After a full year of winter, one huge season in Utah then straight to New Zealand, all I
longed for was some warmth. I found it in the desert of Southern Utah where I
spent 12 days sleeping out of a van. While exploring and camping in new areas
each night I spent my days watching sunsets, practicing yoga, reading and
running. The silence and vast beauty of the desert was divine and healing. It
was wonderful to be reunited with my dog Baker again. He cuddled every night
with me, I missed him soooo much! I went on some really cool hikes through the
slot canyons near Escalante. If you’ve never been there I highly recommend it! I also spent one weekend in Moab mountain biking with my whole family. (It has been a whole year and a half since we’ve all been together!) There was an event called “Outer Bikes” where we got to try all the new 2012 bikes. It was awesome. Now I’m back in the great Pacific North West until the snow starts to fall. Until then my feet will dance with freedom from the constricted confines of my ski boots.
Posted October 16th, 2011. Add a comment
My head was still buzzing from the night before, my last night in New Zealand. Our car made its’ way though the bright green valley floor dotted with hundreds of sheep and sharp mountains jutting through the hills. I was on my way to catch my flight but decided to sneak a bungee jump in for kicks. I just couldn’t leave NZ without doing the classic tourist move. I sent all my NZ friends final goodbye texts, thanking them for loving me like a sister. It’s so strange to think I’ll probably never see most of them ever again. Here is a summary of my incredible trip. Incredibly amazing, incredibly difficult, incredibly beautiful… but yes, it was defiantly incredible.
Arriving in New Zealand (as I do) with next to no plans and a contact or two shoved in a pocket, I eventually settled into the stunning town of Wanaka. I moved into a little house, right on the edge of town, with 4 random girls from all over the world. We all became best friends instantly and with time became like sisters, sisters of “The Doll House.” Even in tight quarters and scary financial times, to this day, I love each of them. I shared a loft with 2 of the girls, lived off noodles and toast, used a $10 filing cabinet as a dresser, and slept in my puffy down coat, a beanie and sleeping bag to stay warm. Nothing to worry, us crazy dolls made the very best of it!
With a very late start to the season, due to an extreme lack of snow, a job was hard to come by. By the end of the season I some how managed to get fired from two, but finally landed a great job. I can say with confidence I went from the worst job of my life, to the best one. For most my trip I reckoned I’d never be able to afford a flight out of the country. At times I had over drew my bank accounts, had to borrow money and had past hospital bills digging my hole deeper then I knew was possible.
A 6 ft storm kicked off the season and Treble Cone was going off! Opening day was an epic pow day with the highest amp level I’ve ever experienced. Early in the season I did a fun competition called the Triple Comp, where I won $500 to a local ski shop!
Thanks to some wonderful souls I was able to raise the money to compete in The World Heli Challenge. I placed 2nd on free style day and toped the Big Mountain day off with one of the scariest crashes of my ski career, in the midst of it all loosing a ski to never be found. The search for my ski quickly came to an end when 2 time champion of the event, Mr. Ted Davenport, shattered both legs. (send your love his way!)
I also spent some time volunteering with a program ran through Snowdrifta, teaching pre-schoolers how to ski. It was refreshing being around such joyful, free spirits.
In September I was telling my flat mates how I was confident in my decision NOT to compete in the North Face Free Ski Open. There I was, a couple days later, competing in the event. I ended up only .23 points away from the podium but was happy as a clam about placing 4th.
I spent my last day shredding in the sunshine at Snow Park with my favorite people and partied my face off till all hours of the night. Along with a gnarly hangover on my 2 day mission home, came a stone cold $300 excess baggage fee. If I wanted to catch my flight I had a window of 10 minutes. After a flurry of frantic shuffling and tears, I had to throw away 2 pairs of poles, all my outerwear, jeans, some thermals, sweat shirts and t shirts. (luckily I had already lost the pair of skis I brought so I didn’t have to toss those into the rubbish as well)
The whirlwind of events finally settled as my plane touched down in SLC. While it’s all over in a blink of an eye, I still can’t digest everything that happened in the 4 months I lived in that beautiful, little town. It was such a crazy ride packed full of adventure, surprises, beautifully genuine people, lots of tears and even more laughs. With the bad came the good, and with the terrible came the wonderful and as always I’m thankful for every second of it!
Posted October 15th, 2011. 1 comment
I’ve wanted to do a BN (butt naked) for a long time but I have to admit after seeing the movie Gnar, I was more inspired then ever. I originally wanted to dedicate a BN run to my hero’s who died doing what they love. I wanted to celebrate the beautiful lives of Shane McConkey and Ryan Hawks in my own way. Shane McConkey was always my hero but after seeing that movie I really got it. He knew how to have fun, A LOT of fun, and he did what he wanted, when he wanted. I love that. I didn’t want to just ski a quick groomer though, I was thinking Main Chute on Baldy or Superior.
