Ambassador Program

This winter we are stoked to introduce our Ambassador's program which aligns CWS with some of Australia’s amazing female winter athletes.

Australia has a wide range of females who are currently competing on the snowy world stage and are already inspiring other women through their achievements and dedicated work ethic.

The Chicks with Stix ambassadors will be representing the program in Australia and internationally as well as contributing some great updates to the blog. You may be lucky enough to catch them at the some of the Freeride sessions this year - prepare to be inspired!

This year we have 6 ambassadors involved in the program including:

Snowboard

Lauren Staveley- Snowboard Slopetsyle

Steph Prem- BorderX

Hannah Trigger- Snowboard Halfpipe

Ski

Jenny Owens- Ski X

Britt Cox- Moguls

Lydia Lassila- Aerials

  

Keep an eye for the profiles coming up on the blog as well as their performances during the winter!

Coach Profile: Anna Segal

Spanner getting cosy with her koala and her X Games Bronze (2012)

Hi, I'm Anna, some call me Spanna, whichever you are most comfortable with! I grew up skiing in Mt. Buller. I raced as a kid, then switched to skiing moguls when I was 15. I started competing at international mogul events when I was 16 and had an amazing time traveling and training with the Australian development team.

After a few years of this, I decided to give free-skiing a try. Free-skiing to me is one of the most fulfilling aspects of my life. You are constantly challenging yourself and achieving things you never thought possible. There is never a dull day as there is always something new to learn. You can be creative, active and inspired all while hanging out with your friends! 
 

Free-skiing has taken me to all corners of the globe where I have met amazing people from different walks of life. Not to mention the opportunity to ski some epic terrain. 

Anna at the Suzuki Nine Queens 2011

Currently I am in training in conjunction with OWI to qualify for the Sochi 2014 Olympics for the first ever Olympic Ski Slopestyle event.

Competing at WSI 2012

Carly Söderström: CWS Graphic designer

 

If you haven't already seen them, here is a quick peek at out new posters and postcards, all thanks to out extraordinarily creative and persistent graphic designer Carly Söderström. Carly has been working with Chicks with Stix for the last 3 years, she is responsible for all our beautiful logos, posters and postcards. 

Here is a quick profile on our magnificent designer:

Carlz J Soda

Carly getting some rainbow shredtime in

Hey, I'm Carlz the designer behind CWS. I've been designing for 8 years and love sinking my teeth into awesome projects like CWS. In the past few years, I've done up the two logos, and the season's posters and art. I grew up in the snow, I was lucky enough to live in Japan. But these days Hotham is my resort of choice. I don't ski nearly as much as I wish I could but I'll be up for a few CWS Session this year so I'm stoked.

Website - www.carlzjsoda.com

Here is some more of Carly's designs: 

 

Coach Profile: Hannah Studd

Hannah about to get some pow pow

Home resort: Hotham
Riding since: let’s say 10 years
Favourite memory in the snow: oohh dropping into HV first after being skidoo-d to the top after a 40cm dump was quite memorable! And riding big bear with phoeebs.. FUN IN THE SUN!
Best achievement in the snow: Winning Hotham freestyle series back to back and Undefeated C grade doubles darts champions. Thanks to my darts partner Sharon Peel.
Favourite resort: Mt Hotham always, and a soft spot for big bear.

Hi I’m Hannah and I’m a snowboarder from Mt Hotham and pumped to be a part of Chicks with Stix  snowboarding! I have spent the last 6 winters at Mt Hotham working with the girls freestyle program and the Mt Hotham park team. At night I work at Mt Hotham’s hot spot, the General with the best crew in the world!

Floating through snow gums

I’ve spent many a winter away in Japan, Canada, sunny California and New Zealand and have been lucky enough to ride some amazing terrain. I have competed here in Aus as well as in North America and had the opportunity to ride with some ripping snowboarders. I love riding both the park and backcountry and can’t wait for the 2012 winter to bring us some pow days!

I’ve had so much support over the years from some great companies like Dragon, Capita snowboards, Union, NIKITA, Rizen, and more locally, awesome up and coming Aussie companies, Obvious and White Ninja.

Hannah showing us how it's done at Mt Hotham

I have also worked with some great photographers and videographers and closely with Mt Hotham Ski Company, who I would like to thank for all of their support over the years.

When I’m not at Hotham I reside in Jan Juc and love going for a surf with one of the other very talented Chicks with Sticks coach Zoe Jaboor, and her lovely sister Anita.

