the uneXpected
Boy do I wish I could turn back the hands of time. Again, I get to build character this season, with one of the most incredible and simultaneously most frustrating moments of my life. On Thursday night after the men’s snowboard pipe qualifiers went down, the 6 ski girls who made finals dropped in to a chewed up halfpipe. Conditions were certainly not ideal, but everyone has to ski the same pipe. So I stuck with my game plan and I was ready to throw down. My game plan was to do a “safety run” on my first run, land [...]
Almost X Time
It’s Saturday January 22, 2011. On Monday January 24, 2011 I will be dropping in to the superpipe at Buttermilk for Winter X-Games XV for the first night of training. This is my 7th (believe it or not) X-Games but it’s my first time returning as defending champion. Being in this position makes me respect the athletes that have achieved back-to-back gold medals. Like Sarah Burke who had back-to-back-to-back gold medals in superpipe until last season. Her ability to always focus on what she needed to get done is amazing, and to never be thrown off course because of the [...]
New Year, New Motivation
Spending Christmas at home in Connecticut was just what the doctor ordered. I may not have been in the house I grew up in, or the apartment my parents moved in to, but I was still “home”. Not only did my knee need a break from skiing, but my mind and spirit did as well. Seeing my parents and understanding their struggles allowed me to put all of my struggles in perspective. I live a charmed life. I am surrounded by people who love and support me, I have a small, but very powerful fan base that encourages me to [...]