Summer in France

So....it's been a while since I've last written a blog post. Maybe i'll have to go and back date a few when I get the chance! Sshhh don't tell anyone :)

I'm in France for the summer. And I've been really lucky and have really landed on my feet here. I'm living with a french family, renting a spare room. And they are the nicest people, and the nicest family I've met. And i'm not just saying that in case they read it, as they are French :p

I live with the parents and the Grandad of the family as the kids have all moved out. Although they all come by and visit several times a week. And they are all about my age, slightly younger. I feel like i'm part of the family already...well it has actually been almost 2 months! Time flies. Oh, and they have a cat called Jolie, which is even  better!!

I've also got myself a job working in the cafe at a Wakeboard Cable, TNA (www.tna-arenthon.com) I work 6 days a week, but am usually done by 3 or 4 pm which means i have the whole afternoon/evening to ride!! It's great being able to ride everyday...obviously you can't physically ride EVERYday, but it's nice to have the oportunity. Usually after a couple of days of riding your body starts screaming NO, I'M TIRED, and you hav to have a rest. Wakeboarding definitely takes a much bigger toll on your body day to day than snowboarding. Or maybe i'm just not trying hard enough snowboarding :s

  

Anyway, ridings great. It's awesome to be able to do the two sports I love. And at the same time having a break from the other. You get the same buzz from wakeboarding as from snowboarding, but it's also a change of scenery and a bit different. I think it helps you push yourself in the two sports as it doesn't get boring. After a few months the seasons change and it's time to grab the other board!

I made a little edit last week of some riding. I actually filmed it all in one set! So it was all in about 15 minutes of riding...there was a big group of beginners on at the same time so I didn't want to fall off and queue, so just stayed on until I finally fell in! Those of you who ride cable will understand!

Voila, here is the link to the edit

 http://vimeo.com/100221620

Click HERE

I'm pretty pleased with it as I did the editing and found the music...which I think is the hardest part! Let me know what you think!

So apart from that, not much else. My days are work wakeboard sleep repeat. But i'm loving it and hoping to come back next year.

Plans for the winter at the moment are to go to the States for 3 months and ride. Unfortunately without a visa its pretty impossible to work over there, so saving the pennies to make a fun trip. Hoping to get my hands on Katie Blundell and ride with her this winter!!

I've been lucky to get some cool summer wear from Westbeach and Rocket Dog so I can be fashionable down at the lake :) Thanks a lot guys!

   

That's it That's all! Peace

PBRJ Austria, Kitzsteinhorn

Last week there was another Volcom Peanut Butter Rail Jam on in Austria. I headed over with a few of the girls from mayrhofen for the day, Betty, Eva and Bianca. After all this great weather, the forecast was actually for snow showers and high winds! Did I mention Kitzsteinhorn is a glacier.....so yeh it was pretty windy but the weather held out long enough to do the competition! It just meant the run in was a bit icy!

So, we had a quick practice on the setup. It was actually a really nice setup, the rails were really smooth. A few of the options looked a little more daunting, but once I hit them it was fine. Once we found out the format, it turned out we didn't actually have to hit the side features (which were the gap, closeout to downrail options) so most girls opted for the lefthand downrail, double kink, and right hand downrail. The format was best trick on each counts, and you have to hit all 3 features.

The Setup

In the qualis I didn't feel like i had rode my best, as the 20 minute session seemed to go really fast. So I was happy I had another chance in finals. 5 of us out of the 9 entered went through to finals and that went really well. I got my safety tricks down first hits, so then could work on the more difficult ones. Here's a shot of me on the down rail

Front Lip

Really happy to come away with 1st place. All the girls rode really well, especially as we were all a bit cold before going into finals, but after one hike that soon changed! Happy that my two friends Betty and Lisa joined me on the podium in 2nd and 4th place :)

As always, Volcom put on a great BBQ with sweets, chocolates (yum) and even beers! And then loads of throw out prizes at the end for everyone! Definitely one of the best competitions to go to for a fun day out!!

Heres a link to the edit and their write up on the day VOLCOM

Spring is here!

I always say it, but once again time has flown by!! Maybe this time it is actually a trick, as the weather has suddenly changed and become really warm! It's almost like summer and it's only the beginning of March!

So...February went by with lots and lots of holiday makers, long queues and long shifts at work! Luckily, the holidays are now over, and you can really tell the difference on the mountain! It is no longer like playing chicken on the M25.

Highlight of the month for me was coming second in the Volcom Peanut Butter Rail Jam in Grasgehren, Germany, I've been to a few of these over the last few years, and the are by far the most relaxed and fun competition. It's free entry, free food and drink, and you all hike the features so everybody gets to see what's going in, which means it's a nicer and more supportive atmosphere to a slopestyle competition.

The set up was pretty gnarly! And i must admit, when I got there, I only really wanted to hit one of the features as the others looked pretty uninviting.

There are three features, and your best trick on each counts. I like this format as once you get a solid trick on one feature you move onto the next. Then if you have time left at the end you can try and improve your tricks. I was pretty pleased to get a trick to the end of each feature as they were all pretty long! 

Well done to Charlie Rowland, who came 4th in his category! The level of the guys was insane!! Here's the link to an edit from the comp.

I've been doing quite a few of the smaller comps this year around Austria. I haven't done as well as I'd hoped, as I keep falling on my jumps! And as they are usually a 2 run format, you need to land your spins to get a podium, rather than doing a safety run. I've had a mix of 4th and 5th places. So now I need to try and improve my consistency, especially when it comes to hitting new features. Often, after traveling to the comp you only get 1 or 2 runs to familiarise yourself with the set up before its game time! I managed to get third overall in the Wir Shanzen tour though :) 

I've got a few nice snaps from Penken Park recently. One of our friends Greg Stevens at Forward Lean takes pictures twice a week in the park. Here are a few of the good shots

I've finally been getting over my fear of frontboards too, and have even given it a go on the stagger rail. Not quite made it to the end yet, but getting there!

Ao, next up is the Brits in a few weeks! Better start landing some kickers :)