Spoke too soon.

Well I guess I'm doing Free Flow now.

I went to Northstar today to practice pipe stuff and my coach told me half way through the day that some lady who has stuff to do with Free Flow told him there's already been a few girls who have dropped out of slopestyle. Meaning, if I got to Sierra by 7am and got on the wait list I'd probably get a spot.

So now I'm competing in slopestyle.

Did I practice slopestyle at all today? Of course not.

I did nothing but jumping Monday-Wednesday this week so I don't feel too worried about that. I mean, I should be fine on the jumps as long as I don't psych myself out. My mind messes with me so much when I ride. There's so much that I know I could do if I let myself. But I get psyched and hold myself back. Can't let that happen tomorrow though. I think the jumps are going to be a little bigger than what I've ever hit. But it'll be okay. If I put my mind in the right place I should have no problem with a straight air- front 1 line. Should be easy...

My concern today was half pipe. I really want to do my best in pipe, which would be airing out and doing 3s and switch 3s above the lip. Today started out real bad in the pipe. I kept quitting after my first two hits. No bueno. During lunch though I changed my stance up and tried to put my head back in place. When I went back to the pipe everything felt better. I started getting higher. Then I started airing out. Jeeze. Getting air the the pipe is such a weird feeling. It's different than anything I've felt before. It scares me. But I like it. So anyways, I did that all day.

One of the ski coaches is picking me up tomorrow to bring me to Sierra, which is apparently farther away than I thought. I would really like to be at Sierra when registration starts at 7am, but Jake isn't picking me up until 6am. Mapquest says it will take an hour and a half to get there. I'm really hoping it doesn't take that long. Or if it does, I hope there's not a bunch of other girls already there on the wait list. Tell me again why there's only ten women's spots? It'll suck big time if I get there and can't compete. :/

So I'm crossing my fingers that it takes less than an hour to travel 57 miles, or that there're more spaces open than there are girls on the wait list. All of this would be a lot easier if I had just made up my mind earlier and registered when it was open. Ugh. Okay, gotta pack my overnight bag now. I'm going to either stay in a hotel or at a friend's house in south lake so Sunday isn't as difficult as this.

Indecisiveness strikes again

I decided to compete in the Gatorade Free Flow tour at Sierra.
The Stash Gathering at Northstar is the same day.
I decided to compete in the Stash Gathering.
No. Free Flow.
Nah I don't stand a chance in Free Flow. Stash Gathering.
Thursday Morning: Okay okay. I'm doing Free Flow. It'll be a good experience and maybe I actually do stand a chance now that I'm getting more comfortable on the bigger jumps.
Oh. Wait. Registration closed last night. Wow. Really? Yup. 8 hours ago.
Maybe I'll do same day registration. Oh. There's only 10 spots available for girls. They must be full anyways.
Guess I'm doing the Stash.

That's pretty much how it all went. I really need to make decisions earlier and then commit to them. Kind of like in snowboarding how I get screwed over when I make decisions about the trick I'm doing when I'm already in the process of doing it or how I only commit half way to tricks and then wreck myself. I spent so much time thinking I wasn't good enough for Free Flow that by the time I got stoked on it it was too late.

It's not like I'm totally missing out on anything though. I'm just gonna do the Stash Gathering and hopefully pick up some swag. It's also the Burton Demo Tour at Northstar this weekend so I'll be able to check out some of their gear and maybe find out about getting some (crossing my fingers with this part).

Nicola registered for Free Flow slopestyle and half pipe ages ago. I talked to her today and she said she's not going to do pipe anymore and I can take her place. Since I can't just "take her place" I have to show up at Sierra at 7am (or earlier) and make sure I'm first on the wait list. Now the problem of not having a car comes up. But if I can figure that out I can compete in a real competition and see how I hold up against other girls (since I haven't gotten to really asses my skill with the USASA comps).

My history has proven that things just kind of work out over time so I'm going to assume I have a way of getting to Sierra-at-Tahoe and practice for pipe. I haven't ridden pipe much in the past couple of weeks and I usually use my no-edge park board. However, I'm determined to ride my pipe board and actually get air on Sunday so I guess I'll just be lapping pipe all day tomorrow. The x-games got me all stoked on pipe and I really want to push myself to at least do half of what all those girls were doing.

Wish I was doing slopestyle, but I'm going to go into the Stash Gathering and Half-Pipe and do the best I can. I love snowboarding so much and just being able to do it everyday is the best thing in the world, even if I suck at making decisions.

Yeah I should post

about the things that have been going on and stuff.
But the x games are starting in a few minutes and I don't have internet in my apartment still. Sooo I'll have to post some other time.
Enjoy the games!

Review: Columbia Omni-Heat

Columbia: Women's Frosty Forest: You wouldn't even believe this heat.

What Columbia says: Omni-Heat helps maintain warmth and prevent heat loss through reflective, electric, and insulated technologies, keeping you comfortable in cold weather.

What I say: I was definitely surprised with this one. Using some sort of crazy alien magic, the little silver dots inside the omni-heat jacket used my own body heat to heat me more and keep me feeling comfortable and hot in 20 degree weather, even though I actually had nothing other than a tank top on underneath the jacket.


Specs: I tested the Women's Frosty Forest in medium in the Tidewater/Bolt color combo. I used it at Northstar on a 22 degree & cloudy day, a 24 degree and snowing day, and a 27 degree and bluebird day. I also used it at Boreal at night when it was windy and about 30 degrees. Asides from boarding I wore this jacket while lounging around in my apartment.


