tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70969266451974202112024-02-19T16:09:14.477+11:00chicks with stixchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236630329611226694noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-89495153338900660412013-12-24T11:51:00.000+11:002013-12-24T11:51:02.851+11:00chicks with stix are going places…..<span style="font-size: large;">we have a nice new home </span><a href="http://chickswithstix.com.au/" style="font-size: xx-large;">over HERE</a><br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb8muKxMjbdCWiRbn-zH64XcbhfmYi71O65gB0R59JgfhB2KbUX2C-9JwZxPcM3NIIOPv5LaOYrB8H-HupOmybN6Rx2u2_v7wPRWPVBEt7cyzJd7Ho1zgp__PG3SmKBw_yQII-XneC4dB0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-24+at+11.48.13+AM.png" height="338" width="640" /><a href="http://chickswithstix.com.au/">http://chickswithstix.com.au</a></div>
<br />chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236630329611226694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-42590946734146429282013-05-06T12:59:00.003+10:002013-05-06T12:59:55.426+10:00Getting creative with injuries.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While my northern winter started off really well, unfortunately it was cut short when I broke my foot at the World Cup in the Czech Republic. I broke my 5th metatarsal on my right foot. But not too worry after 6 weeks on crutches I am back walking and have begun a serious rehab program with Anthony Khoury which will have me back on track by June.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHa-ZzYBnEC6QTwLwEGMoCwP6WpUxQQQJoeLnCYyCukQDV1_rQD-uSr3m8XKQGx6zDQmh3Lml0nVIYjALiUoTj6w628e9Bx7oN9qqNr6AqjkiKXiGj7BZXP7FHezE8QeeI6qsIlJ-d-YA/s1600/photo_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHa-ZzYBnEC6QTwLwEGMoCwP6WpUxQQQJoeLnCYyCukQDV1_rQD-uSr3m8XKQGx6zDQmh3Lml0nVIYjALiUoTj6w628e9Bx7oN9qqNr6AqjkiKXiGj7BZXP7FHezE8QeeI6qsIlJ-d-YA/s640/photo_4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Apart from breaking my foot I had an awesome season, I competed in two Snowboard Slopestyle World Cups (Copper Mt, USA and Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic) I also represented Aus in the World Champs this year at Stoneham Canada, where I obtained 13th place my best result of the season on the world tour. I am currently sitting in 23rd place on the world ranking list and am hoping to hold or improve my position to qualify for the 2014 games! Here is an edit I made while I was training in Breckenridge</div>
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While I've been injured and unable to drive I decided to get creative and start making arts and crafts with my cousin Chloe. We are getting a stall at the St Andrew Market to sell our creations and have now made an Instagram called doodadsandtrinkets to sell our things!<br />
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I'm super excited to start the Aussie season at Buller and can't wait to get to another Chicks with Sticks session!</div>
Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-19075811279787949582013-04-22T12:04:00.000+10:002013-04-22T12:04:00.315+10:00Skiing in Romania with Hanna Fisher
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<span class="s1">Reading through the other girls’ blogs on the Chicks with Stix website always serves to remind me how great and variable skiing is. We all love the mountains, and love skiing, yet all participate in completely different events!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">One thing I love about competing in Big Mountain competitions is the strange and wonderful places it takes you to. I never would have thought I would end up in a small mountain lodge in a hike-only, no ski lifts apart from the main cable car to take you to the hotel base, in countryside Romania. But yet there I was, just last week, for a Freeride World Qualifier event. We got to spend a couple of days in the capital, Bucharest, for a bit of sightseeing and shopping before making the drive to Balea Lac. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checking out an ice chapel</td></tr>
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Being a sport that is so reliant on weather conditions can make things tricky. Usually the competition format for the Freeride World Qualifiers is one day of qualifications, then a second day of competition for finals. However, due to bad weather predicted for the second day, our event was just a one day competition with one run. Personally, I don’t mind this so much. You just have to concentrate on one good run. We usually have to hike up (skis attached to your backpack) to access the runs, in this case it was over an hour of hiking. But a beautiful view makes it all worth it!</div>
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<span class="s1" style="text-align: center;">I decided to take a fairly easy line, with about four nice, steady cliff jumps of around 2-3 metres each. And it seems as though it paid off, as I won! It was my third win for the season (one in Andorra, and the other in New Zealand). This was extra exciting as it meant my overall ranking for the season is 3</span><span class="s2" style="text-align: center;"><sup>rd</sup></span><span class="s1" style="text-align: center;">, and so I’ve qualified for the Freeride World Tour for next season, which has been a goal since I first started competing. Now it’s time for some relaxing, off season training, and working to save up and do it all over again...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanna on the podium, taking home a handmade, wooden trophy</td></tr>
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Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-90120458165012053782013-04-12T14:56:00.001+10:002013-04-12T14:56:54.472+10:00Winter recap with Britt Cox<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Britt charging down the moguls, photo: Kirk Paulsen</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the best things about my northern season just gone is that I got to do LOTS of skiing. This was the longest season I have ever had, starting on snow in Ruka, Finland in late November and skiing all the way through until mid March. I also got to see some new places and ski a few new mogul courses, which is always exciting. One of those courses happened to be the site of next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In early Feb there was a test event in Sochi, which was a World Cup event. It was great to compete on the course and get a bit of a feel of what it might be like next year. However it's good to remember that things might change. From my experience I know that anything could happen and the course could ski up completely different with varying snow/weather conditions come February next year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My best result this season was in Lake Placid, USA where I achieved my second World Cup podium (3rd). Lake Placid has been a bit of a nemesis course for me in the past so it felt particularly good to ski well there and flip that around. I also competed in the World Champs at Norway where I achieved a 10th place in the Single Moguls and 8th in the Duals.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grinning in 3rd Place, photo: Kirk Paulsen</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This whole season has been absolutely incredible for the Aussies in winter sport across the board and I think its generating some great energy and a positive vibe for everyone. I feel really inspired by everyone’s achievements.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I have been home I’ve enjoyed some sun and surf and I’m now back into training at the AIS in Canberra. Not long now and we’ll all be on snow here in Aus….can’t wait!</span>Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-25300521448711936822013-04-09T13:35:00.002+10:002013-04-09T13:35:42.120+10:00End of Season Blog: Katya Crema<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Training with Sami Kennedy Sim</td></tr>
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I am happy to say that I have finished off my World Cup season strongly (and in one piece), with a 15th and 8th place finish in Åre, Sweden. With three top 8s this season, my results put me into 16th place in the overall World Cup rankings, making it my best season finish to date.
This weekend in Åre was a double event, making it a long intense four days of competition. Before things got started though, we made the most of the Audi ice driving experience available to World Cup athletes. Driving fast on ice is almost as fun as skiing fast on ice!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Test driving Audis on the lake</td></tr>
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On Friday I qualified in 14th place, with only the top 16 women going through to finals. In my first heat I was in third place and attempted a pass into second which didn't end well. I got caught on Simmerling's skis beside me and crashed in the turn. A little disappointing but happy that I'm feeling confident to take some risks and put it on the line. After all, that's what this sport is all about!
In yesterday's race I had the twelth fastest qualifying run and was only 0.25 of a second behind fourth place. 9 girls within a quarter of a second; the times were extremely close! In my first heat I completely missed the start and was in fourth position coming into the first turn. I was not giving up that easily though! I made a pass into third place through the first bank turn, and then another risky pass on the negative turn, forcing myself in second place. I made it through to the semi finals; my second time for the season.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Start section.</td></tr>
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In the semis, this time I had a great start but managed to catch an edge before the first turn, forcing me to miss the gate. Extremely frustrating! I finished fourth in the small final after making a big mistake in the mid-section of the course. Again, disappointing but happy with my 8th place result none-the-less.
All in all, it's been a fantastic season. I have made some major improvements with my skiing, particularly when it comes to head-to-head racing. I performed well in the two major events of the season; 8th at the World Championships and 11th at the Olympic Games test event in Sochi. I also had a personal best result of 6th on World Cup, and a personal best overall World Cup ranking of 16th.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitO6_jGEcRVmia90TdOzyTOwDgEb0_0WGOWIfJ4RBihWE43hDfF6pN6y0xzDNqrFFRK3HQ_VEAeSRoGLt-eQbD6pGFWUbNtxjJiT7txP5VyNBA1-HE6EimYCi3QEWlu_yjUIh79UB1kNQ/s1600/403630_10151492371461306_1424115093_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitO6_jGEcRVmia90TdOzyTOwDgEb0_0WGOWIfJ4RBihWE43hDfF6pN6y0xzDNqrFFRK3HQ_VEAeSRoGLt-eQbD6pGFWUbNtxjJiT7txP5VyNBA1-HE6EimYCi3QEWlu_yjUIh79UB1kNQ/s640/403630_10151492371461306_1424115093_n.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Unfortunately I couldn't bring home a medal this year, but I'm expecting good things to come for next season!
