-board to switch out. After doing that I moved to the wall ride- which was actually not as scary as it looked. I think the look of it got the best of most of the girls, because it was only myself and one other girl who even hit that feature.

Before I even knew it our heat was over, and I was covered in sweat. I ended up competing in a tank-top and my straw hat- to get into the spirit a little bit. I loved the layout of the competition. The heats were a perfect amount of time, and they presented us with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd right after our heat was over.

I was delivered my first place goodies from none other than Shaun Neff himself. It was a great honor to meet the guy behind the "Neff" name, and he had nothing but encouraging and gracious things to say to me. It was nice to meet a guy who was actually impressed with my snowboarding, and didn't seem to care about looks. This event was so much fun, and for their first year doing it, it went flawlessly.

After I was done competing we all took a couple of laps around Millicent, and enjoyed the rest of the party.

I was sad to realize this was my last competition for this season, but thrilled I ended on a high note. The Neff Beach Bash at Brighton was definitely one of my favorite competitions I participated in this year. Great people, good music, good weather, and a fun atmosphere. THANKS NEFF AND BRIGHTON.

The Red Bull Buttercup and some Halfpipe shredding

2010-04-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

At 9:30 in the morning the halfpipe is near perfect. My dad and I went up on the morning of friday the 9th, and took some pictures at the halfpipe in my new Roxy outerwear. The halfpipe is not my strong point necessarily, but after riding it more this past season, and getting comfortable in it, I would like to pursue it a little more. We shot for about 3 hours, while I took laps on 3 kings lift.

After re-situating to a couple of different angles we got a couple of really nice shots. We also we able to critique ourselves, and figure out what we can do better next time. It was lots of fun, and very mellow to shoot with my dad.

We headed back down to Salt Lake around 12:30 and I had enough time to take a short nap. When I woke up Garrett had just got home from work, and it was time to head up to Brighton for the Red Bull Buttercup. After registering, we made our way to Brighton's upper lodge. Garrett was kind enough to sit down there for 3 hours while I competed! He bought me a single ride ticket for $12, and I went up to the course.

I was so happy when I arrived. The setup looked inviting, they had good music, and there were a lot of other girls there!
We had about 30 minutes to practice on the course which included two butter box options; an up-flat-whoop box, and an up-flat-down box with a single barrel rail in the middle of that and another flat box. The course was perfectly maintained and they kept it that way the whole time. Way to go guys thanks!
When it was time to start the competition, we were all eager to get our butters' on. They grouped the womens' division with the 14 and under boys, and we were given 20 minutes to jam.

That was plenty of time. I started off with some nice buttery frontside 270's on and off the up-flat-whoop box. Mixing it up a little bit I also played around on the other setup. I ended with some solid cab 270's on and off the up-flat-whoop box. With a huge smile on my face I felt really confident about my performance, and waited patientally through the rest of the competition.
To my even greater satisfaction, they didn't make the girls do finals, and they judged us on our 20 minute heats. When it was all said and done I walked away with 1st place. I'm stoked on a very successful day!
Redbull did a great job with this event as did Brighton. The setup was awesome, the park crew kept it nice, and everyone had a great time.

Queens Cup Open 2010

2010-04-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

My friend and event director of the Queens Cup asked me to come be a coach this year, I happily accepted and was eager to see what that event is like from another perspective. Thanks Anna!
Saturday March 27th marked the 5th annual Queens Cup Open. Anna has been putting this event on at Park City the past 5 years, and it just gets better, and better. I walked into the registration room to be greeted by Anna, her mom, and Michelle Parker at the registration table. Everyone was really anxious to get things going, so we waited for the rest of the girls to show up, then we started practice.

My team consisted of some awesome shredder girls including; Melissa Riitano, Leah Klein, Alice Gong, and Michelle Zeller. I was thrilled to be the coach of such a strong team and practicing with them was a blast. By the time that the event was ready to start, my team was a ready to go.
Our team was dropping last, so we had some time to ride the halfpipe a little in between the heats. Spring riding is so much fun! The halfpipe has been amazing the past week, perfect amount of slush. When it came time for us to drop, we all met at the start gate at the top of the course. The course was on pick and shovel and in it it had; your choice of a butter box, a down rail, or a bonk, into 2 jumps, another rail option, and into the 3rd jump. We were having too much fun practicing and I was ready to watch my team kill it!
No one on my team stomped their first run like they wanted to, and I know how that feels. I told them to make sure they were having fun, and to visualize. I think that worked out for them. When I got to the bottom after my second run, my team was waiting with huge grins on their faces. All the girls did so well! Everyone stomped a good trick off the bottom jump and I got to see Melissa do a sick backside 360 off a rail!
With the combination of smooth rail tricks, and good airs, Melissa won the Queens Cup! Congrats Melissa! You deserved it! The awards were short and sweet, and Anna did a great job getting legitimate prize packages together for all of the winners. But even if you didn't win, you never feel left out at the Queens Cup- Anna had enough prizes for everyone to get a little something!
This competition is so unique, and such a fun opportunity to get to know some of your fellow athletes. Whether they ski or snowboard, there is a lot of talent here. It was so fun to be a coach, and I hope I can do it again next year! Thanks again everyone for another successful QUEENS CUP OPEN.

