Well, it’s been a few days since my return from the “Great State of Alaska.” For those of you who tried to log on to this site and found no news updates, I apologize. Things started off really well (save for the difficulty in finding wireless internet hotspots) and the first week was full of travel, awe inspiring views and good times with close friends.

The next week was the week of the competition over at Alyeska, AK. It was the final stop of both the US and World Freeskiing Tours and hosted over 200 competitors and events staff in the small town of Girdwood. Things started off as usual for a freeskiing competition with everyone’s hopes up and the stress levels beginning their climb. The qualifier went off on Alyeska’s famed North Face under blue skies (the first of our trip!) and everyone played it safe on some of the steepest terrain any of us have ever navigated in a competition venue.

Finding the line that no one else skied, I took a little tumble in my run due to the fast-moving slough that kicked my feet out from under me. Luckily, I had the reflexes and focus to get my skis back on the ground with enough time to point it off the nearest point fall line from me. During inspection, I had originally planned on making a sneak move around and under a cliff to a narrow ledge/snow band that I was going to ski down into Christmas Chute to the left. Once the slough caught up with me in my comp run, I knew that if I let it take me to the cliff’s edge, disaster would be my dancing partner. So, with quick judgment, I stood back up on my skis and sent the entirety of the cliff I had planned on skiing around and paid the price by landing on my face. The following video is from that run:

With all the soft snow that fell a few days before the comp, the gut of Christmas Chute was filled with soft slough snow and provided some padding for my ungraceful faceplant.

Whew! Another crisis averted.

Tags: Alyeska, US Freeskiing Series, World Freeskiing Championships