A big thanks to my teammates for being great training partners this season. Also to my coach, Matt Lyons; our guru ski technician Marcos Ruiz; the physios who joined us this winter, Anthony, Claire, Nick and Markus; John Marsden who got me incredibly fit and strong for this season and who joined us for a few weeks on tour in January; and importantly to my family and friends at home for being so supportive day-in, day-out throughout the whole year. I couldn't do this without you!
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Northern Lights</td></tr>
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<br />Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-30809686630416119832013-03-23T16:12:00.002+11:002013-03-23T16:14:34.625+11:00Anna Segal 2012-13 MashupOur favourite slopestyle lady-shredder Anna Segal has released her season edit. Check out Span send kickers at Mt Hood, the One Hit Wonder, Nine Queens, Dew Tour and Breckenridge.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lXL4nhvUvdE" width="560"></iframe>Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-63512753480056307842013-03-09T12:54:00.001+11:002013-03-09T12:56:11.679+11:00Checking in from Norway<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Katya-Crema/72213107823?fref=ts">Katya </a>is in Norway right now, with the rest of the Aussie Ski X team, waiting to compete at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/fisfreestyle?fref=ts">FIS Freestyle</a> World Championships this weekend. Training on the track began yesterday and there is another training day today, then the whole thing (qualis and finals) happens in one day on Sunday.<br />
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Busy few days!<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">via Anton Grimus</span></i></div>
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Katya is having her best season so far this year and this morning she checked in to give us a quick update....<br />
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<i>"I'm back in Voss, Norway for my third World Freestyle Championships. The course is a lot of fun, with a technical start section, some big jumps in the middle and a super fast bottom section. My goal for this race is to make it to semi finals, so top 8. The season so far has been a personal best, with a 6th place in the Telluride World Cup, a 10th place in the San Candido World Cup, and two podium finishes in Continental Cups. I'm excited about this race, and can't wait to get after it on Sunday."</i><br />
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She also sent in some pics and all I can say is........ the snow looks better than dinner!<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">slopestyle course</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">lamb's head ?!</span></i></div>
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Here's the latest edit from Katya's season........<br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/59789058">Episode 3 - 2013 Winter- Katya Crema</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user6178072">Katya Crema</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-84661598209722172772013-03-07T13:53:00.000+11:002013-03-07T13:53:00.194+11:00Colorado Check-InA mid season edit from Ambassador Lauren Staveley....<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-42249695184780430532013-03-06T13:47:00.000+11:002013-03-06T13:49:01.576+11:00A Japanese Winter<b><i>Hey Chicks with Stix tribe......hope that summer or winter is treating you well wherever you are in the world! Our CwS Coaches and Ambassadors are all over the place and having a ton of fun competing and coaching and generally ripping it up somewhere cold and snowy!</i></b><br />
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And yep..... this is why there has been a definite lack of blog updates this season [soz]<br />
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Well we're planning to make it up to you with some check-ins from around the world and some updates on comps, statuses and even injuries (more on that later)<br />
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So keep tuning in here and follow us on <b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/chickswithstix?fref=ts">FB</a> </span></i></b>for some <b>give-aways</b> <i><b>REAL SOON [promise]</b></i><br />
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First up : an update from CwS Coach Olivia Coates who is living it up in Japan this winter....<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">words by Olivia Coates</i><br />
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"Wanting to escape the norm of the Canadian ski fields; this winter I ventured to Japan for some iconic pow and a cultural change. Apprehensive at first, knowing not a single word of Japanese (except for the tourist go-to of <i><b>konichiwa</b></i>) I set out on an adventure that found me in a world away from home, (even though the time difference was a mere hour apart).<br />
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For 3 months I was based at Happo-one resort in Hakuba Japan. I taught snowboarding for Evergreen Ski School and when I managed to find some time away from teaching, travelled to get lost in nearby cities and new resorts.<br />
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The thing that lured me to Japan was the exceptional snow conditions that we’ve been hearing about for a few years now. It just so happened that the year I decided to make the trip, was the year of the worst snowfall in a decade or so. Seems fitting, my mother always said I was the sunshine child, too bad this title isn’t so good when you’re chasing winter!<br />
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In saying this, the snow did fall, just not as regularly as we would have liked. When it snows in Japan, it dumps. A storm will settle in for a few days and what you will experience during those days is the best snow of your life!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Big smiles in Cortina trees! Up to my neck in white stuff! </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> The vending machine tells it all</i></span></div>
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This season it seemed that patience was most certainly a virtue, I became really good at waiting. Watching North America and Europe early in the season get a truckload of snow, while I sat in Japan, waiting for what felt like the whole 3 months; for the snow that was said to be coming!<br />
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My off snow adventures in Japan proved to be some of my greatest memories of the trip. Of course a trip to Japan wouldn’t be complete without spending at least 3 days in Tokyo. It’s a must, even if you’re the most diehard ski or snowboarder in the world!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The ordered chaos of The Scramble at Shubuya Crossing! (movie reference: Tokyo drift)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> Masumoto Castle; where the samurai’s lived! </i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Tokyo’s handy map; a little too big to be handy, but a great size to shade you from the Japanese sun!</span></i></div>
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Happo-one, Cortina and Hakuba’s surrounding resorts offer so much terrain for every level of free skier and rider. However, tree riding within most of the resorts is considered off piste (except Cortina) and is monitored very closely, with cameras on chairlifts and active ski patrol on each mountain; I found out early into my season why this was so heavily patrolled, especially at Happo-one. A few encounters with dam walls, river crossings, as well as some very hairy drops onto cat-tracks. Not to mention the sluff slides and avalanche gates which are scattered amongst the resorts. I soon learnt that the mountains of Japan are very sensitive to varying snow conditions and that it was imperative to ride with caution.<br />
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<i> Dropping off of dam walls and getting lost in Happo’s trees.</i></div>
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This season I filled my freeride boots with bigger drops, deeper snow, tighter trees and I let my instinct guide me into some very adventurous situations. As for my park riding… well there’s one park to be found in Hakuba and it was a 20minute drive away, so a couple of sneaky night jib sessions were set up in the backyard to keep park cravings at bay. <br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Night jibs J </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> A friendly bunch of ski and snowboard instructors :P</span></i></div>
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My Japanese winter was … interesting. I made some amazing new friendships and like every season learnt more about myself and my riding. Now that I’m home and moving back into the swing of uni I can already start to feel those riding jitters coming back. This time they’re not craving the big mountains and deep snow, instead sunny park laps and friendly faces.<br />
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See all you lovely ladies at the Chicks with Stix in Perisher! Make sure you yell out if you see me, I’m always up for some park laps with the girls!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-63987898847473003372013-01-08T06:25:00.003+11:002013-04-29T15:07:13.369+10:00Freeride World Tour, Stop 1: Revelstoke<i><a href="http://www.nataliesegal.com/">words by Nat Segal</a></i><br />
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No matter how long or hard you train and prepare for a winter of competitions, the first is always fairly daunting. Despite having a history in competitive skiing, I always have butterflies the week leading up to a big event and this one is definitely the biggest so far.<br />
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For the last four years I have been competing in big mountain. Last winter I qualified for the<a href="http://freerideworldtour.com/"> Freeride World Tour</a>. It's the boss of all big mountain events, the closest thing we have to a World Cup. There are five stops of the tour, starting in Revelstoke (CAN) this week and continuing on to Chamonix (FRA), Kirkwood (USA), Fiberbrunn (AUT) and Verbier (SUI). Naturally, I am trembling in my boots a little.<br />
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It's quite difficult to share the true nature of my butterflies without a bit of a background in big mountain competitions.<br />