Oakley Zone Madness at The Canyons

2010-03-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 20th of March marked another beautiful spring day up here in UT. We have had a lot of those lately, and I'm very happy about it. With the sun shining, and the sky blue I knew it was going to be a good day.
After registering with the friendly staff of the Canyons, I took the gondola up the the Upper Respect Terrain Park. This park is so much fun, and has been all year. The Canyons park crew really do a wonderful job with what they have to work with, and I know a lot of people including myself will be buying passes there next year instead of Park City.
I ran into a few people I knew there, including Kiri Bennersly. She is a rad ripper from New Zealand, we were stoked to see each other and tear up the park all day. Kiri is a local canyons girl, and she showed me the ropes a little bit. I love The Canyons, it has such a great vibe, and it is very spread out.
After a couple laps through the park it was time to start the competition. This competition had an unusual format. There were 3 zones to choose from. The first was an option between a down-flat-down rail, and a down-flat-down skinny box. The second was the first two jumps in Upper Respect. The third was a log jib, or a big stall/bonk option. You had the choice of competing in all three to win the overall, or just do certain divisions. This park is too much fun so I had to do all three right??
We started with a 30 minute rail jam on the two down-flat-down features. People were throwing down, and they were playing really good music, so I decided to get a little technical with my tricks. I got a couple of solid Cab 270's on and off the down-flat-down skinny box, and a 50-50 to switch 50-50 on the down-flat-down rail. Feeling pretty confident we moved to the jump section which is my favorite.
We were judged on the first two jumps, as I normally have to practice with three jumps in other competitions, I was slightly thrown off by just two, but I adjusted accordingly, and it was just plain fun. I landed a couple of Cab 540's and some backside 360's and ended with a huge method grab! Luckily we were able to ride the lift during this portion, hit the bigger part of the park, and rest a bit.
Up next came the final Jam session on the log jib, and the Skullcandy Stall. I had never hit either of these features before in the park, so I was a little hesitant at first. But after watching where a couple of the guys dropped in from, I went for it. Happily all went well, I did a couple of mellow tricks, and walked away with an overall win! Mission accomplished! Thanks for putting on another great event CANYONS!!!

Billabong Flaunt It was the MOST FUN CONTEST EVER!

2010-03-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

After being in Tahoe since Wednesday, and shredding hard on Thursday, we took friday off, hung around in Kirkwood at our amazing condo, and leisurely drove back to the lake in the afternoon. My older sister Lauren, and my cousin Jenn came up to Tahoe from various parts of California for the weekend. So Garrett was surrounded by all girls all weekend long:)
We met them, and their friend Peter up at Squaw for the opening night of the Snow Festival. We watched fireworks, and had some firestone pizza for dinner. I love being with my family.
Everyone retreated home for the evening and woke up to go ride Northstar the next day. I was participating at the transam on Saturday, and was really looking forward to the event. When I arrived, and attended the riders meeting, I was disappointed to see how poorly organized the event was. And many people, including myself, were over looked. I hope next year they decide to break people up into heats, instead of having 113 people drop at once. Everyone was really nice though!
I didn't let it ruin my day. I was excited to have my family around, and ride with them. It was fun to ride with my cousin Jenn, who was the one who taught me how to snowboard! We rode till about 3 then made our way off the mountain. They dropped me off at my friends house who we were staying with in North Shore, and planned to meet us later in the night.
When Garrett and I arrived at their condo in South Lake I was happily surprised to see my other two cousins Jamie, and Ashley had come up for the night too! It was a family reunion, and a much needed one after 4 years apart! We enjoyed each others company till a little too late, and we had to leave in a bit of a rush to get to bed on time for the Billabong Flaunt It the next day at Sierra-at-Tahoe.
I was awoken by the sunlight shining on my face. A definite sign of a good day:) Garrett and I packed up the car, drove up to Sierra, got a VIP parking spot and walked into registration. I was greeted by lots of shredder girls and familiar faces. I was happy to see at least 10 people I knew, including Kumara Kelley, and Nirvana Ortanez. Whenever these girls are around, we are bound to have too much fun. I waited for Kumara to register with the lovely ladies from Billabong and we attacked the boardercross course on our way down to the slopestyle course. Kumara and I literally scream with joy and excitement when riding together, we must be a sight to see.
After we laid our eyes on the slopestyle course, we were like giddy little school girls. FUN! FUN! FUN! GOOD VIBES! FUN! FUN! FUN! We couldn't have asked for a more fun and perfect course, and for once at a competition, I didn't hear one person complaining! At the rider's meeting we were told the format would run as a jam for an hour and a half. I almost didn't believe it! It was too good to be true, each girl got at least 4 or 5 laps through the park in the allotted time. Girls were pushing themselves and everyone was stoked and encouraging each other. In the end Lynn Neil won with some sick backside 720's, I ended up in a happy 6th place. There were so many girls doing so well I was very happy to make top 10.
Not only was there a slopestyle event, after the slopestyle,we had a rail jam just below the course. But they couldn't expect us to hike a rail jam setup right after slopestyle without food right? Of course not! Billabong supplied every competitor with lunch too!! They fed us delicious burritos with salsa, and gatorade, it was perfect, THANKS BILLABONG !!!
With some new energy in us, we were ready for the rail jam to start. It was a really fun setup, and the hike wasn't too bad either! There were probably about 25 ladies hitting the setup, every girl had great style, and was having a blast. It was all good vibes with everyone cheering each other on, giving each other tow-in's, and just generally being stoked. I was having so much fun I didn't want it to end, but was slightly relieved when they said that was it. We were all beat and ready to hear the results... I am happy to say I ended up in 2nd place at the rail jam, I had lots of fun and it must have shown through in my riding.
I hope Billabong continues to put on this event. It was judged properly, formatted accordingly, and most of all FUN! I can confidently say that every single girl who participated had a great time, and that is a huge statement.

