Surface Skis freeesh new site…

This photo was taken by Jason Eichorst! It was the day after I got back from Alaska, the Surface crew was doing a photo shoot at Brighton. My legs were a little stiff from chilling in an RV for a few weeks but I tried to giver anyway… Surface Skis new site is looking real good! They put a blog post up about me that made me smile!

Vanessa Aadland has been vagabonding her way around New Zealand this year. Embracing being a broke ski bum to the fullest extent of the law. This week she placed 4th overall at The North Face Freeski Open in Wanaka, NZ. Wanted to congratulate her for crushing it and thank her for being an inspiration to us all.

THANKS SURFACE!!!! Honored to be in the FAMILY

www.surfaceskis.com

12 days in the desert

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.

Impressions from Down Under

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!

The Triple Comp at Treble Cone

The Triple Comp went down at Treble Cone yesterday, with sunny blue skies, very entertaining skiing and some crazy people. The Triple Comp is a super fun, pretty low key comp that consists of 3 categories; Bank Slalom, Free ride Expression Session, and of course, Chinese Down hill. The Bank slalom was set up in a tight gully where it was hard to keep your speed. It was my first time racing in gates besides the Alta town series which my team and I did switch. The Expression Session was my favorite where there were plenty of rocks, wind lips and drops to play on. I threw a 180, a spread eagle and of course added some gnar points to my line by mooning the judges. Last but not least was the Chinese down hill. They lined up all the skiers at the top of “powder bowl” and had us take off one ski and place it 15ft in front of us. With a sudden “GO!” all 14 of us scrambled to our ski and raced down a sketchy, steep slope. Some how no one died. There was an after party at Mint Bar where I was awarded 1st place (I was the best, and only lady skier) I won a helmet, beanie, heaps of stickers, pow gloves and $500 to Base (a ski shop in Wanaka) NO BIG DEAL!

REALLY REALLY BIG THANK YOU!