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Imagine a big beautiful face like the one below. Choose a line to ski (a way down that is), try to imagine it backwards as if you were skiing it and assume everything is much different than it seems. Hike or take a helicopter to the top, wait and then stand alone in the start gate, praying that the left-hand couloir will take you to the 15ft air and not the mandatory 50ft exposure of rocks and then start skiing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mac Daddy Face, Revelstoke Mountain Resort</td></tr>
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So you are skiing, remember that the judges want to see fast, fluid style but you have to stay in control. No bobbles or hesitations, they want to see you charge down the line like you are skiing a blue run. It's best to include either some exposure (skiing through/above rocks and chutes) or airtime to increase your overall impression. Halfway down your legs will be jelly but just keep on going, there will be no relief until the straight line out the bottom. Pop over your chosen cliffs, jump turn down the chute and enjoy the feeling when you realise that you have hit all your features and you can book it to the finish line.<br />
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That's about it. At the end of the run relief will flood over you. You will feel as if you have been skiing moguls all day but in fact you have only taken one lap.<br />
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Today marks the first day of Stop 1 of the FWT at Revelstoke. It is currently dumping pow outside and does not look like it wants to relent until later this week. Until that time, I will continue to ski pow, taming my nerves and telling them that when I hit the start gate I will know where I am going; that my body can take the fear and turn it into energy and that when I finally drop in for my comp run that I will feel nothing but pure enjoyment and purpose.<br />
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Wish me luck.<br />
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<br />Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-61291174334588707542013-01-02T10:10:00.000+11:002013-01-02T10:10:29.983+11:00Happy New Year<br />
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<i>words by Zoe Jaboor.</i></div>
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Happy New Year everyone! We thought we'd start the new year off with a quick updates on some of the Chick with Stix coaches</div>
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<span class="s1">While <a href="http://www.katyacrema.com/">Katya</a> is off getting top ten results in World Cup, and <a href="http://annasegal.com/blog/">Anna is getting podiums in Dew Tour</a>, and <a href="http://laurenstaveley.com/">Lauren</a> is hitting up the park at Breck, and <a href="http://nataliesegal.com/blog/">Nat is dropping cliffs in Jackson</a>, and <a href="http://www.mogulskiingacademy.com/profiles/coach/kate-blamey">Katie</a> is getting powder bumps in Colorado …. some of us are left back in Australia, dreaming of the white stuff. Don’t get me wrong, Im not complaining. I have been making the most of the warm weather and good waves, and preparing for my first trip of the Northern winter.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This time at home has made me more aware of the amazing results that our Australian female athletes are achieving overseas. Not only have our CwS coaches and ambassadors (mentioned above) been throwing down, but some of our future leaders have been reaching new heights and putting our country on the map in the international snow scene. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pip Sparrow grabbing the goods on her backflip</td></tr>
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Pip Sparrow (who has been participating in Chicks with Stix since its inception) is a mogul skier and</div>
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<span class="s1">recently finished 5</span><span class="s2"><sup>th</sup></span><span class="s1"> at the US Selections in Copper, Co. Under the guidance of coach and friends, Pete McNeil and Katie Blamey at the <a href="http://www.mogulskiingacademy.com/blog/category/competition">The Mogul Skiing Academy</a>. Pip achieved her career best result. I am so pleased to see her achieve in the sport of mogul skiing. She is committed, driven and dedicated. And to top it all off, she is an absolutely lovely girl! Pip’s friends and fellow mogul competitors have also been making a mark. Taylah O’Neil qualified first for the finals at Copper, and ended up second. And Britt Cox achieved a 4</span><span class="s2"><sup>th</sup></span><span class="s1"> place in Duals in a World Cup in Kreischberg, Austria.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Watching all these girls ripping it up all over the world is making me excited to get over there and start skiing! I head over to the North America on the 10</span><span class="s2"><sup>th</sup></span><span class="s1"> of January to judge a few World Cups (aerials, moguls and half-pipe) in Val Saint-Come, Lake Placid and Park City. Somewhere in between I will fit in 7 days at Red Mountain in British Columbia to shred with some friends. Until then, I will continue to take advantage of the summer and head out for some waves with Anita, Han, Ali and Merrin, all who are enjoying summer with me at home in Jan Juc.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Hope you're all having a great summer/ winter wherever you are!</span></div>
Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-2988648659853061442012-12-14T16:56:00.000+11:002012-12-14T16:56:08.165+11:00KATYA at World CupKatya is competing on the Wold Cup circuit and really nailing it. Looks like all that summer-break training paid off ! With a podium in Canada and a sixth place in Telluride [with 4 Aussies getting through the qualifiers] the season is looking good.<br />
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Here's Katya's update just in from Colorado......<br />
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<i>elated!</i></div>
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<i>"Today I achieved a new personal best result, finishing in 6th place in the Ski Cross World Cup in Telluride, Colorado.</i><br />
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<i>Yesterday I had a solid run in qualifications, posting the sixth fastest time amongst the ladies. A good confidence boost coming into finals! Today I was excited to race head-to-head on what has been one of the best tracks on the World Cup circuit. Telluride did a great job in building a world class course, with some of the biggest and most technical features we've seen since the Winter Olympic Games and X Games.</i><br />
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<i>I had a great quarter final heat, finishing in second right behind Fanny Smith of Switzerland. In the semi finals, a couple of small mistakes and some aggressive skiing from the ladies meant that I didn't make it though to the big final. I finished second in the small final, putting me in 6th place overall. A great result for the second World Cup of the season! </i><br />
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<i>The Aussies had four athletes in the finals today, so a great day for the team. Well done to teammates Scott Kneller, Anton Grimus and Jen Owens who finished 11th, 18th and 11th respectively. </i><br />
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<i>Tomorrow we fly to Europe where the Aussie SX team will prepare for the next World Cup in Van Thorens, France, on Wednesday and Thursday of next week (18/19 December). No time for jet lag on this schedule!"</i><br />
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<i>beautiful Telluride, CO.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-82383916539460941552012-12-13T11:48:00.001+11:002012-12-13T11:50:21.474+11:00Femalewolfpack.com<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Words by Nat Segal</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the age old adage goes, 'if you want to get something done, you've got to do it yourself'. It is with this in mind that professional skier and infamous badass, <a href="http://rburks.com/">Rachael Burks</a>, created <a href="http://www.femalewolfpack.com/">FemaleWolfpack.com.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rachael, after spending many years shredding the gnar, competing in the Freeskiing World Tour and filming with the likes TGR and Warren Miller Entertainment, noticed a lack of opportunity for female exposure in the extreme sports community.</span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I’ve been skiing professionally for 6 years and have been frustrated by the limitations of filming opportunities based on sponsorship alliances and existing film paradigms. I feel like if you’re doing things that are film-worthy, you should be filmed. Subsequently I decided to ripple the waters a bit: I want to give <u>all girls an opportunity to be seen</u>.</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus, FemaleWolfpack.com was born. The website is a video-only, online hub for female athletes to showcase their skills. It </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>is unprecedented, unprejudiced, and unrestricted" </i>says Rachael.<i> </i>Anyone can submit an edit for publication.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">"I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">t is a place for any online viewer interested in action sports entertainment to go and watch incredible footage without spending time weeding through viral clutter."</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sounds like magic to me. <a href="http://femalewolfpack.com/">FemaleWolfpack.com</a> will be launched New Years Day 2013, so keep your eyes open for some jaw-dropping action. In the meantime, check out the Femalewolfpack teaser that was released today. </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="422" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/55469067?badge=0" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="750"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/55469067">Femalewolfpack_Teaser</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2380374">rachaelburks</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-49702215825197303672012-11-25T23:12:00.003+11:002012-11-25T23:12:52.235+11:00End of Season Break Up<i>Words by Zoe Jaboor</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Babing-up the Jan Juc nature reserve. <i>Photo: Nicole Lewis</i></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Friday the 2</span><span class="s2"><sup>nd</sup></span><span class="s1"> of November marked the Chicks with Stix season break up party and a close to a great season of shredding. While not everyone could make it, I had the honor of hosting some of our coaches and ambassadors down at Jan Juc including the Segal sisters (Anna and Nat), Katya, Nicole, Katie, Tori, Han Studd, Merrin, Anita and Lauren.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to make everyone look at the camera. <i>Photo: Nicole Lewis</i></td></tr>
