Dear Interweb,
I missed a few days of my chemistry block to fly down to Boulder for the Spyder Annual Sales meeting, a quick photo shoot and a large Spyder party. It was awesome to meet the great people at Spyder as well as to see Boulder for the first time. But, the most special event was to see that my previous team manager, Chad Buckridge, has come back to Spyder. hoorah!
A bug on a Spyder coat in the salesroom...ha
Rob is a sweet designer for Spyder who might be working on an epic Roz suit...
The one man Jamaica Ski team, Errol and I modeling the same jacket. I think it looks better on me...
Delicious king crab straight off the NorthWestern fishing boat, made famous by the Discovery Channel's show "The Deadliest Catch". It was amazing!
The Spyder team: Errol Kerr, Julian Carr, Colby West and me plus two models in speed suits at the Spyder party
I am happy to be part of such an amazing group of people! Thank you to Grant, Chad and Rob for making my trip excellent!
Sincerely,
RozG
I decided to get Twitter! Follow me at roz_g (not rozg or roz-g). I was anti-Twitter for awhile, but I have actually enjoyed “Tweeting” as well as following my friends’ updates and thoughts. Hopefully, I will figure out how to connect it to this blog soon!
On Sunday, I joined photographer Yorick Carroux and German snowboarder Nina Einer for a day of skiing powder on Blackcomb mountain. It was my first time shooting powder turns, so it was a great learning experience. Thanks to our tour guide Richie for showing us the best spots! (I highly suggest Crystal ridge off Crystal chair for anyone looking for some fresh snow late in the day.)
Post-Script: Thank you to Gabe Authier for setting me up with the experience!
Just finished a week in Park City for Queen’s Cup Open! Click here for the freeskier article!
Just so you know, the yellow group, my group!, was the most awesome. Perhaps other coaches would disagree but I’m sticking to this opinion. My girls were rocking yellow bandannas, pushing themselves all day, going for new tricks, and loving skiing. Megan, Mel, Keni, Becca and Eli all rocked! They made me smile all day and exemplified the love of skiing!
Up top: Becca and Eli. Sitting: Me! Keni, Mel and Megan
I was a little apprehensive of this event because I hadn’t really enjoyed my first experience at Queen’s Cup as a competitor. I had been really excited about getting to know more female skiers and instead there were too many girly rules and a lot of insincerity. It was a different experience this year–there was none of that attitude with the yellow team—and I enjoyed the camaraderie with all the female coaches/judges/organizers.
After the competition day, we hung out sharing our ski stories and ideas for future events, partied in our little black dresses (looking sassy!), and went out to GTS (get the shot) with some photographers for four day for the inaugural My Super Sweet Park (MSSP). I left Queen’s Cup/MSSP with so many positive memories and ideas this time. MSSP was my first editorial photo shoot. I was nervous about it all but I learned a lot. Though the weather didn’t totally cooperate, I think we all still GTS! (I’ll post shots when I get them)
Getting ready at Ashley's house
Looking sassy at Harry-Os
Thank you to Anna and Nancy Demasi for organizing a progressive week for female skiers!
Post-Script: And…thank you to Ashley and her family for letting me stay at their beautiful home!
How did we (Mike Riddle and I) manage to compete in the WC Finals halfpipe (France) and Euro Open slopestyle and Halfpipe (Laax, Switzerland) which were practically happening simultaneously? Right after competing in qualifiers for slopestyle at the Euro Open on Wednesday, we grabbed our bags and travelled 9 hours by car/train to La Plagne. I especially enjoyed taking the train ride from Zurich to Geneva, watching the beautiful Swiss countryside go by.
Riddle hitches a ride on the trip to La Plagne!
Right after competing at the WC on Thursday, we did the same 10 hours trip back to Laax so we could compete in finals at the Euro Open for slopestyle on Friday and Halfpipe on Saturday.
Stripping down to my baselayer in the parking lot to make a quick getaway
Tired Teamies!
