FWQ 4* Crested Butte

Crested Butte has been having a record setting season, with 100% of terrain open for the first time in years, it was an awesome time and place to have a the 4* Freeride World Qualifying event! Upon arrival, we were greeted with some unusually warm temperatures and we got a taste of spring riding during our inspection day.

Mother Nature decided to give us some fresh snow for the qualifying rounds and luckily they kept the venue closed and we only had visual inspection of the course until the morning of the competition to preserve the snow. Unfortunately, after about 60 competitors inspected the venue the morning of the contest there was little snow left covering up the rocky features hidden just below the surface.
I felt confident about my line choice, I knew exactly where to go and how to get into the chute I chose for my run. The bottom of the chute funneled into a little cliff zone, with a mandatory air at the bottom into a less than ideal landing, but I was feeling positive that I could pull it off. I put on one of my favorite Cypress Hill songs, dropped in and was feeling the flow. I felt solid in my execution, made it through the technical entrance to the chute, sent my bottom air and came out of the chute going FAST. Somehow, I was able to hold on and not tumble through the mogul field that I ended up jumping into. I cruised into to the finish corral with a smile on my face, and some good friends waiting to give me a hug and a high 5!

Qualifying for finals day in 2nd place, had me feeling calm, cool, and collected even though they weren't sure exactly what venue would be chosen for the actual contest. Since these contests are a cumulative score of your qualifying score plus your finals day score, I knew that I just needed to put down a solid fluid run. The event organizers were scrambling trying to provide us with most technical venue while also putting our safety first. A task much easier said than done. At the end of the day they made a decision that all competitors and spectators appreciated, giving us one of the longest venues possible, a top to bottom run that included everything from technical tight chutes, drops, open powder fields, and an amazing place for athletes to really shine at the bottom.
I chose the line less ridden for my finals run, only one other female athlete chose the same line. I found some good snow, dodged some potentially life ending rocks through a chute and found my way down to the bottom more technical section of the run.

My original plan changed on the fly when I got to my arrival point where I could either choose to get into a more dangerous zone, or keep up my fluidity and make it look good. Making a split-second decision when I was at the point of no return I decided to take the "easier route" after feeling the snow conditions on the other route. My gut instinct was right and I was able to put down a really solid top to bottom run, and come out with a 1st place finish! A big congratulations is in order to all of the other competitors for handling these conditions, venue changes, and mother natures' inherent ability to make your second guess the run you've chosen. Thanks also goes out to my sponsors, family, supporters! And a HUGE thank you to all of the event volunteers, organizers, and Crested Butte for hosting yet another historic freeride event. Now off to Taos for the next one!

JaPOW - Freeride World Qualifier 4*

The look of pure satisfaction of getting faceshots in your contest run.

The land of the rising sun. A label true to the name, Japan is one of the most amazing spiritually connecting places in the world. To be in Japan is something that every snowboarder dreams about, one experience I will treasure for the rest of my life. To not only be there, but get 6 days in a row of the best days I've ever had on my snowboard in addition to the most fun contest there could be, felt like an absolute dream come true.

After hours of travel a makeshift office in the airport.

The ride into Hakuba Valley, enjoying my PHGB trailmix!

After hours of travel, planes, trains, and automobiles I was happy to get out of the big city and start making our way up into the "Japanese Alps" a.k.a the Hakuba Valley, a landscape which is sincerely remarkable.

The "Japanese Alps" 

Happy Ladies!

Upon arriving in Japan we heard they were having a bad year, but since the Freeride World Tour Qualifier was making its debut in Asia, regardless of the conditions we were fired up. These events take an enormous amount of planning and coordination from everyone, from the Hakuba tourism department to the FWT organizers, to the volunteers, and the athletes. Everyone has to come together, be understanding that we do a winter sport, and the conditions and safety take priority over how badly we all want to compete. That being said, luckily someone had the foresight that we might need a lot of extra weather days, and did we ever!