KIRKWOOD IS THE MOST EPIC PLACE EVER!

2010-03-09T13:24:00.000-08:00

Kirkwood resort is a hidden gem amongst the vast Sierra Nevada's. My boyfriend and I had the pleasure of going there while we were in Tahoe this past weekend. It dumped snow all Wednesday, and into the night. We rested and got up at 6:30am to make the drive from North Shore to Kirkwood, and it far exceeded expectations. As we winded our way up and down mountain passes, away from the lake, the landscape opened up finally, and revealed our playground for the day. It was the most beautiful sunny morning, the snow was glistening, calling to us to come.
We wasted no time parking and making our way up to the lifts. We were met by photographer extraordinaire Josh Otto. Josh was kind enough to stray away from working at the Freeskiing Championships that were taking place to come give us some tickets. We said hello, then he set us on our way! Garrett and I were literally shaking with excitement as we walked to chair 6 to begin our excursion.
Chair 6 took us straight to the top of the mountain, and there were more amazing tree and cliff lines to choose from than we could handle! After a couple of laps to the right side, we decided to go left off the chair and traverse over to a cornice, followed by cliff, after cliff, after cliff. With huge grins on our faces we made it over to chair 10. This is where the action was, we dropped into wagon wheel bowl, after crossing by some "experts only" signs. They mean experts only too, with lava rock surrounding you everywhere on the mountain, there is no gray area as to where beginners should, and shouldn't go. My heart was racing all day as I slid past narrow chutes of lava rock, and jumped off cliffs. I was amazed that this great of terrain could be offered at a resort!
On looker's left of chair 10 you can see THE CIRQUE which is a part of Kirkwood that is permanently closed to the general public. By one look at it, you can obviously see why. We dropped over the backside of the mountain to get a better look at the full terrain, and get a glimpse of the sheer rock face of The Cirque as we rode by. If we thought there was nobody on the frontside of the mountain, then there was absolutely nobody on the backside. I was told by one of the locals that Thursday was the best day of the season, and that there were a lot of people there that day. In comparison to where I usually ride, I was ecstatic to see that their view of "crowded" meant standing behind 3 people in line on the best powder day of the year.
We charged hard all day long and by 2:30 our legs could no longer even hold us up! It took us much longer than it should have to get from the backside to the frontside due to fatigue, but we still couldn't stop smiling. We were shown to our very gracious accommodations that were provided by Josh and his girlfriend Molly. We walked into an enormous 2 bedroom, 3 bathroom condo, with a balcony, right on the slopes. BEST DAY EVER!!!!!
But it wasn't over yet! I rested for an hour or two before meeting up with Josh and his friend Nate to take some pictures hitting a handrail. Conveniently, the handrail was just right down the street, and had a perfect in-run, and take off. We shoveled some snow over the sidewalk to make a jump to the rail, and we began. I have to admit I was slightly nervous, I have never actually hit a street handrail before! But everyone was there to help and I quickly worked out the nerves.
I love working with professionals, we were in and out of there in about an hour and a half, and we came out with a great shot, considering how tired I was. Thanks Josh and Nate!

>

3 Rail Jams, 3 Days, and i'm still in one piece!

2010-02-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

With the sun poking in and out of the dark ominous sky, we were due for a crazy weather day. Thursday, February 25th, The Campus Rail Jam Tour made its annual stop through the University of Utah. I got over there around 11 to register, and was happy to see some familiar faces around, everyone was stoked, and I was pumped up too.
Our heat started at 12:40 in the afternoon. I climbed up to the top drop-in, for the gap to down box. Figuring, I have hit this setup multiple times already this year, I dropped first. Landed a nice little front board, and rode away in the slush. And we were off! The snow started falling and the sky clouded over, the hail was smacking us in the face, fortunately it didn't effect the speed too much for the take off. After 40 minutes of jamming they announced the finalists. I'm happy to say I was one of them, along with Midori, Lynn, Marley, and Kass. When finals came along, we were all in the same heat with the skiers, and the boys. This is where my competitive spirit kicks in. In the end I think the judges were looking for overall consistency, and landing tricks, which was hard to do in the slush. I walked away with 1st, Marley with 2nd, and Lynn with 3rd. Congrats Ladies! We all walked away with some awesome prizes too, after all of it, I did an interview with Fuel Tv which hopefully turned out pretty well! Thanks CRJT for the great event!