Yeah, we were all exhausted, even Trennon who rarely shows any sign of fatigue. Why did we do it? We did a similar trip from Italy-Laax-Italy-Laax last year so, at the last minute, we decided why not? And, Trennon believes that supporting the World Cups is key to getting Halfpipe skiing into the Olympics. And it is fun, from time to time, to do something that intense.
Roz
Post-script: I really missed my other teamies on this trip as we had such a great time all together last year between the Euro Open and World Cup Finals, seeking “booze and glory” and managing to achieve both!
Driving between the World Cup Finals Ceremonies and the European Open party in 2008
Dear Interweb
The European Open is one of the best events of the year as the courses are in perfect condition, the mountain and town are beautiful and the parties are amazing. Plus, accomodation and meals are provided for the invited athletes, which is always a nice change.
Here is my coach Trennon’s report:
Laax, SUI
Fresh off a third place finish at the World Cup final event in France, team member Rosalind Groenewoud carried her momentum into Switzerland for the European Freeskiing Open.
Starting the week in the slopestyle event, Roz qualified easily, and then threw a couple of highly technical runs in the final, which consisted of a switch 540 to a 720 to a 900. Showing that she is a truly well-rounded athlete, Roz placed 4th in the slopestyle final, just missing the podium by 0.5 points, and proving that she is much more than just a “halfpipe specialist”.
On to the halfpipe finals, where Roz once again landed a couple of fantastic runs, putting together a complete package of amplitude, technical difficulty (right 540, left 540 and switch 540), and grabs. When the final scores came in, Roz was awarded 3rd place, her second halfpipe podium result in less than a week!
Our team was also represented at the European Open by Mike Riddle in the mens events. Unfortunately Mike had a bad crash in the semifinal, and suffered a concussion which rendered him unable to compete any further. Mike is healing fast and should be in good shape to ski at our final event of the season, which will take place in Whistler in April.
First hit!
Podium for Halfpipe! (I'm making a funny face...)
Post-Script: After the halfpipe event, my awesome roommates, Kaya Turski and Jess Cumming, and I hosted an amazing girls-only party. It’s always fun to hang out with a bunch of wonderful ski girls!
Kaya, Jess and I rock our sunglasses at night!
Left to Right: Whitney Wickes, Mirjam Jaeger, Sofie Winsdet, Me!, Em Lonsdale, Jess Cumming, Kaya Turski, Keri herman, Claudia Bouvier, Anais Caradeux
Just like last year, Team Canada managed to compete in two events in different countries at the same time: The European Freeskiing Open and World Cup Final. Though it was chaotic, it was worthwhile and a lot of fun. (Check back for how we did it and a report on the Euro Open)
Here is Trennon’s Report from the WC:
La Plagne, France
Every season, the FIS World Cup Tour is capped off by the World Cup Final, which took place this year in the beautiful French Alps.
Due to some injuries, the Canadian Halfpipe team was down in numbers for this event, with 2 athletes, Rosalind Groenewoud and Mike Riddle, carrying the torch for the team.
The halfpipe was in great condition, and the top athletes from the World Cup standings were all taking full advantage of it. One thing that stood out more than anything at this event was the crowd! Multitudes of fans were packed around the halfpipe, and their energy level was beyond belief! Screaming their heads off, blowing airhorns, and waving pom-poms, the super stoked crowd (many of whom even had painted their faces the colors of the French flag) went off like a rock concert every time somebody dropped in for their run.
In the start gate...
Mike Riddle had a rough go in training, as he was still not fully recovered from a brutal fall at the World Championships in Japan earlier this month. Despite not finishing a run in training, he was able to make it through the pipe in the event, and even though he had some wobbles on the way down, still managed to pull off a respectable 5th place finish. The mens’ event was won by hometown favorite Kevin Rolland of France, closely followed by David Wise of the USA in 2nd. Nils Lauper of Switzerland finished in 3rd.
Rosalind Groenewoud was on her game right from the start of training, hitting some of the biggest airs of the competition, and showing a lot of technical diversity by including left and right spins, as well as switch spins, in her run. When the final scores were announced, Roz ended up in 3rd, adding another World Cup medal to her growing collection. The womens’ event was won by Anais Caradeux of France, with 2nd place going to Virginie Faivre of Switzerland.
