OPEN AT LAST!!

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Today was opening day at Snow Park, to be honest when I heard that they were opening today I wasnt expecting much. But when we rounded the last corner this morning, and the hill came into view, I was definitely impressed with what I saw.
Considering we have not had a good natural snow fall this whole month, I think they have done well.
Who would have thought we could be skiing right now, while the hills are still brown, thank god for snow guns I guess!
I was absolutely stoked to finally be back on my sticks again, this last month has been unbearable, as I'm sure all the powder hounds and park rats in town will agree.
To me, having no snow at the start of the ski season is like having your parents forget your 10th birthday, and not realising until a week later.
A few weeks back I sprained my ankle really badly on the trampoline, so I have been worried that I might not be able to ride at peak shred, it seems to be fine in a ski boot, but I wont really know until I get into some real mountain riding.
I always love the first days of the ski season, its great because you spend the whole time running into all the people you know from past years.
So even though it was just boxes, rollers and man made snow, it was awesome, and well worth the money.
Definitely going back tomorrow.
Now, BED.

Kirkwood FWT

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Had the Kirkwood qualifier the other day, didn't manage to qualify though. I skied a more conservative line than I usually tend to pick, with the intention of finishing. 
I'm a little bummed cos I didn't ski it as clean as I had wanted . I ended up 15th and they took through the top 14. gutted.
But all in all a good learning experience, I finally finished a FWT qualifying run on my feet which is good as I have been DQ in 2 out of the three american comps I have done. so now I have a feeling of what needs to be done for next time!

snow oh oh, snow snow

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SO MUCH SNOW.
Im in Kirkwood at the mo, and never in my life or even in my dreams have I seen this much snow.
It has been snowing non stop since Monday night, and they say we have had  131-144".
The snow is so deep that there are people all over the place stuck up to there thighs in pow.
I spent 10 minutes yesterday digging my self and my skis out of the snow when I dropped a line, missed the transition and landed on the wrong side of the windlip followed by a rather impressive double ejection.
The last few days have been immensely fun, some good training for sure.
Today is not so good as i managed to pick up a mysterious calf injury from the madpow yesterday. So Im having a couch day icing the sore out of it.
On the bright side its so busy today I would have been in line for my whole life any ways. 
On the dark side, I want to be skiing mega bad right now, and ski movies don't really cut it. They kinda don't satisfy the craving, its like a heroin addict trying to get their fix from a candy bar. no good.


Some R.I.C.E today and it should be ok for tomorrow! (i hope)

BANZAI

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Skied in the kirkwood banzai qualifiers the other day, cut off was 32 and i qualified 19th woop!!
Thanks to the airlines loosing my bag it was all done in jeans 1.5 m poles and on a dudes skis i met only 40 mins before my run.


Had a bad start in my first heat on the race day, couldnt pick up any places so ended 4th,
and didnt move on.
NO BIG DEAL tho,

The banzai was definitely  one of my favorite events ever!
Stoked i did it.

Jackson Hole comp

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So the Jackson Hole comp didn't end up so well for team kiwi. 
I ended up getting way lost and cruising off into the CLOSED area. And let me tell you this, when you ski into the closed area, you quickly come to realize why it is in fact the closed area. 
I found myself standing on a tongue with death on either side and 100 or more feet of death below me. 
It was definitely not on.
I had to hike out.
Zak skied a sick pad line and stomped all his features, but came unstuck and rag dolled in the crud in the bottom section of the venue.
Not the most ideal out come for a competition, but its great inspiration to STOMP THE HELL out of the Kirkwood comp. 

JACKSON HOLE

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So after 9 hours cruising the open road in Freddy our little Ford Focus we finally made it to Jackson.
We rolled into town at about midnight, only to continue rolling around town for another hour before we found a good place to park up and sleep. 
On comfort Freddy did deliver, on warmth not so much. I probably should have bought a warmer sleeping bag, to quote Zak Hogg "People have lingerie warmer than that thing"
But a little sleep loss never hurt anyone right? 
even still I'm thinking a motel may be a smart move for the nights to come.

Any way I think its about time to go "Shred some Jackson Hole Gnar"