Check out this little edit of Sina Candrian, Isabel Derungs and me taking a “Liptrip” to Laax. End of season spring riding is so much fun!
April April!
The last few weeks have been good. I was in Laax with Lipstick Productions for some time, spent a few days riding in Switzerland with the Audi crew and traveled to Andalucia in order to ride some pipe in Sierra Nevada. This was a real April thing, with weather going absolutely crazy. The riding didn’t really happen as we managed to hit Spain exactly the worst week of the whole season and were stuck in the fog for almost seven days. But… We did the tapas, el mercadillo, the Alhambra and la playa instead!
Laax - park view
Laax - after hour
Lenzerheide - Didier “I love shades” Cuche warming up at Audi Snowdays
Sierra Nevada - park meets fog
Sierra Nevada - care about some radiance?
The sun didn’t show! We decided to visit Granada and the orange trees instead.
Tapas - the preliminary phase.
Mercadillo.
Alhambra.
Stop at the beach on our way to the airport. Where is the fog now?
Rather late than never….
How was that saying again… Rather late than never, right? I guess I need to make use of that one here as I was really busy travelling and snowboarding over the last three weeks. Laax - US Open - Boston - X Games Europe - Arlberg: I got to go to great places. But in good times, there is no time for togetherness with a computer. Nevertheless, now it’s definitely time for a little update!
Time to celebrate: This year, US Open was not only a comp. It was also a birthday party. The Open entered its 30ies! Looking at the Jake Burton memorial wall, it is unbelievable how far snowboarding has evolved over the past decades.
Also K2 has been in the business for quite a while. They build snowboards since 1988! This is Silje Norendal’s and Charlotte Van Gils’ lovely guns waiting for them in the lobby.
It’s a tradition: Poachers in the pipe during men’s finals. Good to see that despite of 30 years existence, US Open is never gonna grow up. Although the poachers were missing in the pipe at 8 am during womens’ finals: It was fun to ride! Happy to have landed on fifth place at the US Open and finishing the TTR World Tour Halfpipe Ranking on fifth place as well.
It’s a tradition too: Après-shopping in Manchester. Cilka went to see Giorgo!
And then… One day in Boston! Cupcakes on Newbury street before flying back to Europe.
Next stop: European X Games Tignes. Long time no see… Only two days after having finished US Open finals, we were already competing in Tignes.
Jetlag makes funny things with you.
A bunch of people came to watch the action.
It’s a wrap: The contest season 2011 / 2012 is over! And yes, there was a party. Mandatory sunglass look with Sina Candrian the day after.
Different worlds: After three weeks of slushy pipe experiences, winter had a perfectly timed comeback for the Protest photoshoot in Stuben Austria. Wohoo!
Legit action shot from back in the days at the hotel we were staying.
“Everyday I’m shoveling” aka Mirabelle Thovex.
Carlos, Mikka and Jonas: Campfire relaxation after a great day of riding and hiking. Thanks to Protest for a beautiful week!
Burton European Open: There’s no place like home!
There is no place like home. And there is nothing better than having a great snowboard event happening close to it. The warm welcome of the event staff feels even warmer if it is in your own language. The food tastes homemade and just a bit better than elsewhere. It is great to hear the speaker getting your name right when you drop in for your run. It is fun times if the camera guy that films you during you wait for your score is a school friend from back in the days. And it is nice if your mom gets to watch you ride so she knows what you do all year long. Burton European Open 2012 was awesome and Laax did more than a great job in hosting it last week. Thank you - grazia fich for an absolutely great event!
It’s Laax, not Cape Canaveral! This year, the annual theme at BEO was space travel.
The space ship has landed at Crap Sogn Gion
So has the crowd during pipe finals.
Little alien Stella came all the way up with mama Manuela Pesko to watch the girls. Everyone killed it in finals! It was fun to ride and I ended up in 5th place.
My friend Isa Derungs got 3rd in slopestyle. So happy to see her taking home that astronaut!
And again…. Goodbye, home sweet home! Spaceshipping over to Stratton Vermont for US Open right after having finished the european version.
