Snow is my Life.

I've loved snow since before I can remember. I'm lucky enough to have had parents that shared their love for skiing with me at the young age of 2 1/2. I've been on the slopes since the age of the fluorescent onesies. Growing up in Atlanta didn't give me much chance to get to know snow, but my parents took me once or twice a year every year while I was growing up. In 1993 my daddy took me skiing (I was 5) while my mum stayed home with my baby sisters Chelsea (she was 3) and Kristy (just 2 months old at the time). Daddy and I then came home to a winter wonderland: the blizzard of '93. It seriously didn't snow in Atlanta everrrrr! Daddy went to Toys R Us and bought a sled; it was a beautiful sled too! The only time in my childhood I went sledding was that year but I will remember it forever :)

When I was 11 my parents finally let me try out snowboarding. Eric Seck (my family friend who I went on ski trips with before I can remember) and I wanted to learn how to snowboard and for the longest time (it seemed) our parents would not let that fly. Karl (Eric's dad) decided that he would learn with us and that's when we were allowed to try the new sport. We learned up in Canada at Whistler/Blackcomb. Us kids didn't really want to take a lesson but the parents made us. We took a half day lesson and then decided it was time to explore the mountain on our own. The rest feels like history to me. I split my (already limited) snow time between skiing and snowboarding until I was 15 and I decided to quit skiing so that I could become a better snowboarder. It was really hard to stop skiing because I was really good at it (for my age at least) but I was determined to get good at my new favourite sport! I have always loved moguls and I remember how tough they were on a snowboard when I was first learning. For those of you not used to the terminology, moguls (as defined by urbandictionary.com) "are bumps in a ski slope formed when skiers cut grooves in the snow as they execute turns." I didn't know that moguls were "a skier thing" when I first started learning them but I'm very glad I didn't because I love riding moguls and I think it makes me much better in the trees :)

Fast forward to the winter of 2005-2006. It was my first winter living in Colorado and I got 64 days in that year while I was in school full time, I lived 1.5 hours from the slopes, and I did not have a car. I was with my favourite (then and now) ski buddy, Strueber at Snowmass (in Aspen) when I first learned that there were different kinds of snow. I thought it was simply all just snow. It was snowing and we were on Alpine Springs lift when Strueber told me that the snow falling on us was called corn snow. It was from that moment on that I was intrigued to learn more about snow.

I continued to explore the sidecountry with experienced friends like Strueber, Rob Bolten, and others. I didn't really learn that much more about snow right away but I sure as hell got to doing amazing things such as hiking Highlands Bowl at Aspen Highlands, riding Burnt Mountain area at Snowmass, ducking ropes at Vail...getting as "deep" in there as I knew possible at the time. While we were in college my friends Strueber, Brad, & Erin went on these hut trips. I was always so jealous that my skier friends got to do this awesome stuff and I wanted in on it. I still to this day (despite my many amazing adventures) have yet to go on a hut trip. When I joined CUST (University of Colorado's Snowboard Team) I learned more about snowboarding, I learned how to wax and tune my own snowboard (from Cody Booth), I went on awesome trips, I dropped cliffs as big as 40 feet, I learned what a "peeps" (beacon) was, and I made some great friends. On one particular trip to Mt. Baker in Washington is when I first used an avalanche beacon. I since have used a beacon only a few more times but that's all about to change...I'm going to be using it all the time. Pat A (CUST coach) has been a huge motivator for me in my snowboarding world. Pat is the one who taught me how to edge into the halfpipe, he taught me about the "peeps" (beacon), he has been there for me at races and as a mentor. I look forward to meeting up with Pat A some more to ride deeper terrain all around! Two other people that have recently been very motivational to my snowboarding career are Eamon Murphy and Jeff Lavin. You two have both done a lot for me and I can't wait to take our love of snow further into the backcountry :)

Last night I started my avalanche safety course with Dan Moroz through Colorado Mountain College. It was 4 long hours in the classroom but it got me really motivated to learn as much as I can about snow, weather, and avalanches. Colorado is the state with the most avalanche deaths (and I live in the county with the 2nd most avalanche deaths) so it is important to know as much as I can about safety in the backcountry. Once I complete the course (December 7th) I will be certified through the American Avalanche Association and once I am certified I plan on doing much more side-country and backcountry riding. I feel so motivated after taking that class last night; I just want to learn more and more about everything snow and weather related! I graduated college 3 years ago, but now I'm wondering why I didn't take classes about weather and snow in the first place?! I love snow and I am going to do whatever it takes to get closer to the snow!!

XOXOX Summer Glitter