The contest was supposed to happen within the first 3-4 days we were in the Hakuba Valley, but with heavy snow continually falling through the week making the venue unsafe for competition, the event

organizers had to do some crafty thinking and rethink a venue with very short notice. They did

everything in their absolute power to keep the contest and spirit alive, keeping us updated with constant emails and meetings throughout the week. Thanks Alicia for being so on top of that :)

I don't think anyone was complaining about having to wait for the contest because every single competitor got to go ride at multiple resorts around Hakuba Valley and have literally, the BEST days of our lives. We rode chest deep powder all day, soaked in the natural hot springs (onsens) with a view after riding, then ate the most incredible fish every night, this was paradise.

One of my favorite buildings in Hakuba

A few days later the weather and snowpack was finally stable enough to have the contest in the backcountry of Hakuba Happo One Ski Resort. By this point I think half the field forgot we were there for a contest, because we were all grinning ear to ear all day every day with the meters fresh snow accumulating.

Possibly one of the best days of my life. Hakuba 47

The morning of the competition the sun greeted us for a little while, just enough time to give us the vitamin D we were missing from the huge storm that we were submersed in for the last week. By the time we were at the lodge to get our avalanche equipment checked, the storm moved back in, and made visibility a little bit more difficult.

Since they had to move the venue last minute they ended up giving us a snowmobile ride up a couple miles almost to the top of the venue. Lucky for us or we would have had to boot pack nearly an hour and half to the top of the venue. I'm amazed how efficiently it all went given the number of competitors and limited snowmobile usage,  not a single person missed their start.

Women snowboarders were the third group to drop, I was the third person to drop and I ended up in 3rd place on the podium! It was difficult to find my line after getting a faceshot first turn into the unbelievably steep venue.  I lost my line I inspected the day before nearly immediately, and just went for a soul inspired run, nearly blind. Congrats to all of the athletes and especially the ladies battling challenging near white-out conditions, and persevering with smiles on your faces. It was amazing to watch all of the competitors in their elements and especially watch the ladies absolutely SEND IT! Special shoutout to my friend Michaela Davis Meehan for her aggressive line that put her in 2nd place and the Russian sensation Anna Orlova for charging her way to the top spot!

Pure stoke with my girl Michaela Davis Meehan!

Another highlight for everyone was the fact that not only Travis Rice decided to show up to compete and absolutely dominate, but he was one the nicest people at the contest, kudos to him for being a humble human being and inspiring so many to do what we do.

The legend himself

Girls just wanna have fun! 

A big thank you again to the FWT organizers, Hakuba Tourism, and the Japanese people. Without whom this contest would not have made history the way it did. I am so honored to be a part of this event, and to stand atop the podium with some of the world best athletes is just a bonus! Thank you to DISCRETE HEADWEAR for helping me to get to Japan as well as PlayHardGive back for your support and keeping me fueled up and ready to ride. Another huge shoutout to NICHE SNOWBOARDS for shipping me a board suitable for these conditions all the way to Japan. As well as Aura Optics, XS Unified, Outdoor Tech, Polar Pro, and Shred Betties.

I can't wait to hit the next stop of the Freeride World Qualifier at Crested Butte February 10-12th. Stay Tuned!

I love JAPAN!

A burning cleanse before entering the temple

Big city lights. Tokyo, Japan. 

Near the famous Tokyo Scramble

Sake Barrels in Tokyo

Venture Vibes... MOAB

Tree pose overlooking the Island in the Sky. 

Desert Cactus 

All of the stars aligned to end up in one of the most mind blowing, magical places on the planet during the Centennial celebration of the the National Parks Service. Moab holds a dear place in my heart and soul as is true for almost anyone who has visited. This particular time was different however, for this time I was there with a more artistic eye. Knowing that with a real camera the experience would be far different than with just my GoPro or iphone. 

We started our Journey in Arches, a land of absolutely unreal geology, history, which is sure to leave you feeling bewildered in every sense. Having just procured a hardtop shell for my boyfriends truck, which he decked out inside with an insanely comfortable bed, storage, and shelving, we took it for its maiden voyage, from Oregon all the way to Southern Utah. 

