Amazing Week at the Crystal FWQ

I was fortunate enough to get into the Freeride World Qualifiers this week at Crystal Mountain. I have been trying to get into these things for a couple years; the way the seed lists work with registration, I just couldn't ever get in.  Anyways, I was stoked to finally have this opportunity.  So, on February 2, I drove 11 hours to Tacoma, WA and stayed with my buddy Scott Smith.  The next morning I drove 2 hours up to Crystal for inspection day.

I was pretty nervous because this was my first comp, I was alone, and I had no idea what to expect.  After registration, I went up the gondola and over to what I thought was going to be the venue (they had two possible Day 1 venues).  I took a few runs over there and realized it was kinda weird that nobody was around, haha.  Finally, I found the correct venue and it was much better than what I was looking at earlier. 

The snow was a variable mix between ice, moguls, and about 2 inches of soft stuff (if you were lucky).  I started to wonder how I would ever choose my line, and I spent about 3 hours over there going over different options.  At around 1:30 I found a nice hit that got me really pumped.  It was a technical, ski width wide approach to a 35 ft cliff (I would take it to at least 55 ft).

That night I went over my line again and again.  Go from the flag and rip over two little spines making nice, quick turns; then maneuver onto the cliff and send a slow backflip; then go fast through some trees and into the finish.  I had it in my mind, I just needed to keep calm and remember... "Full Wingspan."

I nailed my run and was really happy with myself.  I didn't even care if I got into finals because I really didn't expect that; being my first competition and all.  Turns out, I ended up in 1st place that day.  I was so stoked.

The picture above shows the Day 2 venue, Silver King.  I picked out an awesome line and was pretty happy about it.  I was going to go down the narrow chute to lookers left and send it over three cliffs with no tricks; just ski fast, go big, and make it look fun!  Unfortunately, I got freaked out by all the flips and spins people were throwing and I thought I should change my run to stay in 1st place; bad idea.  I changed my line as I hiked up, rookie mistake.  I was going to throw a 360 and a backflip; I wanted to do something really entertaining.  But then I thought maybe I should go back to the original plan.  My head was all over the place.

I dropped in and just went blank, what was I doing out here?!  I skied the little chute and hit one 25 footer and had no idea where to go.  I just skied down from there.  Needless to say, I was bummed.  I was the last one to ski that day and everyone was still so excited and supportive.  We all shredded down the mountain in a big mob. 

I ended up in 7th place overall and I am still kicking myself for blowing it, but what really matters is that I had one of the best times skiing in my entire life.  

Going to this competition, I wasn't sure about the whole thing.  But by the end of it all, I am itching to get to another one.  The ridiculously talented and genuinely nice athletes are what makes these things fun.  I met some amazing people this week and I can't wait to shred with them again.

That is what the FWQ is all about: skiing fun mountains with the best of friends, going big, and making incredible memories.

Here are the final Men's and Women's Results: