First Competition First Place-Chamonix, France
OK, first things first. That was a piss poor performance on a snowboard and no one will convince me otherwise. But, I won and that is FANTASTIC! I’ll take it. 2000 point lead for the Freeride World Tour puts a little fire under my feet and I’m psyched to keep it going.
The first stop for the FWT was in Sochi, Russia but only the men were invited. Snow continued during the entire week up north so they never got to run the event. Second stop (first for the ladies) was on the Hotel face in Brevent. Brevent alone is about the size of Vail and is just one small section of the Chamonix ski area. I will have spent five days riding here and covered, oh, about 10%. The snow is fantastic and I’m very lucky to be here at a time when you can ski to the valley floor. Every good run is it’s own little adventure. Jarkko, one of the judges, led us down this powder filled couloir:
The competition day was FREEZING and blue skies. Conditions were not optimal on the south facing side and my stubborn ass insisted on riding this little dogleg thru a cliff band. So the line won the comp (for the male snowboarders as well) but lesson learned, pow will always look better and maybe you oughta ride some of it. Jess McMillian changed her line last minute for this exact reason and was glowing ear to ear by the time she reached the finish line. I only got to watch four men because the hike to the start was about an hour, however, I did see some on the big screen during the awards in the Chamonix Square. WOW! Candide Thovex’s line was SICK! He was skiing so fast that you’ve gotta have a good I to catch the avalanche he set off in the middle of his line. Check it out http://www.freerideworldtour.com/en/multimedia/videos/contest-lines.php
This guy has been around for 20 years in Cham. I like him.
Now I’m off the Courchevel with Mark and Liz Ewing. They are here from CB ski patrol on exchange. Yesterday we had a killer exploratory day at Grand Montet. I am really looking forward to drinking Mitch’s homemade Génépi, a french digestif. Wikipedia says each mountaineer has his own “secret” recipe for Génépi, but the rule of thumb for each liter is 40 flowers, 40 g sugar, 40 percent alcohol by volume. Pretty, sweet, and intoxicating-sound good to me!
When in Rome…
