Vans Hi Standard

On Saturday, there was a fun comp on up at Mayrhofen Penken Park. They did it last year too, but unfortunately I had work so couldn't go! But this year I made it along....even if I as a little late.

It' quite different from most other competitions, it's based on style so no tricks over a 720! (Not that I ca do a 720!) But for the guys this meant a lot more slower rotations and cool grabs rather than double corks.

It's also not really about a podium finish, it's cash for tricks. So if you stomp a trick or do something nice, you get given $5 vans dollars to hold onto. Then at the end of the day you go cash them in and get 20 euro a pop! I like this format as it means everyone gets a little something, rather than one person walking away with everything.

The jump in the background, and rails.

The day started off on the jump, I got there a bit late so everyone was already in full flow hitting the jump. It had only been built a few days before so I hadn't hit it yet so I was a bit nervous, especially with everyone trying to drop at the same time. Eventually I hit it and did a nice bit indie grab, and got myself some cash! :)

Then we moved onto the rails. We were shredding the 'stairset', or really a slideset. It's cool as it doesn't hurt as much as stairs to fall on, but still makes the features a bit more tricky, and it looks cool for photos! I got a few tricks I was happy with, and even an OK frontboard (which i'm still trying to perfect these days) so I was stoked. And got myself another 20 euros :)

At the end of the day they did some cool prize giveaways, people were dancing, limboing, getting naked, and all sorts to get themselves some goodies. I won a pretty long handstand contest and got myself a backpack :)

So overall a fun day and a really cool different competition format! Definitely wanna do it again sometime! Much better way of getting cash than being a waitress!

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 :)