After the medal's ceremony with my cute trophy and my flowers
Kristi Leskinen’s Homecoming Invitational Event was unique and special for me. Along with the opportunity to ride slopestyle with most of the best females in the slope game, ski and snowboard, Kristi took care of every detail and made us all feel like rockstars! Everything was taken care of from the transportation to deluxe accom and delicious food at Seven Springs plus the added luxury from Kristi’s awesome massage therapist and facials from snowboard sisters CC and Lisa. I haven’t skied slopestyle all season so it was fun (and a little frustrating at first) to get back to it. I competed a sw540 to 360 to 720 and did a few 9s. Other girls were also throwing down- Kaya Turski was crowned Homecoming Queen for a run with a sw900. And we didn’t just ski! I shot a gun for the first time plus there was bowling and partying(!!). We all enjoyed skiing with the local skiers and made some new friends in the snowsports world. Finally, ‘Homecoming’ isn’t a Canadian tradition, so this was my first! Thank you to Kristi for creating and executing this inspired event!
All the girls in our best 'Homecoming' pose..(check out our sweet sashes!)
My first time shooting a gun!
Pulling out a pole trick in the rail jam with the local kids! (PA was even fun with no snow)
Post-script: It was a great opportunity for me to see my teamie, Sarah Burke (who was head judge for the event), and see that she is doing great. I’ve missed her.
Sarah and I hanging out on the shooting range
The US Open just wrapped up and was a completely different event than past seasons. Previously, the US Open had been the busiest, most chaotic, worst organized and most important Open event of the season. With the drop of the slopestyle and big air events due to the flailing economy, the competition took on a far mellower vibe. With 50 athletes competing, opposed to 250, everyone was able to get more training thus the overall stress levels dropped significantly.
The weather really cleared up for semi-finals and finals. (On Friday, for qualifiers, it was puking wet snow and extremely foggy.) I ended up 4th in finals as my safe run wasn’t quite enough to get me on the podium and I crashed my 900 on my more difficult run. Though it was a disappointment to end my podium streak in the US Open (2nd in 2007, and 3rd in 2008), it was also good to get a few 900s out of the way after my bad crash at the end of January.
Photo from Freeskier! Thank you Shay for putting my site on your Freeskier reports!
More of a success story: my two Canadian teammates, Justin Dorey and Mike Riddle, ended up 1st and 3rd respectively. I was so stoked to see both my boys kill it!
My Canadians in matching outfits on the podium
I think this is my favourite picture of Justin, Mike and myself. X-Games 2009
Roz G
After X-Games, I drove to Park City with my two of my favourite ski girls, Jen Hudak and Jess Cumming. The girl-talk filled hours were a lovely break from the time I had spent in X-Games and was much needed female time before spending time in Park City with the Rossi French contingency: Xavier Bertoni, Kevin Rolland, Coach Greg, Arnaud Peyrin, Matt Lopez and the young Armada rider, Benoit Valentin.
We spent the next two days shooting photos/video. It was endlessly amusing and very French. My presence seemed to make them blush a lot but it didn’t stop their ongoing antics, inside jokes and comedy routines. I did tire of “fart capsules” (don’t even ask!) and consistently being the only person wearing pants (those boys definitely get their money’s worth from their underwear sponsor, Pull-in….) but I really enjoyed getting to know them all.
Departures were consistently delayed with the Frenchies as something or someone always seemed to be forgotten. It became a form of a French farce.
Waiting...again...
On the road..finally
I pretty much gave up trying to use my French because I couldn’t understand their rapid slang and inside joke-filled French, which was even more confusing as there was never less than 3 of them speaking at the same time.
Monday, January 26th was my first day skiing out of the park since Christmas and I got some excellent powder turns. I was still on the Rossi park ski, the S4, but I still managed to (almost) keep up to the guys on the S6 (powder ski) and S7 (rockered powder ski).
It really burned my little brother who was in Canada at our home hill (yay Castle Mountain!) with spring-like weather and no new snow in the forecast. Aw.
RozG (Rozzy)
