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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Cragieburn Chill Series 2013




The Chill Series was held as a 2 day comp at Craigieburn this year which is a change from previous years, as the comp has traditionally been run over 4 days switching venues between Craigieburn and Mt Olympus.

I think the change is good, as it allows people to compete at both the Chill Series and the Temple Basin Big Mountain

Day one at Craigieburn went really well for me.
I was able to pick a line that I had wanted to ski since first competing in the Chill series a few years ago.



I managed to ski it fast and fluid and stomped all of my airs, that put me into first place at the end of the first day.

Coming into day two I decided I would ski the same top section and change up my final air to a slightly easier drop.

As it turned out I was too low after the first part of my line and had to change back to my air from day one.
I took the drop on a slightly different angle which bucked me back seat on take off and I was unable to hold on to the resulting back slap on landing.
Although I crashed and rolled once my skis stayed on and I managed to recover and ski out switch, which meant I still got a score for the day, albeit a very low one.

I finished Craigieburn in 10th over all.

Even though I crashed on day two I am extremely happy with the way I skied up until that point.

Here are the official results from Chill HQ:



The official Comp Edit:
https://vimeo.com/73253415

Excerpt from the official Chill site:

"Day 1 Craigieburn Chill site report:
In the male field there were 29 competitors from nine nations. First place went to Sam Lee from New Zealand, second to Jason Waters from the US, and third was local skier Tom Brownlee. “Sam Lee stomped his run today, skiing an innovative line. From the top section there was a steep drop in exposed terrain, and Sam showed he has lifted his skiing to a new level. He took a double drop in the last section to finish his run in style. He was a deserving winner,” commented Charlie Lyons, event judge and FWT athlete.

Day 2 Craigieburn Chill site report.
Another action filled day was a fitting end to the 2013 K2 Big Mountain CHILL Series. Fortunately the weather played ball and the competitors stepped up. With a two run competition (both runs counting) you could forgive the athletes for playing it safe today but they threw caution to the wind and went for it today. There were no shortage of big lines and huge airs, not to mention more tricks than a magic shop.

Overnight leader in the men’s division Sam Lee took a go big or go home attitude and looked to have it in the bag until coming unstuck on the bottom of the course, backslapping on a double drop and washing out."


Monday, August 19, 2013

The Season So Far

This season has been an interesting one.

With the epic snow falls in the first week I figured we could be up for a pretty fly winter.
Turns out we have had a lot of fog and ice.

However all is good.
I've had a lot more work than usual up Cardrona this year, which means more cash but less skiing.

I don't feel like I have had a lot of good big mt skiing this season, although the days I have had have been great.

Now that the snow is soft and with the Chill series coming up this week I've been trying to get in as much riding in as I can.


Below is a short edit of the only footage I've taken this season.
It's not much but she'll have to do for now!


https://vimeo.com/72786447





I'm heading up to Canterbury on Wednesday to compete at Craigieburn and Temple Basin.
Following right after is the NZ open and then the Whakapapa Extremes to wrap up the comp season.

I'm getting pretty excited for the comps to start, hoping for a little more snow before then!

Here is a snow blade edit from our TC closing day rehearsal, rehearsal.
https://vimeo.com/72583089


Here are a few photos from the Alta Chutes at Remarkables the other day.

Photos by Pete Oswald