I have to say I was shocked by all the attention I got. Both my brother and I didn’t really think it was THAT big of a deal… and if you knew my family, it’s really not. I wanted to do it because I thought it would be a fun rush and hoped that my lost loved ones would be watching and laughing. SO to the lovers, the haters, the people who know me and the people who don’t, I didn’t ski Superior naked so people could see how sexy or un-sexy my backside is, I just wanted to have a little fun… and trust me, I did.
Here’s how It went down….
My twin brother, Tony and I set our alarms for 4am on June first. Tony had to be downtown to work at 9 so we didn’t want to cut it too close. I wasn’t too worried about my BN until we reached the ridge where 40 mph winds were whipping! It was an icy, sketchy climb up and by the time we got to little superior we were running out of time. We had to drop there. It was really tricky getting my clothes off on a icy, windy knife edge ridge, but eventually I took my pants and lastly my coat off.
Being naked on a mountain was the weirdest, craziest feeling ever! I was yelling and laughing non stop, and I’d scream every time a strong gust would drill icicles onto my bare skin. About half way down I called my mom for the “pick up.” As we got further down it was much warmer and the snow got really creamy so I started letting go and skiing really fast! I was hollering and laughing and jumping off rolls in the snow. For the last part I had my arms in the air and waved to my mom who’s jaw was dropped. We skied up to her laughing and she said, “OH MY GOD! VANESSA!!!! YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL!! Hahaha!!!!
When I got home I uploaded a photo on face book and passed out for a few hours. When I woke up I already had tons of “likes” and comments! Instead of packing for New Zealand I spent the day with my family poring over comments and forums about me. By the end of the day 7,300 people viewed the photos on Unofficial’s website, 700 people posted the picture on their face book, 1,000 people visited my website, 30 people tweeted about me, including Red Bull! BUT, the best event of the day was when one of my all time favorite hero’s, Scott Gaffney himself (Shane McConkey’s best friend) sent me a message saying, “Shane is raising a beer to you today. Well played.”
Posted June 3rd, 2011. 7 comments
It’s may 9th and I’m curled up in my sheets watching in rain galore on SLC. Apparently it’s snowing up canyon piling on the our record breaking snow pack. Looking back at my season I immediately picture a roller coaster of events. Humm, whats new? My season was packed to the brim with unexpected road trips and hang overs, bear hugs and bad jokes, tremendous heart breaks and pain, an array of different couches and floors, hating being single, loving being single, down days and days the sun couldn’t be brighter. There was much lost and more gained and as usual, I am overwhelmingly grateful for every second of it.
I suppose my season started in August in Chile where I placed 6th in the first stop of the Freeskiing World Tour. Fall rolled around in SLC and winter didn’t want to wait dropping some epic storms opening Alta with an awesome base. It was only the 2nd day Alta was open I broke vertebrae T 11 attempting a back flip, hence the “tremendous heart break.” I spent only about 3 weeks on the couch, decided I wasn’t hurt anymore and stubbornly skied groomers until the comp in Revelstoke arrived. Pushing the trip on my self, thinking there was no way I would miss it, was reckless but welcome to bloody-minded me. I ended up being mostly a spectator at the event and got frost bite on most my toes.
As I struggled to get my strength and confidence back I skied lightly around Little Cottonwood Canyon. I met my now very good friend Nat Segal who started to push me off cliffs again. We then took a fun trip to Kirkwood where the ups and downs only got bigger. We both qualified but fell in semi finals where our friend Ryan Hawks also crashed. A day after Ryan was air lifted to a hospital he died. We were all stunned. I didn’t want to believe it for a long time but eventually it hit home and I felt squashed with the harshness of reality.
Powder week in Jackson Hole was a good get away from frustrations where I skied some great snow with close friends and confirmed with my self life is beautiful and good. Then came the Bird comp, every one’s favorite, where I placed 9th. EH, I’ll take it. At least my back wasn’t sore any more and my confidence was lifted. There was just one more comp to my season…ALASKA.
I finally made it up to Alaska, my dream for many years. Although the competition (World Extreme Skiing Championships) never happened I made the best of it, met some funny locals, went ice climbing, slept in random RV’s and snow caves and best of all, went blue bird, Heli skiing in blower Alaskan Pow!
To wrap my season up I switched ski companies from Fat-ypus Skis to Surface Skis. I had a great go with Fat-ypus, I only have positive things to say about that company. As my first sponsor ever they believed in me and encouraged me through my ridiculous amount of injuries, created a women’s ski (named after me) called the V-rock, gave me full page ad’s in Freeskier, and made an awesome poster of me and my ski. But all things come to an end and I’m stoked as ever to work with the fast growing ski company Surface. I’m loving the skis and feel more playful then ever on them.
After enjoying the spring slush and pow at Snowbird I’ve booked a 1 way ticket half way across the world to Wanaka, New Zealand, where I plan to spend their winter skiing, working, partying, surfing, bungee jumping, and whatever else those crazy Kiwis talk me in to. Then, who knows! I’ve always wanted to go deep water soloing in Thailand. Plans first, the rest will follow. Like they always do.
