Last weekend I was able to place first at the 4-star Freeride World Qualifier in La Clusaz, France. Conditions we’re excellent: 50cm fresh powder and blue skies. We couldn’t inspect the competition venue as planned the day before due to bad weather. With bib number 12, I only had 10 minutes to decide which line I would ski. I pictured the line in my mind on my way to the start; luckily I had some time in the cable car. Usually, that would have made me very nervous, as well as the fact that I was competing on new skis – the Kästle BMX118 in 183cm – but on this day I was calm and confident. I skied a fluid and perfectly executed run with 3 cliff drops and a steep, technical middle section and scored a run of 8.80 points. Sweden’s Matilda Rapaport came 2nd and Geli Kaufmann from Lech came third, a fantastic result for Geli.
This victory is my first since 2009 and it is an especially meaningful one to me after a difficult 11/12 season of crashes and small injuries. The season before that I was battling a long term illness and basically had to quit skiing for the season. I started believing that although I was a good skier, I just wasn’t cut out for competition. Now though my hard work and dedication is paying off and I’m so very happy.
