Finding your line when you're competing tends to be a pretty important part of things it turns out...its something that I am still learning to do and I still find quite a challenge. Honestly, If I make it to the bottom of a competition run and I have gone where I wanted to go when I was looking at it from the bottom, then I consider it a pretty bug success.
So far I have competed in 3 competitions this season and have had some pretty mixed results. Line finding was a big thing that came into this. No matter how much you visualize something over and over, if you make one mistake in the heat of the moment, then you'll end up on top of a random cliff telling yourself, "Where the f*** am I???"
This is what happened at the first comp of the season in Kappl, Austria. The conditions turned out to be the most amazing they could've been on the day! The face was looking good, but I wasn't looking at the face. Instead, I was going somewhere way left field from what I planned and ended up having a wee picnic on top of a cliff I didn't know. Too much hesitation, but better to be safe than sorry.
Les Arcs was up next in France. Never have I looked at such a face and thought...this is going to be interesting and probably a bit scary. After watching a snowboarder aggressively tomahawk down a large section of the face and really mess himself up, I think a fair few of the other riders were probably thinking the same thing.
I managed to make it down this run safely with a small crash at the end and some really cramped thighs.
Finally, we had Silvretta-Montafon in Austria. The snow conditions were very Ruapehu-esque, which is handy for the person who grew up on that icy volcano. I am stoked to say that I made it to the bottom safely and came away with the win! I am super happy to have stomped the airs that I did and kept the speed and fluidity up!
Now its back to St Anton to do some more training and stack footage. We might even go and check out the Freeride World Tour stop in Fieberbrunn. Cant wait to see all of those shredders throw down and put on a show!
Shakkah