World Cup numero six

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All smiles getting ready to drop into the park on Blackcomb

I’m writing this from the airport in Vancouver on my way to my sixth (and possibly seventh) World Cup events! Quebec City is my next stop where I’ll be competing in the Slopestyle event at Stoneham Mountain this Thursday. I’m also an alternate for the Big Air event this week. It’s an honour to represent the NWT and Canada on the international stage!

Good luck to all the NWT athletes at the Canada Winter Games!

As you are may know I’ve been having some issues with my knee this season, more specifically with my fib-tib joint. My physiotherapists and I have been experimenting with taping, strapping, orthotics, different boots, and different bindings. I’ve even tried working out in my snowboard boots to see if that brings on any pain. Guess what? It doesn’t! It’s a finicky injury and I'm learning how to manage it better everyday. I’m excited that things are moving along with the recovery. I’ve had some great days riding in the past couple weeks. Some of them were completely pain free which is huge.

This exercise was surprisingly hard with less ankle mobility!

Backside boardslide

As much as we try to plan ahead with goals and schedules snowboarding has a way of keeping you on your toes. This year I was planning on focusing more on the Open events–the Burton US Open and Burton European Open. However the organizers of the TTR World Snowboard Tour decided to change things up this year and make those events a part of the exclusive Elite series. I don’t particularly like this decision. It makes it more difficult for up and coming riders to break into the elite group of competitive snowboarders. By making it more exclusive at the top it gives less riders opportunities and will likely result in less people competing.

Frontside boardslide

Luckily for me I had the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup in Turkey which in turn helped me qualify for this World Cup in Quebec. So instead of focusing on the Open events as my high level contests this season I’ve switched my focus to the World Cups. Given my lack of sending it (jumping big jumps) this season I’m not expecting any spectacular results here. In my two previous starts in World Cup Slopestyles I did not land a full run. Therefore it would be a personal victory if I land a clean full run even if it doesn’t include very technical tricks. Wish me luck!

Frontside 360