Backcountry airtime

CWS Freeride Sessions: What happens on the day!?

There have been a lot of inquires about the Chicks with Stix Freeride Sessions this year, which makes us super stoked for the four upcoming sessions this winter. 

Session Dates:

July 7th                  Mt Buller

July 14-15th           Mt Hotham

August 11-12th      Thredbo

August 19th           Perisher Blue
Further info on meeting places will be posted to the blog and our facebook page.
 

If you're planning to come to one of the sessions, drop us an email at chickswithstix.skiing@gmail.com and make a booking so we can make sure we have sufficient coaches.

For those of you that haven’t had the chance to be involved in a Freeride Session here is a rough idea of what they’re all about!

9:40am            

Coaches arrive/ meet and greet

10.00-11.00am 
Warm up: Skiers and boarders will ride as a group down some long groomers to warm up our legs and bodies in preparation for a big day.

11.00-12.00pm 

Skill development: Groups will split into skiers, boarders, moguls, jumping, park, pipe and free-ride (depending on the facilities at the mountain) and coaches. This will be a basic introduction into these disciplines and a chance for you to get a taste of what each discipline has to offer as well as chat to the coaches about their experiences.

12.00-1.00pm 
Lunch: Help yourslef to the vairety of yummy food that each resort has on offer. You are responsible for your own food and drink throughout the day.

 

1.00-2.00pm

The group will go and shred some groomers together again to get warmed up again. Then you can change groups and try something new OR keep perfecting their newly learnt skills from the morning session.

2.00-3.00pm

Shredding will continue until 2.45 when the groups will come together at the meeting point again to award prizes of the CwS session awards and conclude the CwS session.

The sessions are designed to give you a chance to try something new, meet new lady shredders and get to know our coaches and ambassadors who've made skiing and snowboarding a part of their lives in one way or another.

Here's a quick edit of the CWS Freeride Session at Thredbo last year:

Coach Profile: Katie Blamey

With so many new coaches joining the program, we thought we’d give them all a quick introduction; where they’ve come from and where they are heading. We'll be posting a few profiles up each week but in the meantime you can also find them here!

Katie Blamey
Home resort: Mt.Buller/Perisher Blue
Riding since: Moguls since 2006, Snowboarding before that!
Favourite memory in the snow: Skiing Pow in Mammoth with Nicole Lewis
Best achievement in the snow: Landing my first backflip on snow
Favourite resort: Steamboat Springs
Nickname: KTB
Years with CWS: 3 years

KTB living it up in the mountains

Hey I’m Katie. I have been playing, training and competing in the snow since I was two years old. I began alpine racing when I was five, which gave me great fundamentals for skiing, of which I now use in the moguls. I have been both an athlete and a coach for TBR (Team Buller Riders) for the last 7 years. This year I have made the move up to NSW as the best mogul course in Australia can be found at Perisher.

KTB ripping up a storm (Photo: Pete McNiel)

I absolutely love anything that has to do with mogul skiing. There is more exciting than standing at the top of Woodrun on a pair of straight skis looking down at the field of moguls below. I switched over to mogul skiing when I was 15 where I learnt many of my first tricks of the trade with TBR. At 16 I made the Australian Development mogul team, where I trained and competed along side many great Australian and International skiers for two years.

I am still obsessed with moguls, therefore I tend to take part in anything relating to the sport, whether it be competing, coaching or judging. As long as there is bumps, jumps and speed I’m there.

Slaying pow on her mogul skis (Photo Pete McNiel)

In between seasons when I don’t have a goggle tan, I found time to squeeze in Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science which I recently just graduated.

I am extremely excited to be involved with Chick with Stix for the third season running as the involvement of women in sport is important, not to mention it involves my three favorite things skiing, friends and those beautiful white mountains.

Can’t wait to shred with you all!!

Recap of Northern Winter

It really feels like summer just flew by! It could be because some of us were chasing the winter during the Australian summer or that everyone who was basking in the sun were praying for snow. Either way, it’s winter already and we are gearing up for the 2012 Chicks with Stix sessions at Mt Buller, Mt Hotham, Thredbo and Perisher.

Before we get into the Australian winter, we want to make a quick shout out to some of our badass coaches who absolutely slayed it overseas over the last few months.