Park Avenue

Balanced Rock

                            

Our first night arriving in the park we ended up at the Double Arch (most people call this spot the Window Arches) but we found the Double Arch slightly more enticing than the crowded Window Arches at the top of the parking area. In my opinion this is one the most spectacular places in the whole park, the Double Arch in is an astounding work of erosion, and the sheer size of it can make even the biggest person feel small. 

Double Arch by Day

Garden of Eden 

Before we could begin cooking and relaxing waiting for the sun to go down, we accidentally locked ourselves out of the back of the truck, where of course, the keys were sitting atop the bed. Luckily I am a gadget geek and had a No Show (extension) pole from Polar Pro lurking in the backseat of the truck which we finagled through the back window of the truck through the camper to open the one window in there which didn't yet have a screen. After a couple minutes of struggling to catch the end of the pole on the lever for the window finally we triumphed and got the back door of the camper open. What a way to start the trip we thought, luckily our amateur move was quickly forgotten by the unwavering beauty of the night sky. 

Double Arch by Night

That night the sky was spectacular, with very little light pollution and more stars than the brain can comprehend, we both felt the very spiritual vibe that is resonating through all of Moab. The feeling of being a little part of this broad, big world and that we are not the first fortunate souls to have laid eyes upon this magnificent landscape. The unspoken words between us of how truly wonderful it must have been for the natives who once ran this land, and authentically cherished it in every way. 

Delicate Arch from lower viewpoint 

Window Arch

Dinosaur Print 

The following day was spent taking our time at every single pull off in sight, trying to beat the heat, while still getting the photos we wanted, and taking in the reality that we were there, amongst so much history, and hundreds of thousands of years of geological development. 

It really is hard to imagine what this landscape once was. Underwater. That dinosaurs once roamed there freely, and left imprints for us to find millions of years later, and that these rock formations were not manmade, but painted by millions of years of eroding wind and water. 

Canyonlands is aptly named for the deep canyons carved by the Colorado river along the valley floor. The Island in the Sky provides unbelievable panoramas of the fascinating landscape in every direction. Its hard to describe the undeniable spirituality of the place. It awakens a wandering sense of the "simpler life" that the natives once lived. 

Island in the Sky Overlook

Newspaper Rock Petroglyphs 

Having covered the areas we wanted to see and photograph in the North end of Moab we decided to head South to the other entrance for Canyonlands. The Needles area is named for the bewildering rock pinnacles that are so famously captivating about this area. On your way into the south entrance there is an area to your right called Newspaper rock, depicting some of the most amazing petroglyphs I have seen in one concentrated region. To stand where someone stood 2,000 years ago, lived off the land, and had no concept of the material things we treasure today, was an unimaginable experience. 

4 Wheel Trail outside of Arches

    

Every direction you gaze in, your mind is absolutely blown. We drove about for a few hours, took walks to some of the more popular attractions, and were pleasantly surprised to find that there were far less people in this region of the park. You could actually take in what you were looking at without a hundred other people trying to take a photo with their iphone and then move on. However, we were ready to get far out there, away from everyone. We found what we were told was a pretty aggressive 4-wheel drive only road that leads to one marvelous overlook of the Colorado River. A 7 mile stretch of dirt road, with big drops, and flash flooding paths apparent in every direction. Fortunately we had a capable vehicle, and a competent driver.. (Drew.) I was not about to drive his truck over some of this hairy terrain, that tested not only the trucks limit, but our limits as well. Six miles in, the terrain got too rough despite his skill set behind the wheel. We decided to walk/run the last mile to the overlook, as the sun was setting quickly and we were loosing light, fast. To say it was worth it is an understatement. Sheer rock walls leading straight down to the valley floor with the brownish steady stream that is the magnificent Colorado River weaving its way through the canyons with ease.

To our north was the Island in the Sky, where we were the previous day, and to our south the rock pinnacles known as the Needles. The best part, was that there was not another soul in sight. Just us, the river, and the geologic anomalies that surrounded us. Watching the sunset there was a once in a lifetime experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Colorado River Overlook. Taken using the Trippler Pole + Polarizer Filter on GoPro Hero 4 Black

Last light at Canyonlands