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Our day started mid-morning with a photo session around some of the stunning locations in Jan Juc. Under the creative direction of super photographer (and Air Traffic Controller – her pretend job) Nicole Lewis, got trigger-happy with the CwS crew. <span class="s1"></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Frolicking on the beach at Jan Juc. <i>Photo: Nicole Lewis</i></td></tr>
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Sometimes these little shoots can get a bit awkward but when you have ten hyperactive girls that haven’t caught up in a while it can only lead to heaps of laughs and sore tummy muscles!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nat and Katey....need we say more</td></tr>
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After a quick bite to eat the team headed to the beautiful <a href="http://www.surfcoastyoga.com.au/">Surf coast yoga studio</a> for an exclusive yoga session with super duo Jane Vasey and Monica Rude from OmRyder. These girls are absolute geniuses when it comes to yoga and they lead us through an intense flow focusing on all areas specific to skiers and snowboarders. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jane and Mon talking to the girls about OmRyder. <i>Photo: Nicole Lewis</i></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/omryderaustralia">OmRyder</a> is a new program created to supplement snow-sports through yoga practices. OmRyder is a new partner of Chicks with Stix, so stay tuned for more info on these impressive ladies and their relationship with Chicks with Stix.<span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">The yoga session started off with a quick introduction, and then 45 minutes of intense flow (under the direction of Jane). It was then followed by some partner yoga, which Mon guided us through. It was awesome to see some of our coaches getting up close and personal with each other in some very strange positions. This session was hands down the best yoga experience I have ever had. Afterwards I just wanted more. Although I pulled up sore over the next few days. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mon guiding Anna and Katey through a Downward dog and handstand preparation sequence.<i> Photo: Nicole Lewis</i></td></tr>
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After yoga we moseyed around the gorgeous gardens of Surf coast yoga eating and drinking some special snacks prepared by the OmRyder girls. We had a cleansing juice (of pear, cucumber and coriander) and some active eats (raw-nola, activated almonds and quinoa) from the dehydrator.<span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Needless to say that we were all buzzing after our yoga session and needed no encouragement to get our gear together and hit the waves. Although the wind was onshore and the swell was messy, we all paddled out at Torquay Point and got a few party waves together!!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach + Yoga + Surfing + Food = STOKED. <i>Photo: Nicole Lewis</i></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">As you can imagine, after all that activity everybody had managed to work up a huge hunger. Brad fired up the BBQ and we tucked into a big feast of delicious salads, lemon chicken and babaganoush (Han’s grandmothers recipe)!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Have an awesome summer/ winter wherever you are! <i>Photo: Nicole Lewis</i></td></tr>
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Having organized this day for all the girls, I was so happy with the outcome. Everybody made such a huge effort to come and it was an amazing way to finish off a very successful season. It really highlights why Chicks with Stix is so successful. It’s because everybody who participates in the program at all levels has so much passion and love for the sport. We are so lucky to be involved in this industry and have the opportunity to work with each other. I’m really excited to see this program grow each year. With the Olympics just around the corner, 2013 promises to be a huge year! Many of our coaches and ambassadors are aiming to make the team, so stay tuned over summer to see how they go in the Northern hemispheres winter.<span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Things are only going to get bigger and better from here on in! </span><span style="text-align: center;">Take care and have fun! Make sure you keep us updated with your summer/winter adventures!</span></div>
Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-56387987963209089742012-11-03T23:17:00.002+11:002012-11-03T23:17:56.329+11:00Learning to fly<i>words by Britt Cox</i><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<i><span class="s1">Here is a pic of me having a flying lesson for my 18</span><span class="s2"><sup>th</sup></span></i><span class="s1"><i> birthday. But different to being in the air on skis but still lots of fun!</i> </span></div>
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It’s just less than 3 weeks until the northern winter starts for me. I have been soaking up the sun while studying for my year 12 exams because I won’t be seeing much of that once my season starts in Ruka, Finland (its dark most of the day there at this time of the year). </div>
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I am going to be starting the season in Ruka with the Aussie mogul team where we will have a few weeks training before the first world cup of the season. The Ruka course is a great but challenging course and I am really looking forward to getting back onto it. After Ruka we travel to Austria for another world cup and then I get to spend Christmas with my brother in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. </div>
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As a team we will then follow the Mogul World Cup tour through North America and to Sochi, Russia. Our plans have not yet been finalized beyond the test world cup event in Sochi but we have plenty of skiing to keep us happy between now and then. <span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">I am very exited for the season and am looking forward to taking my water ramping skills onto snow. All the best to anyone heading overseas for the Northern winter, have fun!</span></div>
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Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-60458997095502809512012-09-24T17:08:00.003+10:002012-10-06T22:50:18.344+10:00Thredbo One Hit Wonder 2012<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna sizing up the jump</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>words by Anna Segal</i><br /><br />This is the second year that I’ve participated in the Thredbo One Hit Wonder. The event started off in 2009 to showcase Australian snowsports on an internationals stage. Since then it has grown to attract some of the best free-skiers from around the world including, Jossi Wells, Dane Tudor, Bobby Brown and Gus Kenworthy. <br /><br />The allure of this competition has always been the massive, immaculately built jump which Thredbo’s park crew spends weeks preparing. This year the jump measured 93 ft from the edge of the take-off to the beginning of the landing. This was the minimum distance we had to travel through the air to make it over this monstrosity, safely. <br /><br />Just thinking about the size of the jump made me nervous, so I tried to keep it out of my mind until I could view it in real life. It was planned that the invited athletes would have a week to hit the jump, which would include one day for the “Peoples’ Choice” competition and one day for the AFP Gold ranked big air event. <br /><br />With a jump of this size, the weather needs to be almost perfect. The weather gods weren't exactly co-operative, giving us a number of days of wind and/or rain. On the positive side of things, we had two perfect, blue bird days (better than none), allowing the event organisers to pull off both competitions. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna tweaking her tails over the jump</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The two days we were able to hit the jump were the two best days of my 2012 Southern Winter season! Over such a humungous jump, I really had time to think about my movements in the air. Once I had the speed dialed and was able to expel the fear from my mind, everything slowed down and became clearer.<br /><br />So far, I've been the only girl to take part in the One Hit Wonder Down Under. Next year I'll be working with event organiser, Tim Myers, in an attempt to attract more female skiers to join myself and the boys for this amazing event! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.onehitwonderevent.com/">Vote for Anna here! </a></span></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/49919660" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/49919660">Anna Segal - People's Choice 2012</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/onehitwonderevent">One Hit Wonder Event</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></a></span></span>Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-18877096434604692152012-09-12T17:12:00.001+10:002012-10-06T22:39:48.202+10:00Chicks with Stix Season 2012 Throwdown at Mt Hotham<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: inherit; color: inherit; font-family: inherit;">
