Winter Dew Tour- We’re IN!
We just got official word that women skiers will be included in the Breckenridge and Snowbasin stops of The Winter Dew Tour. Though we aren’t included 100% (meaning we have less prize money and 1 less stop), this is the closest we’ve been so far! We were stuck in a what-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg stage for a while. You see, the women’s side of our sport is growing a bit slower than the guys side of the sport, so Dew Tour was hesitant to put us in initially. If we don’t have opportunities to compete how could we improve? If we don’t improve [...]
Thank you.
When you set out to accomplish a goal obstacles can be frustrating. But, sometimes the obstacles can be glorious. Like being stuck in New Zealand unable to ski. Here we are on the other side of the world, together, friends. How couldn’t we be having fun?! So, we set out to Queenstown, drove over the Crown Range Pass as snow was accumulating on the mountains above. We took in the gorgeous hillsides- they are so green this time of year! Normally we are here in the heart of winter and everything is brown, but not this time. We walked around [...]
New Zealand Day 4?
Well, I’m still in New Zealand. There hasn’t been much skiing in the past few days. Unfortunately, skiing is an outdoor sport Just kidding, but really- it’s spring down here and we thought that it would be done snowing- it’s not. Two nights ago it snowed a foot in the mountains, and though it turned into a sunny day, the pipe and airbag weren’t going to be up and running. The airbag needed to be dug out by hand (it was deflated and a cat would have destroyed it). And then there’s the pipe, which can only be cut every [...]
New Zealand (Round Two)
I was down in New Zealand earlier this summer as a coach for the US Junior Worlds Team. The trip was amazing- I got to see things from a different perspective and it made me respect my coach a lot more! (Coaching is not easy, there’s a lot more to the job than just the on snow part.) Regardless, I didn’t get a ton of skiing in and certainly didn’t have the opportunity to work on any new tricks. Hence “round 2.” I flew back down to New Zealand 2 days ago so that I could get some of my [...]
Olympic Dreams
Many athletes dream of going to the Olympics, others dream of the day that their sport will be added to the Olympic roster. I happen to fall in the latter. When I began competing in halfpipe in 2002 I was participating in regional events in New England (Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Maine). In 2003 I went to Newfoundland for the first ever Junior World Championships for halfpipe. That same year I went to Switzerland for the first halfpipe World Cup. I remember thinking that in 2006 ski halfpipe would be an Olympic sport and I would be an [...]