Nat Segal: Powder-hunting at Snowbird, Utah.

Looking up the Snowbird tram tracks into a foggy, powdery day.

It has nearly been a month since I touched down into LA airport on Christmas Day, all that was on    my mind- other than making my connecting flight- was the epic chest deep, weightless powder, for which Utah is renowned.

It has been a rocky, icy and at time crusty journey since Christmas. Somehow I managed to miss all major storms blowing through Colorado and Utah. When I first arrived in Salt Lake City, all I heard about was the 5ft powder day the week before.  But all I saw was crust.

hanging out at the Snowbird tram deck

Despite my powder disappointment, Snowbird still managed to take my breath away. Steep lines,   easy access and so much to explore.

The terrain is definitely different from the European slopes I have become accustomed  to ...nevertheless, I am up most mornings for the 8am bus to ski whatever the weather throws at me. Finally, it was powder. It wasn't chest deep. But it was smooth, creamy and reminded me of chocolate mousse. Yum.

Wasatch mountains in Little Cottonwood Canyon 

One thing I have learnt from the last few weeks is that skiing can be fun despite the conditions, even   when you are skiing on sheet ice all day.... and no matter how "good or bad a situation is, it will change." Regina Brett.

 

A beautiful day full of not so beautiful sheet ice.

It is the only the beginning of January, so there is heaps more snow to be had. Next stop is Aspen for the week to watch Anna shred the park at X- Games and then back to Utah for more powder and freeskiing! YEAH WINTER.

KATYA IN EUROPE

here's an update from Olympian and Chicks with Stix guest coach  Katya - she's in Europe on the ski cross circuit right now......


"After our epic 13-hour journey from Austria, right through Italy and then into France, we finally arrived in Alpes D’Huez on Sunday night. I really enjoyed the race here last year. The course was a lot of fun; fast with big jumps, and the off piste skiing is phenomenal. Plus the hotel we stay at is great… there are not many times I can say that whilst travelling in Europe on the Freestyle ski circuit.

After our training day on Monday, I was feeling confident and excited to race. Like last year, the course is lots of fun. Definitely more of a real ski cross track compared with the last two races. It’s fast with some big jumps, as opposed to GS turns with a few small step-downs. Scary at first but once I skied it once, all I wanted to do was go around for another!

Yesterday in qualifications I finished 18th, just 0.2 of a second from qualifying for finals in the top 16. Frustratingly close! I was disappointed that I didn’t qualify, however 18th is still a great result; a big improvement from the past 3 races. It’s a step in the right direction, and hopefully it will give me a boost of confidence going into the next World Cup.

Fortunately it decided to snow pretty hard after the race yesterday afternoon and into the night, so today I made the most of the blue skies, sunshine and fresh snow and went powder skiing. The amount of accessible terrain here is unbelievable. Unfortunately the very top gondola was closed due to avalanche control, however that didn’t stop us from finding some untouched deep powder.

I dragged myself back to the race to watch finals, and support my teammate Scott Kneller. Unfortunately he didn’t make it through the first round.

Tomorrow we pack our bags again and head to Les Contamines, France, for the next World Cup. I’m feeling fit and strong and excited for another race ahead!"

good luck Katya.... we wish you all the best !

Anna on the podium

and we're so proud! check out her blog for an update.....

nine years old !

and her name is Kelly Sildaru. check this out.



Kelly Sildaru / Playground from Sildaru on Vimeo.

Zoe in CHINA

a big hello from Zoe who has just returned from an exciting trip to China....

"I have just spent 10 days in China judging a World Cup aerial and mogul event, at a resort called Beida Lake which is about 1000km NE of Beijing.

It only took a 12 hr flight then a 2 hr connecting flight, followed by a 3 hr car trip to get there ! I travelled through cities and country-side on both sealed and unsealed roads ... it was quite the experience.

The place is amazing and full of surprises...... It felt like I was in the middle of nowhere and then all of a sudden I was at the base of a ski resort with some serious steeps looking down at me. Beida Lake is currently being developed in the hope that it will be the home of many more World Cups to come.

My experience of skiing in Central Asia was pretty incredible. Although I didnt get to ski a lot due to judging, I did enjoy some very dry knee deep powder - after it had been sitting there for 7 days untouched!

Both the aerial and mogul events went very well and I really enjoyed judging them. It was my first World Cup and I was part of a panel consisting of judges from China, Japan, USA, Canada, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. It has definitely made me more eager to explore what this part of the World has to offer skiers!"

Anna in the USA !

News just in that Anna scored second place in The North Face Park and Pipe Open Series, over this past weekend at Tahoe's Northstar Resort. The event was the last chance for select athletes to qualify for Winter X Games 15, happening later this month in Aspen, Colorado.

read all about right here at espn

and well done Anna !

Women's Slopestyle Results

Rank	Name	Score
1.	Devin Logan	88.00
2.	Anna Segal	81.25
3.	Maude Raymond	78.20
4.	Jessica Warll	75.00
5.	Dania Assaly	73.20
6.	Meg Olenick	70.00
7.	Kim Lamarre	68.33
8.	Meg Olenick	64.83

Say My Name - ski movie

have you heard of SAY MY NAME the ski movie starring Utah skier Grete Eliassen and a bunch of her  pro-skier girlfriends? filmed last winter by Stan Evans and edited over the summer, the movie has been doing the rounds at some of the indie-film fests.

and now you can download SAY MY NAME on i-tunes

last spring Grete set the world hip record for women [31 feet !]. fearless and one of the world's best all-round skiers, she has won the XGames Superpipe and US Open Slopestyle many times and has raced for the Norwegian ski team.

Grete's got a fun blog here if you want to keep up with exciting happenings in her world.

pic: stan evans

the first snowfalls are looking good and all over Europe, Japan and North America the lifts are turning and the ski resorts are having opening day celebrations.

the team at Chicks with Stix is going to be heading in all directions and we will have reports coming in from  athletes and coaches in the US Europe and Japan. meanwhile did you know that Katya, Anna and Nat all have their own blogs ? these girls know how to have fun on and off the slopes.

Katya has already got some early training in October, on the glaciers in Europe, with the Australian Ski Cross National Team. check out her story on the world's biggest bungy jump!

Anna has just landed in Norway and then she is heading to Breckenridge for the season - wishing her all the best in her first few weeks back on snow since breaking her ankle at the RipCurl Freeride Pro a few months ago.

Nat has a neat blog - she's been focusing on her fine arts degree and her life at uni and preparing for her final show. there's sure to be more snowy escapades as soon as she settles in to her US base and starts competing !

so remember to add the links to your list of things to read and check in regularly for training updates, travel adventures and competition results.

and if you're planning anything fun this season, drop us a line - we want to hear about chix from everywhere !