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<i style="background-color: inherit;">words by Zoe Jaboor</i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Wow – what an unreal weekend we had at Hotham for the Chicks with Stix Throwdown. The weather gods definitely made us work for it this time with gale forced winds, road closures, and trees falling down all over the place. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">At last, after meetings with the very friendly crew at Hotham events and the amazingly talented park crew, we got an awesome course set up just next to the Swindlers park. Our course ran down a small gully and had lots of little natural and man-made features scattered throughout. We had a flat box, a small wedge over a tree, a hitching post with quarter pipe, a berm with a flat bar, a hip jump and a single barrel down bar.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Shinae McGowan rocking out through the park in pink!</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">We had 24 competitors registered for the Throwdown, girls with all kinds of different levels of experience. For most competitors this event marked their first ever competition. L</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">uckily, we had loads of seasoned coaches on hand to dish out advice and guide the chicks through the course. They included:</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Hannah Studd</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> (Chief of course) worked with Koppa from the Hotham Park Crew to put up a progressive and fun course that girls could get creative, and learn on.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Ali Deane</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> and <b>Erin Height</b> singing out across Hotham as the announcers for the day. I think we can all agree that they girls were absolute naturals. They kept the event alive and energetic even through the wind, snow and fog.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Merrin Jokic</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> (Head Judge) organized Mimi, Lucy and myself in scoring the girls runs through two qualifying runs and one finals run.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Anita Jaboor</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> (Chief of results) worked with Amy and Scotti from Hotham Events to compile the scores to get the final result .</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wennie Tan showing us her rail skills</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: inherit;">One of the highlights of the day, aside from watching the chicks throw down, was the presentations at Swindlers. </span><span style="background-color: inherit;">We had some amazing prizes to give away to our new CwS champions. Armada have come to the Chicks with Stix party for the last two years and their amazing support shows their strong commitment to women’s freestyle and freeride skiing. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Junior Women's Podium</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: inherit;">All girls on the podium for the Open Ski category took home a pair of Armada skis! Our winner, Dani was luckily enough to get to choose her dream skis.She went with the TSTw – EXCELLENT CHOICE!. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Open Women's Snowboard Podium</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: inherit;">Other prizes included a Roxy Magne-Traction snowboard, with Roxy bindings, Dragon sunnies and goggles, Shafted ski poles, Dalbello jackets, and heaps and heaps of Roxy and Dragon beanies, tees, hoods, scarfs, buffs, and stickers. To cap off the presentations Merrin got each and every girl that was in Swindlers off their chairs, and up and dancing for a “shuffle off”.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: inherit;">I always get such a buzz from holding Chicks with Stix events. There is so much positive energy between participants, coaches and volunteers. It’s a real team effort to get these events off the ground.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">CWS has an amazing group of coaches!</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">I would like to say a big thank you to Mt Hotham for having us come and visit twice throughout the 2012 season. Claire from Marketing, Koppa from the Park Crew and Scotti in Events were all so patient and supportive of our program which has lead to its success.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Thanks so much for everybody who was involved in this years event. I look forward to seeing you all again in 2013 for another awesome season of Chicks with Stix.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i>Check out the awesome edit of the event from Mt Hotham!</i></b></span><br />
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Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-13894791019820946552012-09-10T07:57:00.001+10:002012-10-06T21:37:41.028+10:00Lauren Staveley: My Concussion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span class="s1">words by Lauren Staveley</span></div>
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All I can remember from the 10th of August is driving up to Snow Park in the morning. The next thing I woke up in the hospital throwing up strapped to a back board in a neck brace.</div>
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<span class="s1">What actually happened after I drove up the mountain that day is...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I was having a great day on the jumps at Snow Park. I had landed some switch back 5's, a trick I have been working on for ages. My coach said it was my best day of snowboarding all season- until I went too big on one of the jumps. I landed on my heel side edge fell onto my back and then hit my head.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I was never knocked out but I did suffer from retrograde and anterograde amnesia. After falling I kept on asking, "Did I land it?", "Did I grab?" for about 20 minutes over and over. I was taken to the medical centre at Snow Park on a back board and in a neck brace. Because I was obviously shaken up and not making much sense the ski patrol decided to air lift me to Dundedin hospital where I had a CT scan on my back and head. The scans only showed concussion there was no bleeding or breaks in my skull... I was moved from the emergency room at about 8.30pm into the neurological ward where I spent the next two days. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">I was pretty confused about how severe my injury was and what had happened since I had a 12 hour memory blank. The doctors at Dunedin told me I would be ok but it would be a fair while until I could return to snowboarding. I spent the next two days in the hospital doing absolutely nothing. I couldn't stimulate my brain very much so the most exciting part of my day was doing memory tests with the occupational therapist. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">I was released on the 13th and stayed in our apartment in Cardona until the 17th when we flew back home to Melbourne. It was probably the most boring week of my life. When we got back to Melbourne I was still getting headaches and couldn't look at bright lights or be around noise without feeling horrible. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Once we were back in Melbourne I visited Doctor Makdissi at Olympic Park Sports Medical Centre. He is a sports physician who specializes in head trauma. He cleared up a lot of my confusion about the injury. He told me concussion is a very individual injury, and it is hard to predict exactly how long it will take for me to get better. So for now I just have to slowly ease back into life and not aggravate my symptoms too much. I have been cleared to snowboard but not to do anything where I am likely to hit my head again (jumps or rails). </span></div>
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<span class="s1">It's now the 3rd of September and I am still suffering from minor headaches, I am sensitive to noise and find it hard to concentrate for more than a few hours. Concussion is a very frustrating injury to have, physically nothing appears to be wrong with you. It's not like a broken leg, you can't just put your brain in a cast and say it will be better in 6 weeks. You just have to rest and take everything really slow. Which is frustrating for someone who snowboards as a career, it's been a big change! </span></div>
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<span class="s1">I have an MRI on the 5th of September and then visit Dr Makdissi again on the 7th. We are hoping he will give me the all clear so I can start training again. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Its been a long ordeal and it's not over yet. With cases like Torah, Kevin, and Sarah it has really made me think how lucky I was. But the one thing I can take away from this is to always wear a helmet, because my helmet saved my life that day. </span></div>
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<br />Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-3498704637354773722012-09-06T10:39:00.000+10:002012-10-06T21:40:28.930+10:00The Chill Series<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7xQchQMkWQzZbLSGrpta5FuI5dk_rlczq5FGcvGzEiylw5mHtD7be-gmMWqSQPhRM-wfCRru0egoYnwaCKJE3z_mnLyDZyo6k99CUGSH2EeL7gk6v13-h2Cr347MAFGyxoKVaPjPhbc/s1600/K2+-+Event.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7xQchQMkWQzZbLSGrpta5FuI5dk_rlczq5FGcvGzEiylw5mHtD7be-gmMWqSQPhRM-wfCRru0egoYnwaCKJE3z_mnLyDZyo6k99CUGSH2EeL7gk6v13-h2Cr347MAFGyxoKVaPjPhbc/s640/K2+-+Event.jpg" width="640" /></span></a><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>words by Hanna Fisher</i></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t be fooled by the name, the Chill Series may be one of the most laid-back Big Mountain competitions out there- but it is anything but chill. Set in the rugged club fields of the Southern Alps of New Zealand, the competition is home to some of the craziest terrain around - steep mountains, big cliffs, and chutes, such as “Plake’s Mistake,” named after the legend Glen Plake. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hiking the Cragieburn ridge to the start</span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add to that not only some of the best Kiwi skiers and boarders, but also international talent from the far reaches of the globe - France, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, USA, England, Russia, and of course, two sweet ladies from good ol’ Australia, and you’ve got yourself some wild skiing. The competition is run over four days and two different resorts- Mt Olympus and Cragieburn. Competitors ride one run a day- their best 3 counting to the overall score.