Thank you Norway!
Last week, the first ever TTR World Championships were held in Oslo. It was a truly great event and yet another milestone for snowboarding. Takk Norge!
Velkommen!
School trip vibes on the bus ride to Oslo Winter Park.
Perfect set up waiting for us up there.
Oslo’s mayor invited all the riders to a welcome dinner at Oslo City Hall. This is where the Nobel Peace Price is given away every year. Impressive!
Last minute muscle toning: Isabel Derungs
Spooky ambience during pipe finals. Any norwegian trolls around?
My riding on saturday night was a little bit spooky too! Never managed to land my first trick properly and could not bring down the rest of my run the way i wanted to. 7th place.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun to ride! Interview together with Cilka Sadar after finals.
And the Swiss crew had a reason to celebrate: Iouri is World Champion! Russian inspired winner dinner with proud mama Podlatchikov.
Julia and Cilka at the closing night
And last but not least… Some tourist activities with our beloved physio Vero! On the rooftop of Den Norske Opera House.
Last weekend, our “Swiss Snowboard Girls Day” went down in Davos. Unfortunately, I could not attend as I was on my way home from Canada that day. But it is a pleasure to watch how the 40 young girls took over the Jakobshorn resort in Davos. Good to see how the Swiss Snowboard Girls family is growing! Stay tuned for upcoming events….
“Wintergedanken”
This winter, the newspaper “Die Südostschweiz” invited me to write a monthly column for their sports section. See my latest contribution:
Canadian Open it was
Good weather, amazing riders care, a comfy bed at hotel Arts and healthy food around the corner. Sina, Nadja, Isabel, Max & Jan: A great crew to spend a week with in Canada. No snow in Calgary, a pipe as icy as it gets, and a great level of riding in finals. That was Canadian Open 2012. Good times that went by just as fast as this short report about it…
Sina, Nadja, me: 50 % of the Swiss crew that was heading to Canada
Sunset at Canada Olympic Park right before finals started. Stoked I made it and got to ride in the evening!
“Mountain” bound. You would never think that you will be snowboarding only ten minutes after driving through the dusty city of Calgary.
But the city does great food! Sunterra Market, best grocery store ever.
Very happy to be home for a few days now. Welcome back / it’s Anna’s birthday brunch with my girls.
Rocky mountains again
After a more than perfect beginning of january, I left for Breckenridge two weeks ago. Check out the pictures, it was great times! Conditions were good, the weather sometimes too and when the sun finally stayed out for one day, I even got to film a few pipe shots for Lipstick Productions. Up next is Calgary. For the last two years, I somehow never managed to make a good contest experience at the Canadian Open. And after I missed finals for the second time in a row last year, I was sure I would never come back. But here I am again, motivated to ride better and finally become friends with the plains of Alberta!
Breckenridge calling.
Authentic & multifunctional interior at our house.
Genuine Colorado weather.
Sunny day. Filmer Ben likes it.
And we like fancy hats.
Just as we like good food after riding. Teamworking on spinach spätzli.
Up next: Canadian Open.
Powder is magic!
Have you ever asked yourself why tracking fresh snow on a snowboard is causing such an overwhelming feeling of excitement? Well, I have just recently. Switzerland has gotten huge amounts of snow over the first two weeks of January. Incredible conditions! I got to enjoy them in Davos, Laax and Engiadina. And everywhere, I observed the same beautiful thing: Riding powder is making people happy in a fascinating way. It is the kind of happiness where the unique acoustics of snow-covered wood are disrupted by laughing and yells of excitement. It embraces the whole mountain. It is the kind of happiness that makes strangers talk to each other on lift rides. After a run full of turns and sprays, everybody seems to speak the same language. It is the kind of happiness that fulfills your day more than anything else… And it makes you sleep very well at the end of it. Floating through a field of fresh snow causes the kind of happiness you can not explain… You just have to experience it.
Switzerland goes winter wonderland.
Yes, I slept very well after this!
Good morning, sunshine!
It might be hard to identify, but this Clast facemask is covering a very happy face :)
