Paige Brady

Posts Tagged ‘telemark’

Alyeska World Comp

The second day was planned to start early to get our Super Final run done in morning before weather moved in.  We awoke to another beautiful day and had our brief athlete meeting before heading back up to the High Traverse to inspect the Slowboy Chutes on the Headwall, looker’s left of the Wedge.

The Slowboy Chutes

Having never skied the Slowboy’s before I didn’t really know what to expect, but I found a line I thought looked good.  I was planning on dropping in skiers left of the Headstone and then going through a little chute I found skiers right of the Headstone rock into Slowboy 2.  We booted back up the Headwall to get ready for our run.

The boys inspecting above the Headstone

Only three of the telemark girls made it into the Super Final run.  Lizet went first, skiing Slowboy 1.

Megan dropping in

Then Megan dropped into Slowboy 2 and skied the ridge between the two chutes.

Paige - photo: Jon Gurry

Then I dropped in above the Headstone, after making a few turns I realized I had pasted the Headstone rock I wanted to ski around, so I just continued fall line and found a little patch of rocks I could jump off.

Paige - photo: Jon Gurry

I continued through the debris and suncrusted snow to the finish.

Paige - photo: James Brady

Paige crossing the finish

I was very tired at the bottom of the run and excited to make it through the finish.

Me, my brother Mark, and my mom. My dad taking the photo

It was really cool to have the whole family out there watching the event!

Conor dealing with a bloody nose

When Conor Davis was skiing his second run (first; telemark, second; alpine) he buried his tip under the crust and then started tomahawking.  After he came to a rest he wasn’t moving so it was a little worrisome, but a patroller skied down to him and then he was able to slowly ski to the bottom of the venue.  It turned out he had a tip to the face and his nose was bleeding uncontrollably.  Luckily that was the worst of the crashes this year and most of the competitors escaped uninjured.

When everyone was done we skied a few more laps and then had the awards that night at the Sitzmark.

Lizet Christiansen 3rd, Paige Brady 1st, Megan Michaelson 2nd

I was really excited to find out I had won the title again on my home turf!!

Ryan Davis 3rd, Paul Kimbrough 1st, Jake Sakon 2nd

Final Results:

Alyeska World Comp

Well, the comp started out with a slight delay on Thursday due to poor visibility on the Headwall at Alyeska.  But by the time we all met at the base of Chair 4 at 11:00am the sky’s were clear and the competitors were psyched!  We found out then that we were going to be doing two runs that day and they wanted to start by 12:30pm.  We all got ready and headed up towards the High Traverse to do our final inspection of the Wedge from below before we started the boot pack up the Headwall.

Competitors inspecting the Wedge

Megan & Conor inspecting their line close-up from the camera view finder

I decided to ski a similar line to what I had done the year before which got me into some rocks lookers right of the Wedge with a small air out the bottom.

Day 1 venue - the Wedge

Luckily the telemark girls were running first so I didn’t have to wait at the top for too long and get really nervous.  When I started my run I had a couple powder turns and then I crossed a fracture line and was skiing the hard pack bed surface.  I found my entrance just above the Diving Board rock, skied through it clean and then skied down to the finish.

Competitors getting ready above the Wedge

All the telemark girls waited and watched the boys before we headed back up to hike the Headwall for our second run.  On our hike up we were able to see the junior boys ski the venue and completely dominate.  They were launching off the big cliff in the Wedge.  One hit the Diving Board rock, another front flipped off a cliff and they all stuck their landings like it was nothing.  Everyone was impressed.

Brooke and Lizet hiking the Headwall for round two

We all skied pretty similar lines the second time around but were a bit more tired.  I felt like I couldn’t complain though because Paul Kimbrough, Jake Sakson, and Conor Davis all skied in both the Telemark and the Alpine competitions, so they were headed up the Headwall for their forth time!

Mark Sanders and Corky Still announcing the comp

After our 2nd runs - Conor, Paul, Brooke, Candy, Paige, Megan, and Jake

It wasn’t until 7ish that we were all done and headed to the Sitzmark to grab some food before the meeting and results.

Results after Day 1:

Brooke and I

I drove through the night from Jackson to Tahoe with Corky and Brooke and arrived in the hot Tahoe sun Monday morning.  Extremely tried from the long drive, all we wanted to do was buy some flip-flops and hang out by the lake.  But I guess it isn’t the season yet, no one had them.  So we unpacked the car and realized Brooke’s boots were nowhere to be found.  Luckily a friend had an extra pair she could barrow for the week.

skinning up

On Tuesday, a few days before the comp, we decided to go on a backcountry ski out of Emerald Bay.

Corky and Matt looking at lines

We climbed a peak behind Tallac, it was sweet.

Me, Brooke, and Lizet on the top

Corky "not so" Still killing it on the way down

Six hours later we arrived back at the car, I mean our limo was there to pick us up!

Lizet, me, and Brooke