The next day I rested, and prepared for the King of the Wasatch Rail Jam at Park City Resort. Thanks to Lynn, I was able to get up there! We arrived right at 5pm for registration. After registering, we took a look at the set up. There were three options at the top; a down-flat-down rail, a down rail, and a down box, ending with a wall ride, and a log stall/jib. To say the least, we were excited, and couldn't wait to hit the features.
After practicing once on everything, I decided to conserve my energy until the jam started. At 6pm, the event started. We had about a 45 minute jam session with everyone, before they narrowed it down to some finalists. They took the top three girls, which included, myself, Marley, and Kirby. A short intermission, and some course maintenance, gave us a chance to catch our breath and get re-vamped for finals.
We were all together again, with the boys and skiers. It was a tough finals. By the end of the night, the landings were just a little icy, which made it hard to land some things, I must have tried front blunt 270s off that down rail 10 times and landed it maybe once. I did do a 180 on hard way 180 off the down box which I was excited about, cause I have never tried that before!
At the end of the night, I walked away with 1st, Marley with 2nd, and Kirby with 3rd. We all walked away with some great prizes and a little cash! Thank you PCSB and King of the Wasatch! They did a great job hosting their very first rail jam in addition to the slopestyle, and halfpipe disciplines offered in previous years. I hope they continue to do so! Tired after another long night, I didn't end up getting home until pretty late, and unfortunately we had to get up very early the next morning, because garrett had to be at work.

The alarm went off at 5am and it was hard to get up. We piled our stuff into the car and left the house at 6am. After dropping Garrett off at work at 6:35, I drove over to the canyons, grabbed some coffee, and hung out in the Grand Summit Hotel in one of their big comfy chairs, in front of the fireplace. When it was time to get ready my boots were nice and warm, and I was ready for another day! I walked over to Smokies Bar and Grill for registration. Dave March greeted me at registration, and I was stoked to see my friend Wiki was there too! I waited for Wiki to register, then we took off up the gondola. She is so much fun to ride with, she shreds hard with a huge smile on her face, just my style:)
We had lots of fun playing around in the park, waiting for the competition to start. We had an hour long jam session, throughout which, the girls winner would be decided, which meant, NO finals! YAY! All the girls were doing really well and pushing themselves in the upper respect terrain park. Wiki and I took a couple of laps on the lift during the competition, to conserve energy, and it definitely paid off! I'm happy to say that Wiki walked away with 1st, I walked away with 2nd, and Kiri walked away with 3rd. Congrats WIKI you rock!! It was a very fun event, the Canyons always does a great job!

3rd Rail Jam at Brighton+lots of snow=FUN!

2010-02-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

It was a very drizzly Saturday morning in Salt Lake City on February the 13th. I woke up to lots of rainfall outside my house, hoping it was snowing at Brighton, Garrett and I jumped in the car and made our way to Big Cottonwood Canyon. When we got to the bottom of the canyon, it was raining harder, and to go up the canyon you had to have 4 wheel drive, or chains. Luckily we have 4 wheel drive in Garrett's car, so we were waved on by the police man at the bottom of the canyon. It took us about half an hour to get up there, but about halfway up the canyon the rain turned to snow.
By the time we arrived there it was puking snow! We pulled up to Millicent chair and parked. When we walked into the lodge for registration, we were some of the first people to arrive. After claiming a perfect spectating table in the corner, I walked over to registration. Timmy Grins was running the registration, and helped put on the event. The 3rd Rail Jam crew was very friendly, lively, and put on a great event.
We had a while to practice, about two hours. I took a couple runs, to try out my new O-Matic Benetar(which killed it on the rails), and look at the setup. I was trying to reserve some energy for the event, and i'm glad I did.The event started around one, and for once the girls got to go first!! With the snow piling up around us, myself and a few other girls had half an hour to throw down.
I started off easy, with a couple of boardslides, and frontboards to switch out on the down rail, and down-flat rail. I ventured over to the down-flat-down rail, and got a couple of 50's and some 180's off. With 5 minutes left I looked over to see my main competition, and best lady shredder I know from Japan, throwing down on the down-flat rail. She almost had a front 3 off, but just barely missed it. Great Job Midori!! After watching that I decided to step it up and do a back tail 270 off the down rail. I love that trick:) And that sealed the deal for me...
Between heats, Garrett and I hung out with Midori and guzzled down some hot coffee. The snow was still coming down, but there was a MC battle going on at the Under Armour tent. Our friend Mark was in the battle, so we had to go down there and watch. It was a great show, with some pretty good rappers actually! After they announced the winner of the battle that would be opening for Slick Rick later that night at the after party, they announced the winner of the lady's division.
I'm so stoked to have won, it was a really fun event. It was well organized, and the 3rd Rail Jam crew did an awesome job in their first year with this tour. The prizes were unbelievable too! I won more stuff than I know what to do with including; a board, bindings, goggles, gloves, backpack, jacket, and some cash! THANK YOU!!
We watched most of the men's division, before we decided to get down the canyon before all of the traffic in the snowstorm. The 3rd crew was nice enough to give me my stuff before the comp ended, along with some VIP passes for the Slick Rick concert, with armfuls of stuff and a huge grin, we headed back to the car.
The drive down the canyon was very peaceful, the snow was falling very gently, with bursts of sunlight shining through sporadically. It was beautiful. I am very lucky, and I had a great day.

