This past weeks World Freesking Championships competition at Snowbird was really emotional for me. It took me a few days to be able to watch the helmet cam footage from my run. I know some people don’t dig on comp skiing and talk trash on the skiers that go up there and show the world what they’ve got. Well screw those people! They don’t have the skills or the guts or maybe neither to stand in that start gate and ski in front of judges, friends, fans and the whole damn interweb.
I believe that if you are going to talk shit about something you need to know what you are talking about. If you have never been standing at the top of a freekiing comp venue when it is cold and windy with bad light, freezing, and feeling like you are about to puke your guts out on Ron Pankey’s boots then your opinion on the subject does not mean anything.
This event means a lot to me because it is on my home turf at Snowbird. It meant more this year because of the passing of Ryan Hawks a few weeks back. This was my 30th freeskiing competition, 9th at Snowbird, and I really wanted to ski well for both for myself and for Ryan. It was hard to stay calm in the start gate, but I did better than I normally do. The run went well and I stayed on my feet, but it was not enough to make the big show on Baldy. All the men skied incredible that day. I missed the finals by .27 points. There is always next year and I will be back to give it another try.