Anna Segal

World Ski Invitational 2012, Whistler

You’ve probably heard of her before, Anna has been in the game for a good number of years and never disappoints. She had an amazing season this year on the AFP circuit in the US and Europe including:

3rd      Winter X Games, Aspen US
2nd      Dew Tour, Snowbasin, US
2nd      Euro Winter X Games, Tignes, FRA
1st       World Ski Invitational, Whistler, CAN

X Games 2012,  Anna in 3rd

 After a kick-ass season Spanner was ranked 2nd overall on the AFP Women’s Slopestyle for 2012. We’re proud to call this death defying sugar-glider a part of the team. Have a look at Anna's blog for all the stories from her winter!


Katya Crema

Grindelwald World Cup

Katya had a record breaking season, including a personal best for her World Cup ranking in which she took out 17th overall on the women’s circuit. Some of her results in 2012 so far include:

7th          World Cup, Les Contamines, France

11th        Winter X Games, Aspen USA

1st          Australian National SX Championships, Hotham (2011)

X Games 2012- measuring the money booter at the end of the SkiX course

Back training in Australia, Katya is getting ready for the winter ahead working with NSWIS.  Check out her blog for all the details.

Nat Segal

Nat getting air at Snowbird (photo S.Markewitz Workshop)

In her most successful season to date, Nat pulled out some amazing results on the Freeskiing World Tour circuit in the US. After a slow start to the season as a result of lack of snow and a spectacular tangle with a tree in her first competition at Snowbird, Nat the Rat went on to the podium for the next two events including:

1st        Freeskiing World Tour Qualifiers, Moonlight Basin, US
3rd       Freeskiing World Tour Championships, Kirkwood, US

Freeskiing World Champs, Kirkwood

Overall Nat took out 10th for the FWT 2012, a ranking she is eager to contest next winter.


Hanna Fisher

Hanna, smiling as always

On the other side of the Atlantic Hanna was battling away at the Freeride World Qualifiers in the hope of breaking into the top 4 to qualify for the Freeride World Tour. Hanna had some spectacular results such as:

Podium at Nendaz Freeride

In a close race, Hanna took out 6th overall in the FWQ leaving her 2 places shy of the qualification spot. We can’t wait to see what Hanna will get up to next winter! Check out one of Hanna's final runs here.

Pre-Season Training with Katya Crema

After 6 weeks of living and training in Sydney, I am now back on home turf, Melbourne. At the end of April, after being home from the northern winter season for less than a month, my coaches told me to pack up my stuff and head to Sydney for an intense 6-week block of training. At first I was hesitant, after hardly having unpacked from the previous trip. However once I arrived and adapted to the northern beaches lifestyle (surfboard in the boot and bike on the roof), I soon learnt that Sydney is a pretty great place for training.

Cliffs at Palm Beach

I moved in to an apartment on the beach with Snowsports teammate Chumpy (Alex Pullin, World Champion BX racer) and got straight into it. Up at 5:30am, three training sessions per day, plus a surf if I could fit it in.

Mona Vale Beach

For the 6 weeks I was training one-on-one with OWI strength and conditioning coach John Marsden. The goal was to increase my strength and power with a very specific weights program and diet. After the first week (12 sessions in the gym, 2 on the bike and one crossfit), I was definitely feeling it in my legs, core, back and arms.

West Head Ride

Sunset at Northern Beaches

I trained mostly out of NSWIS at Sydney Olympic Park, a new facility built for the 2000 Olympics. I also did sessions at Sport and Rec in Narrabeen. It was great to train with a bunch of the wintersports athletes all in prep for Sochi 2014. It’s hard to believe that it’s less than 18 months away. The Vancouver Olympics felt like yesterday!

NSWIS photo shoot

In two weeks the National Ski Cross team will be heading to New Zealand for a two-week technical training block at Mt Hutt. We then return to Perisher, NSW for the majority of the season, and then back to NZ for 3 weeks in September. I’m super excited for the season to come, especially the Chicks with Stix sessions I will be attending at Buller and Thredbo during the season. Now fingers crossed the snow gods are generous and deliver a fantastic season!

BEX from NZ

Chicks with Stix fan BEX got in touch with us this week, with a link to a video which is her submission in the awesome ROXY competition 'Let the Sea Set You Free'..... the prize is an opportunity to LIVE THE DREAM OF A ROXY GIRL. Sounds like fun, right ?

We liked it so much that we went over the her website called Single Fin and we discovered that BEX likes to surf and take pics and she's really, really good !  Check out the amazing dolphin pics below and watch her video for the competition and then VOTE for BEX! its the last day today, so get cracking and support a fellow Chicks with Stix fan!

Good Luck BEX ! xoxo from CwS

Lennon + Maisy

check these supremely talented sisters.....