Freezing, Windy Vermont and the Gatorade Free Flow Finals

2010-02-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

I got up at 4:30 Am to catch my 7:00am flight out of Salt Lake on the morning of friday, Feb. 5th Talk about the most unnerving flights of my life! The turbulence was intense, and our little plane was bouncing all around and dropping hundreds of feet at a time in all of the bumps. When I finally arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio I was amazed to see just how flat it really is, and how funny their sense of humor is, I saw the most epic T-shirt ever.
I grabbed a quick bite to eat then got on my plane to Albany, NY.

After arriving in Albany, I met up with the Gatorade Free Flow tour people at the baggage claim. We all hopped on a 2 hour bus ride up to Mt. Snow and the Austrian Haus where we were staying. When we got there I was stoked to see that not only did I have the best room in the hotel, but I got it all to myself! So I was a happy camper, got some good rest and was stoked to shred the next day. I got up early the next morning, but didn't end up getting to the hill till about 11 after some good breakfast and coffee. Showed up at registration, forgot my insurance card, had to go back to the hotel, then finally got registered. When I walked out of the registration room I had to go and take a picture for the alli website. So I decided to not throw up a peace sign like everyone else, and made the goofiest face I could think of.
As soon as I stepped off I met Gill Montgomery, we clicked instantly and we did a little photoshoot together. I also knew a couple of the other girls who were there, like Nirvana Ortanez, and Jessika Jensen. We formed a 4-girl posse and dominated the mountain. It was so fun to ride with them- all of those girls get down!
When we finished riding, we booked it back to the hotel put on our swimsuits, and walked down to where we thought there was a hot tub. To our slight disappointment, there was not a hot tub in our hotel. So we opted to cruise up to the other hotel that was at the base of the mountain. We all hopped in for about 40 minutes, then waited for our pizza party to start.

It was like being in 5th grade all over again with a bunch of little kids running around, soda, and pizza party hosted by Gatorade. We wreaked havoc on the Snow Flake lodge for sure.

The next morning, we had to get up super early again cause it was time to compete! When we arrived to practice at 8:00am on the bulletproof course, they had to close down half of it due to the incredible wind gusts that were not safe to snowboard in. So the course now entailed just the down rail options, and the last two jumps of the Dew Tour course. The jumps were not that big, however with the wind gusting against us hitting 50+ ft. jumps, it was really scary. I have never felt like that at a competition before, and it was the first time in a long time that I was not having fun. I manned up though, after I saw a 16 year old sending both of them. Unfortunately, right before I dropped in the first time I had to watch a couple of my friends go down HARD. When you knuckle a big jump like that, the consequences are never good. I was not going to knuckle so I pointed it and tucked. As I came into the first jump my first practice run, a huge wind gust pushed against me right as I took off the jump. I was confident I was going to overshoot it, but ended up casing the jump by about 3 feet. It hurt my heels. So with a little bit of a mental block going on in my mind, I came around again and pointed it.
That time there was no way I was coming even close to clearing it, so I pulled out of both jumps. So I basically hit the jumps once before I took my run. First run was a wash out for everyone. I don't think one person landed their first run. Somehow I was in first place after that though. The next run came around and everyone stepped up a little bit. I had to watch my friend Nirvana go down hard right before I took my second run- she ended up having to go to the hospital.
I have horrible timing. I dropped at the wrong time on my second run and the wind was so gnarly. I landed my rail feature, and my straight air over the first jump ha ha and pointed it to the second, and bigger jump. All I have to say is with wind pushing you back on flat ground, and your charging into a huge jump, it was the worst feeling to know that I had to skip the second jump to save my knees. I love my knees, and I have huge plans for snowboarding, so I wasn't about to let this comp be a season ender. The first place girl did straight air- no grabs over both jumps, but because she and the other 2 girls who were in 2nd and 3rd could actually hit and clear the second jump they all placed higher up. I just barely got knocked out of 3rd place. I ended in 4th. Which considering the conditions, and I had to skip 1/3 of the course, and I did a straight air no grab over the jump that I could hit, 4th place is pretty sick:)

The girls and I all hit up the hot tub again after our long and FREEZING day. We had a super bowl party to attend, along with the One Life party at the Matterhorn, so we were ready for our night. After making our way back to the hotel, battling raging winds and negative temperatures to change and grab some stuff, we got a ride up to The Silo, where the superbowl party was. We ate a lot of really good food that was provided by Gatorade. THANKS GUYS! When we fininshed, we somehow finagled a ride over to the Matterhorn, with a van full of like 20 people. It was nuts!

When we got there, it was tough to get in. However, we still managed to get in. I was very tired though, and wanted to leave pretty quickly, Nirvana was nice enough to leave with me and the raddest girl ever Lynn Neil was kind enough to give us a ride home. I passed out HARD!
Woke up at 6 this morning, not feeling too hot and got back on the bus with a bunch of stinky kids. An hour and 45 minutes later we arrived at the Albany airport again. My flight doesn't leave until 4 this afternoon so I have a lot of time on my hands right now.....
Luckily I still have some friends around to chill with, while EVERYONE is waiting for their planes. All in all Vermont is seriously the coldest place ever!

