Team News
Jamie - Russia
Feb 16 2009
I arrive in Moscow at around 9:30 in the morning, which is 11 hours difference from my home in Tahoe! I'm a little groggy from the time difference and the long travel but I am excited to be in Russia! I have always heard such great things about skiing in Russia and I am very excited to get the opportunity to go and compete in the Freeride World Tour event in Sochi. I meet up with two other competitors in the Moscow airport which is great to have some other people to travel with since traveling in Russia is quite tricky and cabs are really expensive. One more flight to go and we will arrive in Sochi. About 8 of us arrive on the Sochi flight. It's pooring down rain and there are palm trees but the local heli operator, Vitaly, assures us that the snow is very light and deep. Sochi is located right on the Black Sea and we have a ways to climb up the mountains before arriving in Krasnaya Polyana, the little village we will be staying in during the event.
We all pile into a van and it takes us up the road about an hour to our hotel. It finally starts snowing about half way up the hill and we are all very excited. After a restless night of sleep I wake up and head out to the bus which will take us to the mountain. It has snowed quite a bit and we are all very excited. The resort isn't much of a resort at all and there are four two person chairs that take you to the top of the mountain, 2,200 meters approximately. It is snowing too much today so we only make it up to the third chair but that's ok because the snow is so light and deep down low and we are all happy! I think to myself, 'I guess I have to travel half way across the world now a days to get some good powder'! The next day is another fun filled day of choking on powder with new friends. The fourth chair to the top opens and we are all having a great day of trees skiing in deep deep powder! The trees are unlike any other trees that I have seen. They are not like the typical pines trees you are used to skiing. Russian trees don't look that tough, they are skinny and bare but plentiful. It seems like you can ski right through the branches but you soon find out that you are mistaken. These suckers are very tough and they can grow anywhere. Even on the side of huge cliffs. I tried to ski through some branches and I got whipped in the face. We quickly learn not to underestimate the trees in Russia. Once you respect the power of the trees however, tree skiing in really fun!!
Play time is about over though, time to get serious about the competition. We have a riders meeting that night and decide the first day will be postponed due to snow. That's fine by me I think because I'm having such a good time freeskiing! So we spend another fun filled day on the hill. We try to inspect the venue but the clouds are too thick. The comp is postponed another day but I wake up to a blue bird sky. At least we will be able to see the venue today. I scope out a line or two that I think will score well and then I return to freeskiing in the trees with a bunch of fun skiers.
The next day is the first competition day. The men go first which is fine by me because they can deal with all of the slough. This event is unique because you don't get to ski inspect your lines. It's more like filming. You only get a visual inspection which makes it a little tougher. The men have ski some really impressive lines and it's makes it a bit easier to see them ski the face. It brings it into perspective better and I feel pretty good about my line choice. Finally it's time for the woman to ski. I get to see Jess McMillan's run from the top and she totally ripped it! Some other girls opt to take the really technical line that most of the boys take. It was quite hacked though after the boys slayed it. Finally it's time for my run. I pick a steep line that had lots of slough moving along with me. I haven't had to deal with slough yet this year so I skip the air I wanted to do which would have me land right in my slough and I exit out left over a small cliff band. The rest of the run was pretty long and you had to deal with those Russian trees but I make it to the bottom. Kind of disappointed with myself for not doing the air I wanted to do. Overall I was happy though. At the end of the day all the athletes are hanging out at the bottom of the mountain waiting to hear the results from the first day. I partake in a little Russian Vodka and am quite impressed with how smooth it is! The results are finally announced and I end up third. Jess McMillan is in first with her killer run!
The next day is day two of our competiton. I didn't sleep much the night before because I was too amped up! We wake up at 6 am for breakfast and catch the bus at 7 am to the hill. It is still dark outside but I can tell the weather is clear. We make our hour long chair lift journey to the top of the hill and begin inspection of the venue. I have my line all picked out, but only to find out that the venue will be closed today due to high temps and fear that a large cornice might break off. I'm pretty disappointed by the decision because the weather is so nice but I guess we have to trust our safety crew. I decide to take it easy for the rest of the day since I have been skiing so hard and didn't get any sleep the night before.
The next day we wake up to kind of milky skies and wind. I'm thinking for sure they are going to cancel the second day. We make our way up to the top and receive word that the event is on! The woman are first today so we start our hike to the second day venue which is further out on the ridge. The wind is blowing and the light is flat and I'm pretty bumbed because I have the wrong lenses on for flat light conditions. I am pretty stoked to ski the line that I picked out though so I am happy that the comp is on still. I make my way to the furthest starting gate and immediately am asked to get ready. The light is really flat but I want to redeem myself for not taking the air that I wanted to take on the first day. I drop into my line and my first thought is 'man this is steeper than it looked'. I quickly get the thought out of my head and I drop a cliff ban and begin to straight line out. It is way steeper than I thought and I pick up lots of speed and have to jump some more rocks. I land just fine after the rocks but am hauling ass and I must have hit a bump because next thing I know I'm tumbling. I end up losing one pole and I have to hike up to get it. I'm pretty sure that ended it for me. No podium this time. I guess I'm too all or nothing!! I get my pole finally and make my way down, very disappointed in myself, but at least I went for it harder this time!! I end up getting 7th place, not very happy with that at all!
That night we have a big party down in Sochi which takes my mind off of the event. At least you can always count on having a good time with everybody after these events! We dance our asses off till 5 am! The next day I caught a flight to Moscow and spent the night there. It was so amazing to see the Red Square! I have always wanted to see the famous church in person and I got to that night. I loved the Red Square because they were bumping techno! I was dancing my ass off again! Unfortunately the next day I had to head home. Another day to explore Moscow would have been nice! Maybe next time though!
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