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a rather tumultuous drive up (I’m talking one lane unsealed dirt roads, no guard rail, and a steep drop off just inches from the wheels), we made it up to Mt Olympus for Day One. The club fields bring skiing back to its’ roots - no chairlifts or even T-bars here - just a rope tow, and an intimidating metal device called a nutcracker. The locals tell stories of pro riders that come to film at their ski field, high, mighty and decked out in the latest gear, only to end up storming off in a huff because they can’t get the hang of the nutcracker! But that did not deter Nat and I, and after a couple of rather unsuccessful attempts on my part, we soon mastered it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having only spent two days skiing at the Thredbo Chicks with Stix session this season, I was a bit nervous, and my legs felt more like jelly than the pistons of steel that they should have been (this is probably also due to a distinct lack of pre-season training...next year, I promise I’ll do more...). Luckily, the run was the mellowest of the four days, not super steep or crazy, so I took an easyish line, with two rock jumps of a couple of metres each. I had a little side tap on my behind half-way down (think I just got a bit lazy and distracted) but after finishing I felt the surge of adrenalin and a yearning to go bigger and harder the next day. Nat, being the pillar of strength that she is, conquered first day nerves, and rode a solid line, stomping all her drops.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day Two, and things stepped up a notch. We had about a 45 minute hike up to get to the start, a huge face full of steep chutes and big cliffs. Oh yeah! I’d been checking out one cliff since the day before, and was pretty keen to hit it. Sometimes things like that just jump out at you, and you can’t get them out of your mind. But it’s often hard to know whether to follow your heart (jump off the big cliff) or your brain (it’s pretty big, quite a flat and hard landing, and a big hole to clear at the base). It can be a fine line between pushing yourself, knowing what is possible, and what you are personally capable of. Getting it wrong can result in serious injury. I know that all sounds a bit serious, but it’s happened before, and so is constantly at the forefront of my mind. We’re not allowed to actually go up and ski the face beforehand, so you just have to look through binoculars, and sometimes, such as at this venue, you get a side view from the hike up (but often you can’t). So it’s a matter of trying to figure out exactly where to take off, where you should land and how much speed you need to clear it. In this case, it was all quite clear cut, no rocks in the in-run or landing, so all that was required on my behalf, was commitment. And commit I did. I skied the top part cleanly, jumping off a nice smaller rock, then fighting that urge to slow down too much before the drop, I stomped it. And that is why I love Big Mountain competitions! The challenge of doing something that scares you, pulling it off, skiing out, and just thinking, man, I love skiing. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hanna sending it- courtesy of Chill Series</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That night, we drove a small convoy over the pass and in to the Craigieburn valley. Day Three, and another beautiful sunny day. The face was a new one for the competition, with plenty of cliffs, and some steep, steep faces and chutes. Very nice indeed. Unlike at Olympus, nothing really jumped out at me, and I was having trouble picking a line. So I just decided to go for a fairly cruisy run, with a couple of small rock jumps. Turns out most of the girls had the same idea, and we nearly all skied the same thing! When watching the guys later, Nat and I kept thinking, man, we should have gone there, ooh, that looks like fun, and so on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily, we had a fourth day of competition, and got to do just that - with all the girls picking the steepest part of the venue. The wind was howling as we trudged along the ridge to get to our lines, almost losing my balance a few times. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait long at the top. I had a nice run, jumping off one super fun cliff at the bottom, and finishing off with a few long hard-packed pow turns. It’s always a bit of a relief to end a competition, so we were all on a high at the bottom. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Nat scoping her line</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things that always stands out to me at these competition is the camaraderie between the girls. There’s usually not as many of us as there are guys, and so we always wait for each other at the bottom of the run, and I always come out of it having made some new friends. It’s sometimes almost a pity that we get scored and that someone has to win, and someone has to lose.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">choosing lines at Cragieburn</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDh9-S-1qMFRh6NdnybcHn_vf97xxk4Q8FifKAijCbwwvZumNFsf54hdqKjxs9LyhWVMeE_zmcZ_VmnLNiTV4FhIUjQlsUU-gurVI9ZK7p5bKNdcgGb1tD7PWh0H5t6kjeVoLOEJvcHmA/s1600/IMG_8322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></a></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end, Nat and I were tied by our best three rankings for first place (we completely dominated the competition!). To settle the tie they then added up the actual scores from the days, so placed Nat 1</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>st</sup></span><span class="s1" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and I took out second 2</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>nd</sup></span><span class="s1" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Altogether a successful and fun competition!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">driving down to Wanaka via the West Coast</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span class="s1"></span>Check out some of the action from Mt Olympus:</i></span><br />
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Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-72845286583092338372012-08-29T06:05:00.003+10:002012-10-06T21:49:16.489+10:00Perisher Freeride Session<div>
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<span class="s1"><b><i>words by Ali Deane</i></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Another NSW Chicks weekend, and another epic weekend of snow. Chains were required on the way up on Friday night, but it was truly a winter wonderland.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">On Sunday Perisher didn’t know what hit it, as over 60 chicks took over on one of the season’s best days – bluebird and beautifully groomed packed fresh stuff. The event saw a big contingent of boarders, in the program’s only second year of encompassing both disciplines.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Headed up by three coaches Olivia Coates, Laura Williams and Ali Deane, some of the boarders branched off for some freeriding out at Mount P with Liv, and Laura and Ali headed straight for the park with a keen group of girls from all over, Wollongong, Canberra, Cooma, Beechworth, and Queensland.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">With the sun shining down, and some perfect park jumps to hit, the girls got straight in, some trying table-top jumps for the first time, and others spinning their first 180, and even stepping up to some cab 180’s and backside too.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">On the way back for lunch we couldn’t help but check out the half pipe, Australia’s best, and it was looking good. The pipe walls may have been daunting for some, but everyone gave it a go, starting low, keeping it cruisey, and while most of us took a break for lunch, some of the Chicks couldn’t help but keep taking laps.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I was truly stoked when I heard that it was the best day riding for some of the girls, and was happy to play a part in their progression. Sunshine all day, and smiles on dials, what a day!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The lucky winner of a Roxy board!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Zoe talking to CWS</span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Morning Session</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Torie Hamilton-Wilson</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">After an epic week of snow fall the Chicks with Stix crew were pretty excited to be shredding in 60cm of fresh pow! Not only was there fresh snow, it was also bluebird and with the session filling up weeks in advanced there were plenty of chicks to make the most of it!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">In the morning I had a large group of girls focusing on park progression. We took a few laps there, setting goals along the way and watching everyone progress exceptionally quickly. The jumps were the perfect size for 360s- one of the girls Emma was up to perfecting her style only a week after her first try! We continued shredding through the park after lunch, heading to the front valley to see what we could conquer in the big park. I was stoked to watch 10 year old Abi kill it on the rails and super excited to watch her progression in the future to come.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This was the final session of CwS for 2012 until the throw down at Hotham. Every weekend has bought me so much enjoyment skiing with all the girls. It's so cool watching you all attempt new tricks and progressing so quickly. Working with all the girls who have come to the sessions has been amazing, at the end of every session I can see that you have taken away a new skill to work on. Keep being confident and showing those boys down in the park! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kate Blamey and the chicks!</span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><b><i>Afternoon Session</i></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><i>Kate Blamey</i></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">In the afternoon some of the skiers and I headed over to Blue Cow to ski some real bumps on the Brumby mogul course. On top of blasting through the bumps, my group of 8 also managed to learn and stomp 180s which was a great achievement- especially since no one seemed to keen on the idea when I mentioned 180s in the morning. They all gave it a go and their hard work definitely paid off! </span></div>
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The afternoon mogul session wouldn't have been complete without fitting in some synchro skiing. While our formation was to pretty at the start it was a challenge to keep everyone turning rhythmically. By the end of the day everyone felt a little more comfortable in the bumps and on steeper terrain- a great success for Team Bumps.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks everyone for such a great day! If you haven't seen it already check out the Perisher Report with CWS!</span></i></b></span></div>
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Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-2173020924624793682012-08-26T20:43:00.002+10:002012-10-06T21:53:29.342+10:00Blue Skies, Pow and SkierX<i style="background-color: inherent; color: #inherent;"><span style="font-size: inherent;">Words by Katya Crema</span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsRRQZJKerjnBjjGwhzJxUggvZ_1kf6VV2AQRMSEbqw233i9Cqxne0jaFsmBOwzEkRiUM_yVxLmwQUlBIyxuhVNhtqYlngEYQMtQ6F0VGRi3qpjxCuwOKSGlHjk7eVBp2pzFmM9CggaQ/s1600/Hotham+race+6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: inherent;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsRRQZJKerjnBjjGwhzJxUggvZ_1kf6VV2AQRMSEbqw233i9Cqxne0jaFsmBOwzEkRiUM_yVxLmwQUlBIyxuhVNhtqYlngEYQMtQ6F0VGRi3qpjxCuwOKSGlHjk7eVBp2pzFmM9CggaQ/s640/Hotham+race+6.jpeg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: inherent;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />What a few weeks it has been! After an awesome Chicks with Stix weekend in Thredbo, I was pretty excited to show the girls what I do in the ski cross National Championships races at Hotham. This weekend, I've really had the best of both worlds.... 65cm of fresh light powder on Friday and Saturday, then blue skis, firm snow and a great day of ski cross racing on Sunday. I honestly couldn't ask for anything more from a weekend of skiing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: inherent;">Saturday's race was pushed back to Sunday due to excessive snow (damn... another day of powder skiing!) On Saturday night, the clouds finally cleared and the stars came out, freezing the snow for a great race. Considering the difficult conditions, Hotham managed to build a fast and fun ski cross course overnight. The aim was to hold both races on the Sunday, however we only managed to get one complete race off, and another qualification run (counting for race number two.)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4geJbl893XZ7S1ax8Q-6rOSoc-e3NoIlRAxcmZkav8Ww728fjOr-za3luxKNt_NaUAF1UOb_-Rkzvh6KjYVYW-RtLtMDUPubrDtZljzGY_8CVXgilhk7AjlwC2GXryFsXUvRKx0YbA0g/s1600/Hotham+race+5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4geJbl893XZ7S1ax8Q-6rOSoc-e3NoIlRAxcmZkav8Ww728fjOr-za3luxKNt_NaUAF1UOb_-Rkzvh6KjYVYW-RtLtMDUPubrDtZljzGY_8CVXgilhk7AjlwC2GXryFsXUvRKx0YbA0g/s640/Hotham+race+5.jpeg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: inherent;">Being the first ski cross race of the season, I was quite nervous to see where I was sitting against the competition (my teammates on the National Team). Back came the good nerves and race butterflies, and I switched my competitive edge back on. I won both qualification runs by over a second, so I was extremely happy with the result. In finals I couldn't quite grab the lead out of the start gate, and finished in second place behind Jenny Owens.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1st Place, Run 2, Australian Skiercross Championships</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:inherent;">So all in all, I finished the National Championships with a 1st and a 2nd place. Not a bad start to the World Cup racing season to come! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: inherent;">Mum and I enjoying the sun at Hotham</span></td></tr>
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Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-57023435594009670652012-08-17T10:26:00.000+10:002012-10-06T22:06:40.476+10:00CWS Freeride Session Thredbo<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeq7fMuu7GrYWsH0nqFYirO6sJJnWI55pPgEAtXgqEFqhgjxqP6SBhOUzQKomrVcllaSG-yc8tpbAieGG2lC1VEpI3ZlzsZR0kEFSPEIMi20crZtKcI_6hXwYH26E1rmJYVy-PcM28Y0o/s1600/thredbo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeq7fMuu7GrYWsH0nqFYirO6sJJnWI55pPgEAtXgqEFqhgjxqP6SBhOUzQKomrVcllaSG-yc8tpbAieGG2lC1VEpI3ZlzsZR0kEFSPEIMi20crZtKcI_6hXwYH26E1rmJYVy-PcM28Y0o/s640/thredbo.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Looking over Thredbo Resort</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: inherent;">What
a weekend!! Whilst a long drive from Melbourne I always love returning
to my favourite resort Thredbo, and this visit did not
disappoint! As Tori and I corned around the corner from Dead Horse Gap
on the road from Victoria the warm glow of the village appeared and with
some speckles of snow still suspended from a recently flurry. Now we
all know Thredbo has more to offer than just
excellent skiing so we quickly popped into a local restaurant to say hi
to some of the Thredbo regulars and the rest of the Chicks with Stix
crew who had come together to catch up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: inherent;">Chicks
with Stix had the opportunity to connect with local skiers on both
Saturday and Sunday in Thredbo and we had a range of coaches
and ambassadors there to share their hard earned knowledge and
experience.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: inherent;">Zoe introduces everyone to the program</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: inherent;">Local
snowboarders were able to connect with Ali, Olivia, and guest Roxy
rider Biba Turnbull who was fresh off a second place in the Billabong Bro Down in NZ. Jess Rich, Olivia Coates and Ali Deane took the boarders up for a few leg-warmers, then on to the Merritts park to work on 50-50’s, boardslides, straight airs and 180’s. The snow was perfect – and all the new recruits had a blast picking up a few pointers in technique, park safety and taking the next step.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: inherent;">Ali, Olivia, Biba and Leonie loving the sunshine on the way up for anotherone oo Merritts</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: inherent;">Leonie our wakeboarder pops some sweet air</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: inherent;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Seeing the girls make small adjustments to their techniques, commit to riding </span><span class="Apple-style-span">switch, try things for the first time in the park, and conquer goals was really cool, </span><span class="Apple-style-span">and by the smiles and giggles all day, it was pretty clear they were truly stoked.</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" font-family:="font-family:" font-size:inherent="font-size:inherent" inherent="inherent"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVHDW_3mkVSaM5S80yAbeN6OxAZybPCMT-bYWgcoE3dmRxu1JhQx1eG5ySRhCV2sm7TMsVIT55ZAgnKvYLGdgr_OJXHZQAlqMcG39bpT0ViLIFllj0kWtDzYBCsjWhyphenhyphenPH1mk1bPyyHKE/s640/SAM_0782.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" font-family:="font-family:" font-size:inherent="font-size:inherent" inherent="inherent">Olivia goes over some tips in the park</span></span></td></tr>
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the skiers with local Thredbo ambassador Anna Segal also spending time
with the skiers as well as CwS ambassador Jenny Owens.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span font-family:="font-family:" font-size:inherent="font-size:inherent" inherent="inherent">The conditions were brilliant and we saw a mixed group of seasonal staff, locals and those even from other mountains meet at Friday Flat with one having driven up from Sydney for the day!! There were a couple of familiar faces from last year which was fantastic to see and the progression they had made was incredible! With such a strong line up of CwS coaches and ambassadors both skiers and snowboarders had a variety of skills to develop and experience to learn from. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" font-family:="font-family:" font-size:inherent="font-size:inherent" inherent="inherent">Stunning day at Thredbo</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" font-family:="font-family:" font-size:inherent="font-size:inherent" inherent="inherent">Olympians Jenny and Katya shared some skier cross tips
through their group on the Saturday and similarly the current Slopestyle
World Champion Anna Segal with those keen to learn
new tricks in the park on Sunday. Big mountain skiers Tori and Hanna
showed the group how to tear up the Bluff which had a range of natural
features and some of the steeper pitch on the mountain. KT mixed it up
with a session on how to conquer the moguls
below the Basin T-bar which were soft and a great place to progress
technique.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span font-family:="font-family:" font-size:inherent="font-size:inherent" inherent="inherent">Sunday
morning saw Zoe and Ali squeeze in interviews for Rush TV and on the
mountain they managed to capture some footage of the different
groups including some of the girls skiing down huge moguls on the face
of the bluff. This footage will be available on ABC.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" font-family:="font-family:" font-size:inherent="font-size:inherent" inherent="inherent">Zoe getting down with Rush TV</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: inherent;">To
cap off an awesome weekend we presented many of the girls with prizes
generously provided from our sponsors including Armada skis,
Dragon goggles, Shafted ski poles and Roxy which all the girls were
super stoked to receive such great incentives. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: inherent;">Prize giving!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: inherent;">The Chicks weekend at Thredbo could have been any better! We can’t wait for next time, and hope you guys remember the awesome feeling of progression. Keep ripping, and see you guys back on the hill soon, wherever that may be!</span></span></div>