SIA Denver 2010 & GFFT Brighton

2010-02-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

After finishing some last minute preparations we set out on Tuesday around 2 for Denver. We decided to take Highway 40 the whole way, it seemed fine for the first few hours, but then we hit some weather. Right after Steamboat Springs it started snowing really hard. The road was pretty scary by now, it was night, the road was ice underneath, with a couple inches of snow on top. We had to take it really slowly in order to maintain control. Luckily we got behind a snow plow going up Berthoud Pass which takes you all the way up to 11,500 feet, where it is impossible to see. We made it down safely after about 2 hours, and we were happy to finally arrive at our final destination at Garretts' cousins' house in Arvada, CO. The next day we explored Arvada and the surrounding area with our great host Janna (Garretts cousins girlfriend) who also cooked us a hearty meal and with full bellies we slept soundly eagerly awaiting our next day at SIA.
We got up around 8:00 in order to be at our first interview with Shred Betties and Spy by 9:00am. After some coffee with made our way into downtown Denver. Parking was a nightmare, but fortunately we found an underground that was only $14 for the day. When we walked inside the Colorado Convention Center I was amazed to see what a HUGE building it was- but with huge buildings comes lots of people. Kelly from Shred Betties eventually found us and gave us our credentials to get in. And the madness began...

Our first appointment was with Spy. Valerie helped show us their 2010-11 women's line, and was gracious enough to give us some sweet sunglasses at the end of our appointment. Next we hit up Nikita, and I got to try on some of their fun oufits, and check out their new board that they collaborated with K2 for.

We also stopped by the O-Matic booth and talked with Tanya. She was so fun to interview, a very positive person. She did a great job telling us about Todd Richards' graphics and what a goof-ball he seems to be. Tanya had lots of good things to say about O-Matic and even offered me a board that is on its way right now! THANK YOU TANYA CAN'T WAIT TO TRY IT!
Our day flew by, we had tons of interviews. When I finally got a little time to stray off from doing interviews Garrett and I made our way over to the Spacecraft booth to go meet my team manager Ryan. It was the first time we had met each other so I was slightly nervous! But, Ryan is not one to make people feel uncomfortable, after our first words I knew he was chill, and i'm glad to be a part of Spacecraft.
We returned to the house after our busy day, and crashed out. Anxious to get my box of goodies Ryan promised me when I saw him I couldn't wait to get back there in the morning. I closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew we were up and out the door again. After a day of wandering through the thousands of booths at SIA we thought we knew how to get back to Spacecraft. Half an hour later we found it! YES! Ryan had lots of goodies to give me and I am so stoked on everything he hooked me up with! THANK YOU! We chatted for a little bit, Garret and I posed for a photo, then we were off to meet Kelly at the Drop booth. I was stoked to see my team manager Suzanne from Akinz was there also, and we ran up to each other like little girls and hugged for a sentimental moment ha ha. The rest of the day was really fun as Suzanne and I are pretty goofy together. Garrett went and met up with his cousin Jason and they went their separate direction, while Suzanne and I stuck with the Shred Betties crew.
Over at the Northwave booth we met up with another one of the team riders for Shred Betties, Clair Hewitt Demeyer. She was taking over my interviewing job, because we had to get on the road as soon as possible, Garrett had to work at 6:45 in the morning and I had a competition at Brighton the next day. Desiree from Northwave let me interview her, and ask some questions about their new product, so Clair could see how it was done. Von Zipper was next on the list, and I think this was the most fun interview we did the whole time. GT from VZ helped show us the new product line, and let me tell you, he was a riot. We all had a blast over there taking pictures, cracking jokes, and giving each GT a hard time, but he was a good sport about it. The new Von Zipper sunglasses, and goggles are sick by the way. We got some cool pictures goofing around at the booth. Thanks GT!

Unfortunately Garret and I didn't end up leaving Denver area until about 4:30, so again, we were driving all night. We opted to take I-70 to the 191 to I-15 this time. The drive was mellow, it was a full moon, clear skies, with white snowdrifts all around us. It was beautiful, very peaceful. We ended up getting home around about 12:30pm and we both passed out hard.
I woke up to an alarm again at 7:00, realized I didn't even have a ride to Brighton to compete, and panicked slightly. Luckily my brothers girlfriend Jess was nice enough to come grab me and take me up there. She even showed up with a yogurt, and we stopped and got some coffee. I was feeling very slow, from lack of sleep, and lack of snowboarding for about a week and a half. I showed up right at 9:00 for registration, and ended up waiting in lines till 10:00 to finally get my paper work in.
So by the time I got out on the course I got 3 practice runs. I was confused to see how many wall rides they decided to put in the course, I mean i'm all for wall rides, but not 5 in one run. The jumps were a little strange too, small jumps with super poppy take-offs that make it hard to clear. All in all I was a little disappointed, but I was just stoked to be snowboarding again:) My first run I got a little over confident on a front 3 and over rotated to a perfect front 450. Sweet. So I had to skip the next jump because I lost all my speed. The next run I decided to play it safe with a frontside 180 to cab 5. I butt checked a little on the cab 5, but I guess it didn't matter too much because I still ended up in 3rd! It was a very fun competition, lots of nice people there, and tons of smiles:)
Been having a blast riding Kings Crown at Park City the past few days. Training in session. Heading to Vermont on Friday. Stay Tuned!

Gatorade Free Flow Tour at Mtn. High, Big Bear, and a crazy storm in SO CAL!

2010-01-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

I flew into Long Beach, CA airport on the evening of the Friday the 15th. My mom picked me up from the airport, and we drove back to her little cottage in Laguna Beach. My friends Kumara and Megan flew down from Washington to compete at the Burton Am series. We decided to meet up, and they stayed at my mom's house. The timing couldn't have been better for us all to get together, and our epic weekend began.