What I loved: I couldn't believe how warm this jacket kept me. The first day I put it on I had a few layers underneath it. Within a few minutes I realized I didn't need to wear the load of clothing I normally pack on for snowboarding. Turns out I only need a tank top when I wear Omni-Heat. Every time I wore this jacket I had nothing but a tank top on underneath it. I had the warmth of multiple layers, without the bulk. That's really what amazed me about this jacket. I never once felt cold in it. Another aspect that I liked about this jacket was that it was very breathable. While I stayed warm I didn't get sweaty. It also stayed really dry. I had a few falls that left me covered in snow but a few minutes later I'd be perfectly dry again.


Improvements: The only things that didn't thrill me about this jacket were a few elements of it's construction. Like every good jacket, the Frosty Forest has pockets inside. The problem I found though was that the jacket is made of two layers that can be separated or connected (good!) but the pockets were on the inside of the outer layer so when my layers were connected I couldn't get to those pockets. I also had some issues with the jacket bunching up in my armpits and I found myself having to pull it down many times throughout the day. It felt a little stiff but I think that it will soften up over time. I struggled to get the sleeves over my gloves. After a few days of wearing the jacket I got the hang of tucking my gloves underneath the sleeves but it still wasn't as easy as it could have been. The cut of the jacket was a little tight for me but that's just a personal thing. I like more boyish cuts and looser fits but at 5'3" and 115lbs, the medium felt a bit snug for my preferences. 


Overall: While some things about the cut bothered me, the technology involved in the jacket makes the pros outweigh the cons. I can deal with having to pull the jacket out of my armpits every once in a while in exchange for being able to wear just a tank top under the jacket while I ride. I would recommend this jacket to other snowboarders and people who spend time in cold weather because it's an awesome way to stay warm and not have to spend time or money dealing with other layers. I never had a cold moment in the Frosty Forest jacket and will now depend on it for those days when I don't know what to expect of the weather because I know I'm always a comfortable temperature in it.


Check out the jacket here.

-Big thank you to Columbia for the jacket and the opportunity to test out their Omni-Heat technology.-

Competitions, face injuries, and friends (Or "This month in pictures")

So not having internet kind of makes it difficult to make posts so I'm going to do an overview of the month with photos I've taken because a lot has happened and I don't want to make boring paragraphs of text.

Northstar, 1-1-11. Riding the Zephyr with the Sal, Jordan, and Ralph. First day of the new year, first day riding my new board, and first day taking this awesome hidden tree run I never knew existed.

Lunch. I feel like this is a significant step into my snowboard-bum future: not being able to afford resort food (apparently $2.93 doesn't get anything at the day lodge) and having to get creative with the condiment section. It wasn't so bad. Crackers and spicy mustard with parmesan cheese is actually pretty good. Crackers with salsa get old though. After I ate this I found a ten year old who was about to throw away half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I swooped in. It was crunchy peanut butter. It was delicious.

Catching the amazing view from a backside chair. I can't believe I live in this beautiful place.

About to take my first White Rabbit adventure, feeling like I'm on top of the world. Alex took this picture. I love dipping into the trees on the edge of the resort with one or two people. It seems like there's no one else in the world.

Nicola rides on the Northstar team with me. She's my first girl friend that I ride with regularly now. Trail markers make awesome poles to push through flat spots with, as well as awesome jousting swords.

Getting beat up at Boreal. I finally found the confidence to hit 35ft jumps (and also had the pressure that I'd be competing on them the next day) and once I got comfortable on them I decided to try spinning. Well. Turns out I didn't have the confidence to do that, cut too much speed out and managed to slam my head into the knuckle. This is the day after I did that. Within a few days my eye bruised up quite nicely. One week later it's starting to fade back out. The chin? Went back to just doing grabs off the jumps, waxed my board, and completely cleared the landing. Next time I speed checked, knuckled and hit my knee to my chin. This is right after it happened. I keep picking the scab off. My B.

These are the first two jumps in the competition line. For some reason I had major issues that day and had the worst time stomping anything at all. But since there was no one against me I got 1st for my two slopestyle events. The next day I had halfpipe and actually did really well. I think. There was no one against me so I don't know if my half pipe firsts were actually deserved or just defaulted. I need competition!

Waiting for results with Nicola and Richard at Boreal...

There was this big ski school employee party at Gar Woods with free food and drink. Alpine and Homewood employees were there too. This is me with some of the Argentineans from Alpine or Homewood. South Americans are crazy. That's all I have to say about that.

 My room mate Dana and I at Heavenly today. We didn't last there for very long. It was raining a bunch and half of the mountain was impossible to get to. Thought we could just lap the park. Nope. The only park we could find that was open had awesome features but was so flat it was ridiculous to try to get enough speed to hit anything.

One view from Heavenly.

And another. It's a beautiful place that I'd love to ride on a sunny day.

Well that was my unexciting post about what's been up. There's plenty that I'm leaving out but that's what happens when I go weeks without posting. Hopefully I'll be getting internet soon so I can keep up with this more. Overall though I've been having an amazing time. I'm so so so glad I made the decision to move here and follow my heart. There's nothing more I want in the world than to snowboard every day and live with my amazing friends.
Till next time,
Jenise.