Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Dumont Cup

Today I picked my first major win of my career at the Dumont Cup in Sunday River Maine. It was amazing! All of my good friends were out here today shredding with me. Semis and finals took place today on a perfectly manicured course that Simon Dumont himself designed for us. Mother nature played a huge role today throughout the contest. Wind gusts were blowing the flags sideways during the contest. I'd like to thank all of my sponsors, WINDELLS ACADEMY, VOLKL SKIS, MARKER BINDINGS, SMITH OPTICS, UNDER ARMOUR, DALBELLO, DAKINE, AND SCOTT POLES. Also, big shout out to the big guy up stairs watching out for me!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Exhausted but Stoked

Taking a six hour bus ride through the alps packed in like sardines with people isn't the most comfortable journey in the world. And on top of that, having to pay thirty dollars for dinner at the airport hotel that same day isn't the most comforting feeling either. Me and my coach Mike are exhausted. We left Tignes France this morning at 12:30 via bus ride and arrived in Geneva Switzerland at 6:30. Our plane departs tomorrow for the states at 10:30. I'm sitting in my hotel room right beside the Geneva airport reminiscing on how great of a week I have had in Europe. The European X Games experience has been surreal. I'm definitely looking forward to coming back next year. I don't think I have ever eaten so much good food in one week before. The French sure know how to cook. I'll be doing another post soon with TONS of photos from Tignes. Don't take the creepy picture to the right to seriously haha.


The next step is the Dumont Cup in Sunday River Maine. We're flying to the East Coast and will be there for a week and a half enjoying some New England hospitality. More posts surely to come. I love New England. Cheers

Thursday, March 17, 2011

European X Games Qualifiers

Nick here, reporting from the riders lounge in Tignes at the European X Games. Just wanted to let you guys know that I had a GREAT day yesterday even though I didn't make finals. There were 24 competitors in qualifying and they took the top 8 to finals. I ended up finishing 13th after my 2 runs were over. I skied my best and landed both of my runs and couldn't have been happier. I'll be cheering my friend Alex Schlopy on today in finals. It should be a great show!






















I should have some action photos soon so I'll post those as soon as I get some.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Euro X Training Run Video

Here is the Training run I was telling you about yesterday. A few little bobbles but it's a work in progress. I've just got to fine tune a couple things and throw in a few doubles and then I'll be good to go for Prelims tomorrow.

Monday, March 14, 2011

European X Games Training, Day 1.

Training went great today here in Tignes (Oh yeah, and it's my birthday). The course could use a few tweaks but it should be prime for our second day of training tomorrow! After training today we went to do a little freeskiing around Tignes. The western alps are like nothing I've ever skied on. Here are a couple photos to show you what I mean.


















 The second day of training is tomorrow and it should be good. I'm currently uploading a training run video and that should be up tomorrow haha (this internet sucks right now). Au revoir!

Friday, March 11, 2011

First Day in France

Wow! That is all I can say after my first full day in Europe. I don't ever think I've had a longer travel day in my entire life. On top of that, I've got about 8 hours of jet lag as I'm writing this. I left Denver this morning at 10:30 and continued to Washington DC, and then Geneva Switzerland.  Me and my coach Mike Hanley arrived in Geneva this morning at about 8 a clock and then proceeded to take a 3 hour bus ride from Geneva to Tinges, France. Tinges is where the European X Games are being held. The bus ride through the French countryside was amazing. I've never seen mountains like the alps before. It was like someone took the Colorado Rockies and pumped them up on steroids and then plopped them in Eastern France. Right now it is 6 a clock in Tinges and as of now, I've been awake for 20 hours straight since I left Denver this morning. I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight! Our first day of skiing is tomorrow. Here are a few quick photos from our arrival.

A view of the Alps from the Plane.






A crystal clear lake with mountains jetting up in the background on our way to Tinges.


A view of the slopes form the balcony outside our hotel room.


More updates to come. Stay tuned!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Getting limber before Europe

So I'm in Denver right now and 3 days have to pass until I leave for Europe. Those days will consist of no skiing, homework, and physical and mental preparation for the journey. I'm about to go crazy! I want to leave right this minute. It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm headed to Tinges France for the European X Games. I don't think it will hit me until I'm flying over the French Alps in a Bowing 727 staring down at some of the biggest mountains in the world. Stay tuned, blog updates to come like rapid fire.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Winter Park Openn baby

Hello all,

I apologize for not keeping the blog updated in so long. A combination of a small injury, and an uneventful 2 weeks are to blame for that. The blog should be back in full swing now though. I'm feeling much better since my little concussion 2 weeks ago at the Dew Tour and I'm skiing fairly well. Today was my first time competing since I hit my knoggen. I managed to slide into 5th place at the inaugural Winter Park Freeski Open today. I took it pretty easy in the contest and decided to save my body for my trip to the European X Games in 4 days. As of now, I'm starting to mentally and physically prepare for Euro X. It should be a great trip. Check back on the blog for updates from Europe!   

Here's a quick photo of me and fellow Windells Academy Student Jared Karon chilling in our hotel room.