We woke up early Saturday morning to go shred Big Bear. Before we left for the mountains, we cruised down to the beach to go get a look at the ocean. It was a beautiful morning, so we snapped a couple of pictures, grabbed some coffee, and got on the glorious California freeway system. It ended up taking us about 2 and a half hours to finally get there, due to some poor navigating on my part. When we got there we had to park in the overflow lot about a mile down the road. We were herded into trucks like cattle to get a lift up to the base. When we arrived it seemed that everyone was in a perpetually bad mood, with the exception of us. We tried not to let it bother us, it was a beautiful day, a new mountain, and good friends, so we were stoked. We rode hard all day with big grins. At one point we had another run-in with some angry californians. This woman accidentally almost ran into me, while I was coming off a box, and we nearly collided. I rode off and wasn't going to let that bother me. Then, what do I know but this same woman was coming after me down the hill screaming at the top of her lungs, with her four kids following behind her. What a scene! We were all laughing way too hard to even hear what she was saying, and we continued on with our shred. Not an hour later, some 6'4" man on a snowskate comes up to me, gets in my face, and says "are you that fighter chick?!" I was like "No. I'm not sure what your talking about." Kumara, Megan, and I keeled over with laughter again at the thought that this MAN was seriously trying to pick a fight with a 19 year old, 120 lbs. girl. Eventually after he got out his lung full he left us alone and we had a great rest of the day.
We took our time driving back to the beach, stopping along the highway here and there to take some fun pictures. We must have looked ridiculous to onlookers that were driving by as we were striking crazy poses, and doing yoga positions in the spectacular sunset behind us. It was a great day, and to top it all off was a double-double animal style with fries and a chocolate shake:)

Sunday the 17th I competed in slopestyle at the Gatorade Free Flow Tour Stop at Mtn. High. Fortunately it was a beautiful day, and the weather held through the end of the competition. The course was so much fun. Admittedly, I thought the course was going to be slightly bigger, but I was happy to see some very inviting, fun 30-35 footers. Practice went really well, and I was having so much fun riding. I had a couple hours to kill before the girls heat, so I went and explored the mountain. There were a lot of features, and people everywhere. It was more like an obstacle course than taking a lap through the park. It was all fun though, and very good practice. By the time our heat started it was about 12:30. I was in the middle of the heat, so I had plenty of time to get stoked with my music, and visualize my run. I was feeling good when the starter tapped me to drop in. My first run went perfect, so I decided to step it up on my second run. I've never tried a cab 540 in a competition before, but after all of my positive energy and visualizing, I went for it. Success! Feeling pretty confident after my runs, I took it easy and hung out with my awesome mom and her boyfriend, we chatted and got some food from the lodge. The chargers game was on, people were going nuts! I remembered I am in southern California. The awards started around 4, and they were short and sweet. I am so happy that I got 1st, and won a trip to Vermont for the finals on Feb. 5-7th. It couldn't have gone better, I will never forget that day.
The following day I decided to go meet up with Kumara and Megan at Big Bear again for the Burton Am Series. I wasn't planning on doing that competition originally but I heard about it while I was out there and figured I might as well! We were having a blast together practicing, and getting ready for the competition. Of course, the girls heat was the very last one, so we had to fight the weather. Luckily, the first 5 or 6 girls to drop out of the 30 of us that were there, were able to get enough speed to clear the first jump after the first rail feature. For the rest of us, we had to skip the first jump, which was detrimental to our scores. By the time we got back up to the course to take our second runs, they decided they were going to score us on one run, and call off the rest of the competition, and finals. But that's just how it goes with weather, and it was still a fun comp. anyways. Kumara took 2nd along with some cash, so I am stoked for her!!
By the time the awards had ended, the weather had taken a turn for the worst. The wind gusts had knocked over a power line, and the whole town of Big Bear had no power. It was a frantic scene, people scrambling everywhere trying to find chains to get down, and supplies to post up. My mom and I decided it was a better idea to just stay in Big Bear for the night. We found a room at the Big Bear Chateau off Moonridge Dr, down the street from the mountain. The hotel had no power either, but we weren't about to let that bother us. We had a great time roaming about the room and hotel in the dark, with screaming children, and angry people all around us. Around 7 the power came back on, and we got to enjoy the rest of our stay in comfort. My mom and I left at around 8 in the morning and had a nice window of time between the storms to drive home. When we got there, the storm was in full force again. The ocean was raging, wind was blowing giant tree branches clean off trees, and the streets were literally flooded. It was amazing to watch the forces of nature at work. I have never seen that much rain in so little time before..... ever.
The storm subsided, and we made it back to Long Beach airport. My mom and I grabbed a quick bite to eat in a cute little cafe in the upstairs of the terminal. We said our goodbye's, and I made my way to security. My plane was slightly delayed due to weather, so I got some quality reading time in. The flight went smoothly, with little turbulence, and I landed around 12 midnight. The airport was totally empty except for my wonderful boyfriend waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a huge smile on his face. A perfect way to end my trip.

