Women

Q & A

1. I’m always striving to do new things. I grew up riding big mountain, now I’m in the park. I love it. But I also love big lines. And powder—it tops anything.

2. I went to Whistler in high school and fell in love with halfpipe. Being in the air and having a bunch of hits over and over… I love the flow of it. Once I graduated high school I moved to Breckenridge to get my ski career started.

3. I found my niche in park skiing.

4. I’m bouncing around these days. Colorado in the winter, home in the summer. Bellingham, Washington will always be home.

5. It’s hard to compare anywhere I’ve skied so far to where I grew up. Baker is on this pedestal.

6. Riding Baker makes you a tough skier. There’s heavy snow and lots of it. The natural terrain is incredible and it’s barely groomed. You feel like you’re always out-of-bounds. I was constantly skiing powder and hiking a ton. Baker makes everything seem easier.

7. I started skiing at age 8. My family and I would go to Baker on the weekends and as I got older, I followed my brother everywhere.

8. I grew up with all snowboarders. Baker is a snowboard mountain. That shaped the style and way I ski.

9. We are definitely a skiing family. My grandparents skied, my mom is a mountaineer. My Aunt says I’m living the dream—she did the whole hot dog thing back in the day.

10. My mom grew up skiing in Wisconsin and moved to Washington. As we got older she had more time for herself and started touring, doing hut trips, climbing peaks. She introduced me to the backcountry.

11. I learned how to spin off backcountry booters. Growing up, we didn’t build jumps, we just found things and got creative. It taught me how to read the mountain scape and find inventive lines. That has helped me find my own style in the park.

12. I want to produce a strong and inspiring movie segment—a mix between Kristi’s in Happy Dayz and Ingrid’s in Yearbook. Those segments made me push it and I would love to do that for someone someday.

13. I'm really passionate about women’s freeskiing stepping it up. I’ve never liked the whole you’re good for a girl. I’ve always compared myself to the guys. If I’m trying to get pumped up, I watch the guys—I want to watch what I want to be doing.

14. There are a handful of girls really pushing it. But I’m not satisfied. I hope more girls change their mentality. I really think it’s mental. I’ve seen girls achieve tricks no one thought was possible. We’re capable of doing any trick a guy does, it just might take longer to learn.

15. It’s about being athletes. Girls put so much pressure on what they look like. I’ve seen a lot of girls not want to be athletic to achieve a certain look. They don’t want to lift because they don’t want big legs—they want to be feminine and skinny. I’ve seen too many friends get hurt because they don’t have strong enough legs to take impact. We all need to think about ourselves as athletes.

16. I’m trying to stay true to myself in the competitive world. I’m honest and I tell it like it is. I don’t put on a face very well. Sometimes I feel like I don’t fit in. I’m so laid back and don’t do the attitude that seems to come along with it. I love everyone I ski with and compete with and they are great people, but when it comes to competition, it all shifts and changes. Even if I fall, I smile. I’m having fun. I’m still skiing.

17. I’m still feeling it out and getting to know what industry is all about. It’s hard to get used to the stuff no one sees behind the scenes. There are people that promote themselves really well. A of people don’t let their skiing speak for itself. That it’s not just about your skiing is something I’ve had to accept. You have to work really hard on both sides. The hype can really affect your career. I haven’t gone that route—that’s not my thing.

18. Of course I want to win the X Games. It’s been a dream of mine since I was ten and wanted to be in the X Games for everything possible—snowboarding, skateboarding…eventually it was skiing.

19. I have never landed a run in an X Games final. I peaked during practice both years. I just want to land my run and reach my full potential in the pipe.

20. I need to get used to huge venues with lots of people. Every year there are things to take your mind off skiing. I didn’t grow up competing in skiing. It’s hard to get used to lots of people watching.

21. But when it comes to the mental aspect of competing, I’ve grown a lot in the last few years.

22. I see myself trying to do it all. I’m well rounded and I want my career to be well rounded too.