Skiing in Romania with Hanna Fisher

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!

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. 

Checking out an ice chapel

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!

View in the Transylvanian mountains

 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^rd, 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...

Hanna on the podium, taking home a handmade, wooden trophy