“The 3 C’s of life: Choices, Chances, Changes. You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.”

Click the photo for a little simple wisdom for complex lives from Tinybuddha.com

This quote makes me smile every time I see it because life is constantly changing because of our decisions. Change is sometimes scary but can be amazingly stimulating. As we get into another winter season, we have choices. We make plans and decide what our goals are going to be and make commitments of where we are going to travel. Throughout this process snow starts falling and we take chances. We push our limits, try new tricks, and chase the snowfall. Each chance has a risk but we are willing to take it just to see what’s on the other side. All of these choices and chances create change in our life and the path we choose day by day. By listening to yourself and deciphering between true confidence and fear allows us all to chase our dreams.

For me snowboarding is about the adventure and the unknown. Snowboarding defines my happiness and partially defines who I am as a person. Snowboarding is still such a young sport and we are all capable of leaving our mark in the history books. I have learned so much in the past two years and am so thankful to everyone who has supported me along the way. It’s time to start off a new season with a blank canvas and enjoy every moment along the way. Happy Thanksgiving and cheers to a good and healthy 2011-2012 winter.

It’s been awhile… way too long. I have been all over the place, including; road biking and hiking around Mammoth, New Zealand, Southern California, Africa, and Aspen, Colorado. Life has taken me on so many adventures in the past two months and now I am home just in time for Mother Nature to switch into winter mode. We are expecting snow to start flying in two days and that means it’s time to, once again, wrap up the summer activities and start heading to the gym a little more frequently. I have put together some more photos to tell the stories of my travels. Now that I am home, I can admit it… Mammoth’s opening day is slotted for November 10th! It’s here! Who’s ready… I am!

It seems like Summer just showed up… Warm weather means lots of time outside. Here are some more photos from adventures so far. I’ll be heading to New Zealand at the end of Aug. Back to winter.. so I’m soaking up the heat while I can.

Tis the season of dresses, bathing suits, sandals, and lots of outdoor activities. I have been all over the place soaking up the sun since I wrote last. I apologize for the lack of content.. Chris and I have been escaping the freezing temps and continuous snowy weather by heading to the tropics of El Salvador and the local beaches of Southern California. However, now Mammoth has remained fairly warm with summer days reaching into the mid 80′s and it’s play time. Pep Fujas came to town and the three of us have been biking, climbing, slack-lining, and have been enjoying every moment of the beautiful weather. Here are some photos to show our last months adventures. Enjoy Summer and Happy 4th of July!

That’s a wrap! As I am sitting in Southern California soaking up the somewhat warm Cali sun, I decided to fill you in on the last shoots of the year. Spring was quite the tornado of weather and ladies only park shoots. Kicking things off at Snowboarder Magazines Ms. Superpark at Keystone, CO at the beginning of April. One of the most progressive and innovative setups I have ever seen for a Ms. Superpark. Followed by a rememberable trip to South Lake Tahoe for Jamie Anderson’s Sierra @ Tahoe park shoot, which was a successful despite our battle with weather. The beautiful lake front house was not too shaby for epic BBQ’s. The season was then topped off with a ladies only park shoot at Mammoth Mountain. Mammoth did a stellar job at customizing a stepup/stepover, low impact, gap jump so 4 lady shredders could get at it with little/no consequence. The shredding crew at Mammoth included; Jamie Anderson, Erin Comstock, Raewyn Reid, and myself. The session did not disappoint and the photos speak for themselves. I can’t show much yet, but check back in August for what went down and for the full recap. The cherry on the top of all this was Mens Superpark up at Bachelor in Bend, Or. Guys were throwing down and I was given the Ms. Superpark Standout title. So Happy! In all, this season has topped the rest and the train is still moving fast ahead. Endless Support from sponsors, insane progression, Once-In-A-Lifetime opportunities, good crews, epic conditions, and perfect parks would be an effortless way to sum up this season. I can’t wait to see what’s in the future for women’s snowboarding, and snowboarding in general. I’m throwing up the peace sign and heading out on a tropical vacation this week. It’s been fun and I’ll be in touch in June! xo

Spring has officially hit Mammoth. Endless park laps, random snowy and windy days, 60 degree weather, tanning, and lots of epic times happening. After Idaho, I have been riding park and lots of it, mixed with a few big powder days too! Here are a few photos to show where I have been over the last month. To list a few: Roxy Chicken Jam in Mammoth, Ms. Superpark in Keystone, CO, Sierra @ Tahoe and a house on the lake, Mammoth Mountain Invitational ski racing. Enjoy!

After a brief stop in Maple Falls, WA, I drove 12 hours south to meet up with the Smith Optics Crew in Smiley Creek, Idaho. As I drove over the last pass, it was snowing and blowing so hard the road was only one lane wide with snow drifts encroaching uncomfortably close. I knew the next four days in back country isolation were going to be all time. Though there was limited sun, we still had private sled laps, jump and pillow sessions, and even a dip in the natural hot springs. Time was a-ticking and I needed to make it back to Mammoth for the Roxy Chicken Jam, which was eventually converted into the Roxy Pow Jam because for 5 days Mammoth stacked up over 6 feet of snow. For some reason Mother Nature was on my side and she insisted I not compete once this season. In all honesty, that plan was fine with me and the break gave my body the last ounce of rest it needed to heal my heel and ribs. With countless face shots, my fellow female DC teammates (Raewyn Reid and Phoebe Novello) and I loaded up my truck and headed to the airport for Ms. Superpark in Keystone, Co. This event is something I look forward to every year, and this year has far exceeded my expectations. The park is creative, pristine, and despite the battle with the constantly falling snow, girls are getting after it. After this it’s on to Sierra @ Tahoe for another park session. Here are some photos of life in the fast lane.

Well, I said I was going to do it. I came to Whistler at the beginning of February with hopes of staying until the middle of March. No contests, just filming for Standard Films, TB 20, and focusing on riding the back country. Sounds pretty luxurious, right! Wow, yes, it’s a type of luxury because I have been riding powder all season and I feel like a very lucky girl, however, being in the back country and “getting shots” is the hardest thing to accomplish. Every shot takes so much effort, and all the conditions, crews, and features have to line up perfectly in order to get one shot each day. Unlike park, where I can make a list of tricks and hope to go do them all that day, the back country is a whole different ball game. I can make a list of tricks, then I have to assess the conditions, find a feature, build a jump or a pat down, pick a trick based on the angle of the in-run or take off, and lastly, hope my speed is right and that I land within the first couple tries. If all goes accordingly, I may get one shot that day and that’s a big accomplishment. This routine continues for each blue day that passes through these incredibly big mountains. It’s now March 11th and I can admit that beautiful British Columbia has been quite nice to me. Lots of snow, almost too much snow some days, about 6-8 epic blue days, a once in a lifetime crew, and uncountable lessons learned. Below are a few photos of the journey. Next stop, will be Idaho on the 17th for a couple days with the Smith crew. Then back to Mammoth for the Chicken Jam, followed by a trip Keystone, CO for Ms. Superpark. Time flies. It’s hard to believe it’s already almost time for spring shredding and park shoots…