thephoenix.com/ski | supplement to the boston phoenix | ski + snowboard guide | november 11, 2011 5
DID YOU HAVE AnY REALLY MAJOR wIpEOUTS wHEn YOU wERE FIRST STARTInG OUT? You
know, I definitely took a lot of hits, but at that time — well, I still pride myself on this — but I could take a hit. But yeah, actually, a lot of girls in the industry have these giant hematomas on our hips. Mine is from a half pipe in 2003, in Switzerland. It was super icy, and I crashed and hit my hip into the ground. My whole side was bruised and swollen, and I still have, like, scar tissue in my hip from that almost 10 years ago now. But that was kind of my biggest one then. But I tended to bounce when I was younger, and not break. I don’t bounce as well now.
THERE’S A CERTAIn AMOUnT OF RISk InVOLVED wITH YOUR CAREER AnD THE SpORT In GEnERAL. wHEn YOU’RE GOInG InTO A TRICk, DO YOU ACknOwLEDGE THE FACT THAT YOU MIGHT nOT MAkE IT OUT OF IT? I think all of us accept that injuries are a part of what we do. And it’s a very intense sport, and we’ve known people to pass away, and people that have been paralyzed and suffered traumatic brain injuries, and it’s a heavy thing when you start thinking about it. But we all set goals for ourselves, and have
tricks that we want to do, and take all the precautions that we can in preparing for tricks. We’re not reckless, and even our wildest tricks have smaller things that you can do before you’re doing that wildest trick, so everything’s a progression. You start small and you work your way up. You acknowledge the risk, but then you just make sure that you’ve taken all the precautions and that you’re trained and ready for it, and at that point you can’t think about it. It’ll make your worst fears come true. . . . But I think it makes us appreciate what we do even more because it is so risky. K eI TH C ARLs e n
think now it’s actually kind of easier to get into, because parks are so well-maintained and built — there’s smaller jumps you can start on, and work your way up to larger jumps. At the time that I was starting, there weren’t really any teams or programs for that sport. It was hard to find a coach and have that support. But at this point there’s a ton of programs. The East Coast does a really good job with teams that you can join and coaches that you can work with to ease your way into it, and learn how to do the crazy stuff.
DO YOU GO TO THE X GAMES EVERY YEAR? I do. I go to the
long time, and then it finally happened, and I was able to look back at all my hard work and know that it paid off.
HAVE YOU EVER SnOwBOARDED, OR ARE YOU STRICTLY A SkIER? I have
snowboarded. I’m not very good at snowboarding. It’s a totally different sport. It feels weird to be stuck in one body position. You can change your body position all the time on skis, and that’s what makes it work. So on the snowboard . . . it’s funny. It’s weird.
pLUS, I FEEL LIkE wIpInG OUT On A SnOwBOARD HURTS A LOT MORE. That’s where I
Jen Hudak
get into trouble on a snowboard. I don’t know how to make adjustments or correct anything, because I’m stuck to this board . . . and generally it ends up bad.
X Games every year, and it’s my favorite event of the year, for sure.
wHAT wAS IT LIkE THE FIRST TIME YOU wEnT? I mean, ev-
IS THERE AnY MOUnTAIn
erything at X Games is kind In THE wORLD THAT YOU of over the top, and there’s HAVEn’T SkIED AnD wOULD so much pressure and exciteSTILL LOVE TO GET TO? I would ment and just chaos around love to get to Alaska at some you all of the time, and the point. I think the mounfirst few years I was there, tains are really incredible I got really distracted by it. up there, and there’s just It was hard for me to figure so much virgin snow all out how to stay calm and around you. Yeah, that’s a Caroline Gleich pace myself in such a highplace I’ve never been that I energy environment. The would absolutely love to go. first time I medaled was really, really exciting, and then the first time that I won wHAT wOULD BE YOUR BEST ADVICE TO the X Games was absolutely incredible. SOMEOnE wHO’S nEw TO THE SpORT? It was something that I dreamed of for a I would first recommend that they try both
CAROLInE GLEICH Big Mountain Freeskier YOU GREw Up In MInnESOTA AnD UTAH. HAVE YOU EVER SkIED THE nORTHEAST? I have. I’ve skied at Jay Peak and Stratton. I really love visiting Vermont and the East Coast for skiing. Like, when I went to Jay Peak, we got so much powder, it was crazy. And I think Vermont is just so charming. It’s, like, a totally different aesthetic than we have out here.
THAT’S TRUE. IF YOU GROw Up SkIInG In VERMOnT , YOU’RE JUST USED TO SkIInG On SHEER ICE. IT’S wHAT YOU THInk SkIInG Is. The first time you ski out West, you don’t even know what to do with all the powder. There are a lot of great skiers that come from both Minnesota and the East Coast. Because I think if you can learn to edge on the ice, than you can probably ski anywhere.
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