Freeride World Tour, Stop 1: Revelstoke

words by Nat Segal

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.

For the last four years I have been competing in big mountain. Last winter I qualified for the Freeride World Tour. 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.

It's quite difficult to share the true nature of my butterflies without a bit of a background in big mountain competitions.

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.

Mac Daddy Face, Revelstoke Mountain Resort

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.

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.

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.

Wish me luck.

Happy New Year

words by Zoe Jaboor.

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

While Katya is off getting top ten results in World Cup, and Anna is getting podiums in Dew Tour,  and Lauren is hitting up the park at Breck, and Nat is dropping cliffs in Jackson, and Katie 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.

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. 

Pip Sparrow grabbing the goods on her backflip

Pip Sparrow (who has been participating in Chicks with Stix since its inception) is a mogul skier and

recently finished 5^th at the US Selections in Copper, Co. Under the guidance of coach and friends, Pete McNeil and Katie Blamey at the The Mogul Skiing Academy.  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^th place in Duals in a World Cup in Kreischberg, Austria.

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^th 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.

Hope you're all having a great summer/ winter wherever you are!

KATYA at World Cup

Katya 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.

Here's Katya's update just in from Colorado......

elated!

"Today I achieved a new personal best result, finishing in 6th place in the Ski Cross World Cup in Telluride, Colorado.

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 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! 

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. 

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!"

beautiful Telluride, CO.

Femalewolfpack.com

Words by Nat Segal

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, Rachael Burks, created FemaleWolfpack.com.

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.

“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 all girls an opportunity to be seen.

Thus, FemaleWolfpack.com was born. The website is a video-only, online hub for female athletes to showcase their skills. It "is unprecedented, unprejudiced, and unrestricted" says Rachael. Anyone can submit an edit for publication.

"It 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."

Sounds like magic to me. FemaleWolfpack.com 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. 



Femalewolfpack_Teaser from rachaelburks on Vimeo.

End of Season Break Up

Words by Zoe Jaboor

Babing-up the Jan Juc nature reserve. Photo: Nicole Lewis

Friday the 2^nd 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.

Trying to make everyone look at the camera. Photo: Nicole Lewis

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. 

Frolicking on the beach at Jan Juc. Photo: Nicole Lewis

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!

Nat and Katey....need we say more

After a quick bite to eat the team headed to the beautiful Surf coast yoga studio 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. 

Jane and Mon talking to the girls about OmRyder. Photo: Nicole Lewis

OmRyder 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.

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. 

Mon guiding Anna and Katey through a Downward dog and handstand preparation sequence. Photo: Nicole Lewis

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.

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!!

Beach + Yoga + Surfing + Food = STOKED. Photo: Nicole Lewis

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)!

Have an awesome summer/ winter wherever you are! Photo: Nicole Lewis

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.

Things are only going to get bigger and better from here on in! Take care and have fun! Make sure you keep us updated with your summer/winter adventures!

Learning to fly

words by Britt Cox

Here is a pic of me having a flying lesson for my 18^th birthday. But different to being in the air on skis but still lots of fun! 

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).  

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. 

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. 

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!

Thredbo One Hit Wonder 2012

Anna sizing up the jump

words by Anna Segal

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.

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.

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.

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. 

Anna tweaking her tails over the jump

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.

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! 


Vote for Anna here!


Anna Segal - People's Choice 2012 from One Hit Wonder Event on Vimeo.

Chicks with Stix Season 2012 Throwdown at Mt Hotham

 

words by Zoe Jaboor

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. 

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.

Shinae McGowan rocking out through the park in pink!

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

uckily, we had loads of seasoned coaches on hand to dish out advice and guide the chicks through the course. They included:

Hannah Studd (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.

Ali Deane and Erin Height 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.

Merrin Jokic  (Head Judge) organized Mimi, Lucy and myself in scoring the girls runs through two qualifying runs and one finals run.

Anita Jaboor (Chief of results) worked with Amy and Scotti from Hotham Events to compile the scores to get the final result .

Wennie Tan showing us her rail skills

One of the highlights of the day, aside from watching the chicks throw down, was the presentations at Swindlers. 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. 

Junior Women's Podium

Open Women's Ski Podium

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!. 

Open Women's Snowboard Podium

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”.

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.

CWS has an amazing group of coaches!

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.

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.

Check out the awesome edit of the event from Mt Hotham!