The first line I skied was more technical than I usually choose at a comp, but I liked the challenge it posed for me and I decided to hit it. I carved the first two turns in beautiful dry powder over a spine and wind lip before the terrain narrowed into two tight chutes (tighter than I had anticipated!) separated by two large rocks. Taking the skiers right chute I managed to stay on my feet, a couple of hop turns between 2 boulders, and then I came maching out of the chute at full speed. The remaining 150 vertical meters went by in a blur of 3 huge turns. Thankfully I managed to hold it together, what a rush!

I really was looking forward to skiing my second line – the face was quite short but packed with features to play with. As I was watching the competitors before me at the start, it became quite clear that the conditions were icy. Should I change my line? Ski a more mellow one but be sure to stay on my feet? No I decided, I know I can do this! Finally it was my turn to start. My heart pounding, I waved my poles above my head before dropping in. As anticipated, the snow was wind-scoured and icy, and I was only just able to make a turn to the left and to my first drop after my steep entry. Two turns later and I was at the first cliff, I hesitated briefly seeing some rocks in the landing, but managed to land to the left of them. The snow was fast, but I could use the terrain to my advantage by making a long turn to the right, taking out speed before turning to the left towards the largest cliff at the bottom of the venue.  Sliding over the snow band on the top of the cliff, I jumped at an angle to the left and stomped it! I was so stoked to have skied my line just as I had planned!

I was able to take first place, with Katerina Kuncova from the Czech Republic and Naomi Richards from Australia taking 2^nd and 3^rd place respectively.

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After a 6 hour drive from Wanaka with Jake and Freeride World Champion Susan Mol, we arrived at the cosy alpine lodge nestled in the native bush of the Craigieburn valley. It had been absolutely pouring all day, so our expectations regarding the snow conditions weren’t too high. Furthermore, we were being pounded by gale force winds of up to 120 km/hr. The rope tows were forced to remain closed the following day, so we made use of a brief clearing to explore the area by foot, before it started snowing again in earnest.

Day 2 brought more snow and gale force winds, but luckily for us we were able to ski 5 runs before the rope tows were closed again due to the wind. However, the comp was on hold for today. But we did get to learn, albeit in extreme conditions, how to clamp our nutcracker onto a high speed rope for the first time. What scared me most were the pulleys which hold the rope in place – never once did I forget to take my hand off the rope so as not to get it caught in-between the rope and the pulleys. Without a doubt this day was one of the funniest ski experiences ever!

Day 3: The Expression Session

Really strong winds again today. The clouds whipped past the mountains so fast it looked like a time lapse. The top rope tow remained closed but that didn’t stop the event staff from organising an expression session in Gut 2 and 3. What looked like a ho-hum little area turned out to be a great playground showcasing the talents of the New Zealand freeskiers: getting super creative and throwing down in terrain a European skier would simply overlook. Super inspired and motivated, I joined the skiers and snowboarders in finding sketchy straight-lines and doing ollies over rocks at high speed, something I would otherwise not attempt. What a great day of skiing! To top it off, I was awarded the best female performance for skiing strong lines from top to bottom. A great way to end the Craigieburn Valley section of the 2009 Big Mountain Chill Series.

The post Chill Series Part 1: Craigieburn Valley appeared first on Lorraine Huber.

Here I will ski and compete in the New Zealand Freeride Series, consisting of: the NZ Freeski Open Big Mountain at Treble Cone, the K2 Big Mountain Chill Series at Craigieburn and Mt. Olympus, and the Export Gold Xtreme at Whakapapa, Mt Ruapehu. This is the first ever Southern Hemisphere Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ) Event and I’m stoked to be part of it!

I’m pre-qualified for the big mountain finals for the NZ Freeski Open because I podiumed last year. The finals are on the 14th August, wish me luck!

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