Helly Hansen wants to congratulate our ambassador Jackie Paaso on her huge win at the Chamonix stop of the Freeride World Tour. Here is her recap of the event and be sure to check out the video of her line!
About a week ago I had arrived in Chamonix, France for the second stop of the Freeride World Tour. I was coming off a disapointing finish at the first stop in Revelstoke and was hoping to redeem myself.
On arrival day we were informed that there would be some weather days. I was hoping that would mean a few days of skiing beforehand to train some, but that was not the case. It had snowed so much in Chamonix that the conditions were a bit trouble some. Most resorts in the area were closed becuase of avy danger and those that were open were almost too flat to get any good skiing in. When the Brevent finally opened we found that the snow was much heavier than we anticipated making the skiing a little challenging.
There was also an inversion that was hanging out in the Chamonix valley that kept rising in and out making our inspection day quite difficult. There were a few windows of visibility but not enough to get a good handle on the terrain. Since there was a venue change due to the high temperatures and poor snow quality everyone had to start making new plans on a new venue.
So due to the lack of visibility on the inspection day we had to have an early morning to get some more time to inspect. Fortunatly for the ladies we went second and were able to watch a few of the men to get a better look at the venue.
After watching a few of the men come down the same area that I had planned as well as recieving some additional info from Reine Barkered when I had reached the top I decided my line was good to go.
Once I dropped in I realized that the snow was actually better than I had anticipated which was a pleasant surprise. Coming into my first drop I had to deal with a bit of sluff and then dropped my first cliff. After a solid landing I was feeling strong and ready for my next double stager. When I reached the top of the first cliff I realized it was a little larger than I had originally thought and paused for a second unfortunately. However I knew that first drop was crucial to coming out clean on the second and after the pause I dropped in and was able to stomp both cliffs! It felt so good and was so much fun!
I ended up coming out on top of the second stop on the Freeride World Tour. I'm currently third in the overall standings and I'm hoping to keep moving on up the rankings as the season progresses. The next stop for the women is in Rodal, Norway at the end of February. At the moment I'm in Courmayeur, Italy cheering on my boyfriend Reine Barkered and Helly Hansen athlete Aurelien Ducroz for the third stop of the Freeride World Tour for the men! It's going to be a great show!