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Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-6676293908021977972012-08-08T19:35:00.001+10:002012-08-08T19:37:16.967+10:00Nat Segal: Oh hello my dear friend SNOW<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Reporting live from Wanaka, we have snow. It may have only snowed 10cms last night but it was the first time I saw snow in the Treble Cone resort parking lot, so I was ecstatic!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I've been in NZ for just over a week, I landed on Saturday 28th in Christchurch and made my way down to Wanaka for the start of the 2012 World Heli Challenge. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The WHC runs over 2 weeks, we fly 2 compete altogether, one day of freestyle and one of big mountain. It's an amazing event to be a part of. When we are not competing, there are heaps of things going on in and around Wanaka. Today the team headed out to the West Coast for a day of surfing- I was planning on going but after checking the pow alert at 6am I got my ski gear ready and headed up to Treble Cone with Janina Kuzma and Lyndon Sheehan.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zlx-PHo4zHvc2aqMyAXI-f56xeeGlBmrA0C5u9e73QnSPpA07grscj7zDMfOnQ32fBgPjG0ijQGhZEBVxP72OPQb3bduQGRqX4iypUBE3MoeMPPFygU3B0zFuHbq85YrtJ6NDSXG968/s1600/IMG_0200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zlx-PHo4zHvc2aqMyAXI-f56xeeGlBmrA0C5u9e73QnSPpA07grscj7zDMfOnQ32fBgPjG0ijQGhZEBVxP72OPQb3bduQGRqX4iypUBE3MoeMPPFygU3B0zFuHbq85YrtJ6NDSXG968/s640/IMG_0200.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Janina and Lyndon</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Storm riding is a funny thing- you want to be the first people out there getting first tracks but usually you can't see much. I guess it's the nature of the beast and why bluebird pow days are so treasured!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Nevertheless we found some great turns! NZ in general has been a little dry since I've been here, a warm event melted a lot of the early base and the hills are only now recovering. In saying that, the terrain here is next to none, tussocks, steeps and incredible views so I can deal with a week or two of snow drought.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tUEdGTHK0VFiJ6Kde-1MW3yfapt41M7Nur10OxR3zkZBJHOo0qu-IOO2BdqV28egpeagWvrRBYfk0N4lGEJGvOz001ys65w5QxTCo_Ooq1BkR8Vlqxd7SSG0eEAH068ODeO9euR0WiQ/s1600/IMG_0201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tUEdGTHK0VFiJ6Kde-1MW3yfapt41M7Nur10OxR3zkZBJHOo0qu-IOO2BdqV28egpeagWvrRBYfk0N4lGEJGvOz001ys65w5QxTCo_Ooq1BkR8Vlqxd7SSG0eEAH068ODeO9euR0WiQ/s640/IMG_0201.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Powder 8s- you can see them if you look closely!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa7qf9FKX_rCso2AGmF7-k3gNOgsOU1NBKYQ6-C_HBb7CS2-yywUAJwT14-XRM0W4sfSAjjzGp7rWouExBN20ZgtLr9U29LSwuMHJclkHmLqj3VR6RSOQ0FuNlp0EIhdoW9aab922qhI/s1600/IMG_0202.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa7qf9FKX_rCso2AGmF7-k3gNOgsOU1NBKYQ6-C_HBb7CS2-yywUAJwT14-XRM0W4sfSAjjzGp7rWouExBN20ZgtLr9U29LSwuMHJclkHmLqj3VR6RSOQ0FuNlp0EIhdoW9aab922qhI/s640/IMG_0202.JPG" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Snow Happy!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We skied all morning in the clouds, I was on standby to compete, so I didn't want to tire my legs out! After a beautiful long run down one of the ridges we were talking about heading home when we spotted a little friend and a very good omen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">As I was turning around to ski off, Janina spotted this
little beauty. He or she was hanging out amongst the tussock. These
mammals are an introduced species and over the years they have been hunted down as pests or for sport. Those that live in the surrounding mountains are quite rare- it was a special find. I think there is nothing more beautiful than seeing an animal in the wild, especially a mountain goat.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8U95Q0xdoqIlpkY-PIBtK0132YLxBA5IAnWgGVh9YnkeZgjV-lSEnwbpGBLV2cB8IIUw1yY9IxTROCJWB44eiIIQHuzK2Pcd0w15ccI95dp0nPMegsCWYwk5kvRw0lGiyeR6LqHF3so/s1600/IMG_0215.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8U95Q0xdoqIlpkY-PIBtK0132YLxBA5IAnWgGVh9YnkeZgjV-lSEnwbpGBLV2cB8IIUw1yY9IxTROCJWB44eiIIQHuzK2Pcd0w15ccI95dp0nPMegsCWYwk5kvRw0lGiyeR6LqHF3so/s640/IMG_0215.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> A rare spotting- Chamois or Kiwi Chamy</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">With an even bigger smile on my face than before, we headed down the
mountain to home for an afternoon of stretching and hot tubs! The World
Heli Challenge Freestyle day kicks off tomorrow at 7am- that means
helicopters and powder snow. It's gonna be good!! Keep your eyes open on
facebook for all the updates!</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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</div>Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-23413672616706987682012-07-31T19:27:00.005+10:002012-08-14T22:49:02.102+10:00Lauren Stavely: NZ update<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2Oxz7qyocvXoXNaKvx7SS3gc0FJ34lrT1Bwc4GQdei11q0SPvst8n7o1NffzQHyFgSRLci_tHnULvesG60Jlk8nPUD2qUQND_G-kqRHLGDERxNAZpIt5Hc3Rc8NEkbKrW70cBLJiUUc/s1600/486433_4117768113263_315822281_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2Oxz7qyocvXoXNaKvx7SS3gc0FJ34lrT1Bwc4GQdei11q0SPvst8n7o1NffzQHyFgSRLci_tHnULvesG60Jlk8nPUD2qUQND_G-kqRHLGDERxNAZpIt5Hc3Rc8NEkbKrW70cBLJiUUc/s640/486433_4117768113263_315822281_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Cadrona Resort, Southern Lakes</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been busy so far this season. I started off spending 3
weeks at Mt Buller which was a lot of fun, they had a sweet rail park
set up so I spent a lot of time there.<a href="http://www.mtbuller.com.au/Listings/Winter/Mountain/Buller-Faces#"> I am also the newest Mt Buller ambassador</a> so I got to do a lot with the media up there. Over the three
weeks I ended up working with Sunrise, Southern Cross 10, 96.9 Star FM and ABC3 which was awesome and heaps of fun! So be sure to look out for
all of those. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXHUJiX7aCMy07Lc6YAmDBJ816ja_-eKDQ6XEfdRUocmj093oLqS_GjW7cXepRf1UiTiKytF_v0HUVpGjrOdz_Ic3CjWB2yOzGVr9R4wKRFpHQtf3En1nU5eD0cISQKbP77pZmnbSRaM/s1600/394606_4101343702663_1220183011_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXHUJiX7aCMy07Lc6YAmDBJ816ja_-eKDQ6XEfdRUocmj093oLqS_GjW7cXepRf1UiTiKytF_v0HUVpGjrOdz_Ic3CjWB2yOzGVr9R4wKRFpHQtf3En1nU5eD0cISQKbP77pZmnbSRaM/s640/394606_4101343702663_1220183011_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Landing in Queenstown</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been in NZ for the past two weeks having an
awesome time. We have been riding Snow Park mostly. They have their big
jump line up and a bunch of sick rails. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9SXpJC9SIpoT3gbp1_XldG3mrjBHPPQlJEj8fSrGK14-sLY3g_P2ZQUPSp4yqvtu9qoZrGaQE_qrOt37db-ulGqcmrnSt999SwuxdahOiKPoJSSMqFRfYw5GKIf-M0i1IDyoryii4wI/s1600/529051_423812120994809_1069805199_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9SXpJC9SIpoT3gbp1_XldG3mrjBHPPQlJEj8fSrGK14-sLY3g_P2ZQUPSp4yqvtu9qoZrGaQE_qrOt37db-ulGqcmrnSt999SwuxdahOiKPoJSSMqFRfYw5GKIf-M0i1IDyoryii4wI/s640/529051_423812120994809_1069805199_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Rails at Cadrona</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am
set to compete in the Billabong Brodown on Friday so hopefully this
storm we are having clears up so we can get some speed for the jumps
(although I'm not complaining about the Pow)!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPvKS7RtKRr9vYcR29gFjYt0xtWX_ZES3SGJESbiyTWHc5pMpJJrwixzwO6uyO3fiQgyzifbTAesEQEITyKPgBvv7XEZyUV2pQePTJTl2dT9R1_5GYMF9rLc_ft8IauLVbyYkVoZJuF8/s1600/165835_4130865280684_1817890738_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPvKS7RtKRr9vYcR29gFjYt0xtWX_ZES3SGJESbiyTWHc5pMpJJrwixzwO6uyO3fiQgyzifbTAesEQEITyKPgBvv7XEZyUV2pQePTJTl2dT9R1_5GYMF9rLc_ft8IauLVbyYkVoZJuF8/s400/165835_4130865280684_1817890738_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Handplanting it up.</span></td></tr>
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I'm here in NZ for another 3 weeks and then I am
heading back to Aus for mule high and style wars both of which I am
really excited about! I'll be sure to keep you updated but keep checking my website for what I'm up to!! </span>Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096926645197420211.post-63346115572961698882012-07-26T23:56:00.003+10:002012-07-26T23:56:53.421+10:00Kate Blamey: Update from NSW<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHu0dfkYs6ch-9JatWfAH-xB3HEXE4Bn4-E1mC7c_6rWq_ZtFQL93nbZXPqVcTG2VrcW9uhWzOrlTvsEKRrC2Dd0qSzJs1Lnt4MI-3HpGZWdiZwpMz9vXTkScXZ011z7j7vgMpG9Ig44/s1600/IMG_3124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHu0dfkYs6ch-9JatWfAH-xB3HEXE4Bn4-E1mC7c_6rWq_ZtFQL93nbZXPqVcTG2VrcW9uhWzOrlTvsEKRrC2Dd0qSzJs1Lnt4MI-3HpGZWdiZwpMz9vXTkScXZ011z7j7vgMpG9Ig44/s640/IMG_3124.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freshies anyone?</td></tr>
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It has been an amazing start to the season in New South Wales with the resorts receiving a lot of snow in late June. There has also been vast amount of cold nights which has allowed for a large amount of snow making. As of Monday all lifts are now running at both Perisher and Thredbo, which means there a large variety of runs to shred. We are also expecting another little top up of 20cm later in the week, so lets keep our fingers crossed. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Some of many snowguns working hard!</span></td></tr>
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The last three weeks have been crazy up here with a ton of different freestyle events taking place in both Thredbo and Perisher. During the school holidays two Interschool mogul events took place with over 200 mogul skiers competing at each event. The stand out was a girl in division 4 (Grade 5 and 6) who completed a 360 as her jump, this is awesome as it is so great to see a young girl attempting such a hard trick. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thredbo Interschool Mogul Course</span></td></tr>
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Last Saturday night was the first of Perisher’s Night Slpoestyle Series for the season. A handful of girls were competing against each other for the amazing prizes and cash giveaways. The girls were out there giving it a go, some competing rails for the first time, hitting the jumps and performing crazy 360’s or just a simple grab. Every girl who competed was seen walking away with a prize, some of which included a pair of K2 skis, ski gear and/or cash. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One of the many bluebird days at Perisher</span></td></tr>
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The next event of the series is on August 18th, it would be great to see more girls out there giving it a go. So why not come, learn and practice your rails and tricks at our Thredbo session on the 11th and 12th of August and enter the next competition for a bit fun and an awesome experience.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GuBAyuoaDBx5jLSvmIcxAWc0RNErgn8xfKIn9AA7FQSy6LJ4W5qBubFgkWb2yVKJ2-sCtHFwq7AfXLV1EHdGvuNy7596p2-jNV-FaQY3Y1O09xp4Jlq1TJatDAp63kmihwgKvYcOkdI/s1600/IMG_3134.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GuBAyuoaDBx5jLSvmIcxAWc0RNErgn8xfKIn9AA7FQSy6LJ4W5qBubFgkWb2yVKJ2-sCtHFwq7AfXLV1EHdGvuNy7596p2-jNV-FaQY3Y1O09xp4Jlq1TJatDAp63kmihwgKvYcOkdI/s640/IMG_3134.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Birdie taking in the view at Blue Cow</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>Nat Segalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09438182852052752246noreply@blogger.com0