Switch Back 9 & YLG Contest

Hey!

Last weekend the we left the epic snow of Whistler in a gang related black Suburban for sunny peaks of... Sun Peaks! This was the next stop on the YouLookGood Riders Cup Slopestyle. We were all stoked to get out of the Whistler bubble for a bit and ride a new park.

WVSC crew, stoked! FLTR Ali, Darcy, Sam, Me and Marlee

Going into this contest I had one trick in mind that I was determined to learn, the switch back 900. I was close to landing it at the last stop and I knew I would have to if I wanted to have a chance at the podium.

After spending a night at a dodgy motel in Kamloops, we rolled up to Sun Peaks to find a really fun, long course. The jumps were built a lot different (flat takeoffs instead of kick) from Whistler's so it was nice to have a full day of practice to get a feel for them. I was close to landing a couple s/b 900s but they weren't that clean...yet.

Darcy killing it as per usual

The format for the contest was best of 2 runs, top 10 make finals then best of 2 run finals. I stomped my first run really clean on the jumps and qualified 4th with my safety run of back 5, switch back 5, front 7! In the finals I let it all hang out! I went for the switch back 9 and stomped it first run. It was a six hit course and I sketched out of a few of the features so I knew I could clean up my run for my second run. On that one, I was killing it! I nailed it on all the rails and went huge on my back 5. I stomped my switch back 900 and had one jump left. I went for a front 7 but spun it weird with a new grab I was trying. I came around and fell on the landing. I was so frustrated but at the same time I was really happy with my progress, and lets be honest - its all about the progress. So for those of you that have no idea what a s/b 9 is... think takeoff backwards and do 2.5 rotations - its just the best trick I've ever landed yet.

Me getting some switch backside air time

Ali showed everyone whats up with a huge backside 3 that won her best trick! She also placed 2nd in Pro Women, way to go!

Best Slopestyle Run Ever & 5th Place = Awwww Yeahhhh!!

Hello!

Last weekend I kicked off my competitive season with the YouLookGood Riders Cup Slopestyle Contest at Mount Seymour. This is Canada's pre-eminent slopestyle series with 4 stops across Canada. As I mentioned in my last post, I suffered an injury earlier this season where I broke my 5th metacarpal snowboarding back home. After a successful surgery and rehab, I'm back to my old tricks (yeah, pun intended!) and feeling really solid with my riding!

I had an awesome training day on the course the day before the contest. I landed THE BEST slopestyle run I've EVER done! I did switch (riding backwards) frontside boardslide 270 out, switch frontside 7, switch backside 7. I realize you probably have no idea what that means so you'll have to trust me that its a really technical, solid combination. On competition day my back was feeling really sore from riding hard the day before. I was able to push through it and put down a nice clean first run. After that I knew I had to step it up to make the podium so I went for a switch backside 900, a trick I've never landed before but would have put me in contention for the podium. I wasn't able to land one clean but I came really close, I'm sure I can learn that with a little practice before my next competition at Sun Peaks in a week and a half.

My first run was good enough for 5th place out of 27 athletes in the Pro category! Not a bad way to kick off the competitive season, which gets really heavy in March/April. I'm so excited to be back competing, it feels so good to land a run under pressure. I can't wait for the next stop of the tour at Sunpeaks!

- Andrew

I get knocked down but I get up again!

Hey how's it going?

It's been a while since I've updated this bad boy of a blog. The main reason being that I could only type with one hand for 5 weeks... I broke my 5th metacarpal bone on my left hand in a snowboard fall while I was home for the holidays. That was a bit of a snag in the wicked start to my season. 

In snowboarding you will get knocked down. Injuries are inevitable. Todd Richards wrote in his book 'it isn't a matter of if you'll get injured, it's a matter of when and how bad.' You've got to take the good with the bad and play the hand you get and all the other cliches out there but its true. You can't stress out when your body needs a break, you just have to roll with it. That's exactly what I did while I was injured and now I'm back up again and feel better than ever! Now I'm back feeling good and getting ready for my first competition, YouLookGood Slopestyle, this Saturday at Mount Seymour. So stoked for that! Before you keep reading, press play below for the theme song for this post!

   Tubthumping by sweettart

To switch things up from what can end up being me boring the glasses off of readers, I've done up a timeline since my injury.

• December 27th: Hard fall hitting a rail feature in Yellowknife ends up with broken hand.

• January 4th: A week after my break my bone didn't settle properly. I find out that I need my first surgery ever. This sucks but I know it will help it heal faster and stronger.

• January 10th: I had surgery in Vancouver. They gave me a local anesthetic completely freezing my arm. After some sedative I fell asleep during surgery and woke up to them putting 3 screws into my hand. It was weird but I was surprisingly mellow about it. Those drugs are stong! The staff at St. Pauls hospital were really nice, Dr. Wells nailed it (or should I say screwed it? ha) with the surgery.

• January 10th - Feb 2nd: No boarding for 3 more weeks after surgery - I kept busy by reading lots of books (Climbing From the Wreckage by Gwynne Dyer is awesome); lots of small workouts; learning about investing and of course hanging out with friends.

• Feb 2: Bone healed - I had to bus back to Vancouver for a follow up. It was a long day but when Dr. Wells said my bone was healed and I was good to go back to snowboarding it was well worth the trip. I felt so good! Now back to some mellow riding and hand rehab begins.

• Feb 10th: Hand has about 90% of motion back and feels solid. That means back to boarding hard!

• Feb 12 - 18th: Whistler gets 2 meters of snow in one week. Epic powder riding!

With so much snow, I couldn't see outside my window until the maintenance guys did this!

• Feb 20: At this point I'm back to doing everything in the gym and doing yoga. I'm stoked! Check pics bellow of workout with Kyle

• Feb 23rd: Awesome day in the park! I'm back hitting big jumps/rails in the park and it feels awesome. Time to get back my old tricks and learn new ones.

I just picked up a new training log and I'll end this post with the quote from the front.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit. - Aristotle.

Boom!

- A

Whistler Video

Wow this video is cool! If you've never been to Whistler, tell me this doesn't make you want to come see what its all about! I'm so lucky to live and ride here for the winters.

Whistler Blackcomb XXS from Whistler Blackcomb on Vimeo.