Canyons NYE Rail Jam 2009

2010-01-02T13:04:00.001-08:00

The Canyons hosted their 3rd annual New Years Eve rail jam on Thursday, December 31. They went all out this year. The setup was awesome! You had an option of two zones. Zone 1 started you off with a nice single barrel down rail, to a double barrel down-flat-down, to a fence. Zone 2 contained a fun box with a nice little drop off the end, to a giant corrugated tube, that you could either jib, or hit like a jump, ending with a VW Rabbit Jib.

All of the riders were pumped and the session commenced. We had about an hour long jam session, throughout which judges were tapping riders and letting them know whether or not they made finals. Al

l of the finalist were given glow sticks! After receiving one I decided to take it easy until finals started.

After a short intermission to fix the course finals started. By that time the snow had slowed down a little bit, and everyone was tired. There were a couple of bad falls due to fatigue. In the end I came out on top with $100 and Alice Gong took second.

I hope The Canyons continues to put on events like this. It was so nice to go to an event that was well maintained and FUN! The crowd was pumped, live music, fir

eworks, what more could you ask for?

Park City is OPEN!

2009-12-20T12:43:00.001-08:00

Park City has finally opened, with 3 parks up and running. The first few days of shredding we all got to enjoy a very nice little 3 jump line right on homerun. The jumps are so fun! The new park director of PC is doing a great job, and I am excited to see what he has in store for the rest of the season, and the bigger parks.

They also opened up pik-n-shovel. The setup in there is so fun. Starting off with two picnic tables together to make a long one, down rail, wall ride, another down rail, and into the jumpline. With 5 perfectly built jumps to session, people are throwing down, and it's easy to learn new tricks, because they are not your typical lippy park city jumps. The pipe is open too- and its HUGE! I haven't had the opportunity to ride it yet, but I will definitely make my way over there tomorrow! That's it thats all folks! Go ride PC!

Backyard Bang in Denver Nov. 21st

2009-11-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

The backyard bang hit Denver's Art Institute of Colorado on Saturday. They closed off Lincoln street and put a three feature setup in the middle of the street! It was a beautiful day, about 55 degrees, sunny, and blue skies. Lots of spectators flocked to the street to watch everyone throw down. I think registration was one of the most packed full little tents I have ever been in. So many guys trying to register day of for 45 spots. Luckily, every girl gets to compete, because there are so few of us. Turns out there were more than they expected, so they split us up into groups of about 4 and threw us into the guys heats.

The drop in was to say the least, fast. Before you even had time to think about what you were doing you were already at the rail! Unfortunately the landing was flat too, so some people hit pretty hard without any transition for it.

Next year I hope they build some sort of landing, and it would be nice if they had put all the girls in the same heat. A lot of the girls seem to get overlooked when they are in a heat with 4 of them and 15 guys. I'm not exactly sure what they were thinking only taking the top 3 girls to finals, with 5 girls at least more have a chance, and there is a mystery as to who will get top 3!

Shred Betties girls were all killing it. I think we each were in a different heat and everyone was definitely shining. Everyone had a good time and was smiling and thats what counts!

It feels good to be back!

2009-11-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

I have been looking forward to snowboarding since last April. This morning was beautiful and a perfect day to get the rust off the edges of me and my snowboard! We got up early this morning, had some coffee, and hit the road. There was a light dusting of snow from last night, so it was soft, and luminous in the light. We drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to a little spot where there are jibs set up in the preseason. About 40 feet off the road we found a nice little flat rail.

Unfortunately the rail had a gnarly indention in the middle, so doing boardslides and frontboards would have been death. Luckily we snowboarders can hit rails in many different fashions, so I started off easy with some 5-0s. After a little warming up it was time to do some 180s off and get some presses in there too.

We got up early enough that we were the only people there and had the whole jib to ourselves. A much better environment to really get stuff done. Get in, get out, and get on with it!

Rain, rain, where's the snow?

2009-10-05T10:33:00.000-07:00

Its been very drizzly here in Salt Lake for the past couple days. The weather is not helping my itch to go snowboarding. It might as well be winter here, it's too wet and cold to do anything outside, but there is not enough snow, or features to go riding. Its supposed to keep up here for the next few days, so hopefully there will be some snow, and therefore some handrails to be hit in the valley.

In the meantime I will be working my life away in order to put a dent in the financials I will need

for this upcoming season. A couple more weeks till it starts and I am EXCITED to say the least. Lots of good things happening all around me, there is so much positive energy I could explode!

S3 Supergirl Jam September 6th 2009

2009-09-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

Venice Beach. A place full of things; shops, people, beaches, and on Sunday September 6th, snow! The Supergirl Jam is always a fun competition. Many people down there have never even seen snow, let alone a bunch of girls killing it on a handrail.

Practice was a little scary to watch. Unfortunately there was some carnage right away. After a couple drops everyone seemed to figure out the course and we were off! The first heat went well for me, I had to work for it though. All the other girls were really getting down. Laurie Currier was just dominating all day long and deserved her first place finish.

By finals, I think everyone was pretty hot and tired. Laurie held it down and claimed her first place. Everyone seemed to be pretty equal in ability in the finals, yet some people placed higher than they should have. I was extremely happy about my performance, I landed everything I wanted to.

All in all, Supergirl is one of my favorite competitions to do based on the vibe. It was so nice to be around a bunch of down to earth girls who shred!