Annecy, France - FWQ Event
The month so far has been a big insight into the future and made me think about what i want to really gain from
all the things i am doing right now. I flew out to France on the 6th January
for the first FWQ event in La Clusaz, I thought i was really prepared and i
knew it would be tough but what happened in the next few days really gave me a
reality check on where i am in snowboarding right now and where i want to go
from here on in.
The trip to Annecy was a real effort, I caught a coach from Geneva early morning after missing the last coach at 8pm the night before so i spent the night in one of my least favourite cities in the entire world. I arrived in Annecy ready for the days ahead and the city was a good place to travel onwards to La Clusaz. The city is also where my Youth Olympic games friend Gwen lives but the only time i will probably spend the most amount of time there was unfortunately clashed with Gwen’s travel plans as she was spending the month with family in Australia.
Annecy was ok, Typically French, Pretty boring to be honest and a little too upmarketish for me, I like a little sleaze in a city but it was just too sterile. I met a cool Indian guy though in the hostel and also two nice Finnish girls who were working there as part of a travel Workaway program but unfortunately were leaving the day after i arrived. They were from the far east part of Finland bordering Russia, Very lively and fun, i can't say the same for some other people who were there though. Also there was some cool Korean guys and a dude from Hong Kong who heard me talking about the city and we just got chatting away about HK and things.
The next day i made my way to la Clusaz, I got a bit lost trying to find the hotel but made it eventually, It turns out hardly anybody spoken English in the hotel and during my stay it would be very inconvenient but it was a nice place. I met a guy from Paris here who was studying in New York so was pretty good with his English and was pretty cool, i spent quite a few days riding with him, he was like a guide as he knew almost every area of the mountain because he has been going there every year with family since a little kid.
The event, where do i start... it was very bad for me but lucky at the same time and also a reality check, my run was messed up from the start, i cut in too early, messed up my position to jump and kind of just side dropped down to the next section, by this point i was already lost from my original line, i took the next section too deep on the left when i should have approached further to the right, the line was already very difficult and not much room for error as i found out next. I came up to the edge realising i was too far over and there was no way down from the big drop underneath me, i seen a gap with a small bit of snow leading to the area i should have been but it was a huge risk with the cliff directly underneath, at this point i should have disqualified myself and stopped but the adrenaline of the moment i think got to me and i tried to take the gap, i lost my edge instantly and started sliding down and over the cliff, i hit a few ledges on the way down before one last big ledge drop to the piste, at this point i was thinking as i was falling i was going to at least break my legs, i hit the ground board first but i was strangely ok, i got up, realised what happened and carried on to the finish. i was coughing pretty bad afterwards from the impact but i was ok which was most important and eventually i stopped coughing. If i didn't bounce on the ledges or landed a different angle i think i would be in a lot trouble right now but i managed to control the fall. Later on it was announced the 2 star face would be the same face for the 4 star event which is the highest level, if i knew the difficulty i probably wouldn't have entered as my first 2 star event as it just isn't worth the risk so early as i'm still pretty inexperienced in events.
The second event was similar, A huge face which was full of crud steep snow, I actually just fell trying to negotiate around the boulder field, i still had a decent jump and run but the fall put me in last the day before and then that was it, a very eventful but uneventful event finished and i came away with more personal questions rather than achievement.... I would say this is the reality check i needed right now though, I wasn't ready to enter such a high risk event so early in my career and season and i paid the price for being naive on the comp, the crappy snow conditions didn't help but it was too much too soon, the thing is i know i could handle it and my line was ambitious and big but but i wasn't ready to go all out and my experience so far was showing as i weren't fully sure of my run once out there, think the event was still good for experience if for the wrong reasons.
I had a lot more fun the following days just searching for powder and then i realised that right now i need to just enjoy what i love to do and experience will come naturally and i will be more prepared in the future. I also learnt that competition is not the only challenge in snowboarding and is not the most important, i don’t care if i don't win the fwt but as long as i enter a few events a year prepared and focused on a progressive level instead of in too deep too early i will be ok and more importantly enjoy the events.
Me and clement the Paris guy finished up with a great powder day but were both beat by the end of the day, i said fairwells and made my way back to the hotel and onwards to the airport for the flight home.
(back home)
I'm back now and on reflection all the things which happened have now made me come to realise a few things and although the direction and goals are the same, its ok to take a detour to discover all the other things i want to do and places i want to go ride just for fun and the experiences, i will still enter the comps but even if it’s only one then i will go in prepared and with more experience in the future to be competitive, I still have many years i can gain experience for high level comps so for now i will enter the comps on the level i feel i'm ready for now in the FWQ and just enjoy travel and bc snowboarding.
There are a few unique places i want to go ride, one of them is Greece and eastern Europe and also Nozawa Japan the land of powder so i will go check it out when i can, maybe early next season and i can reunite with my good pal taka in Tokyo! I will enter 1 more FWQ this year for experience and i'm really looking forward to it, the event is in Andorra so it should also be in a beautiful mountain location. I am going to Chamonix on the 25th jan to watch the FWT event, the trip should be nice with more of a holidayish feel about it rather than a road trip or practice. I will be supporting our coach pal from Hochfuegen Flo Orley in the comp, I'm going to get the party started in the crowd!
I could do with like a spa therapy thing to relax the tension as i'm good but feeling worn so need to restore myself a little bit.
The rest of the year i will save again, i want to get a big wild bird maybe from rehab centre but it’s a commitment and i need my own place to do it as a bird would send my cat crazy at home, the bird i think would still win in a brawl but my cat would just lose his mind he wouldn't resist trying to give it a go anyway. Also, I'm looking to finish studies in the next few years to support the travel stuff I’ve already done, nothing too big but just update my qualifications, I’ve seen some good courses but I’m just checking out the idea right now, i think in a few years i will go chill a bit to get it done.
The trip to Annecy was a real effort, I caught a coach from Geneva early morning after missing the last coach at 8pm the night before so i spent the night in one of my least favourite cities in the entire world. I arrived in Annecy ready for the days ahead and the city was a good place to travel onwards to La Clusaz. The city is also where my Youth Olympic games friend Gwen lives but the only time i will probably spend the most amount of time there was unfortunately clashed with Gwen’s travel plans as she was spending the month with family in Australia.
Annecy was ok, Typically French, Pretty boring to be honest and a little too upmarketish for me, I like a little sleaze in a city but it was just too sterile. I met a cool Indian guy though in the hostel and also two nice Finnish girls who were working there as part of a travel Workaway program but unfortunately were leaving the day after i arrived. They were from the far east part of Finland bordering Russia, Very lively and fun, i can't say the same for some other people who were there though. Also there was some cool Korean guys and a dude from Hong Kong who heard me talking about the city and we just got chatting away about HK and things.
The next day i made my way to la Clusaz, I got a bit lost trying to find the hotel but made it eventually, It turns out hardly anybody spoken English in the hotel and during my stay it would be very inconvenient but it was a nice place. I met a guy from Paris here who was studying in New York so was pretty good with his English and was pretty cool, i spent quite a few days riding with him, he was like a guide as he knew almost every area of the mountain because he has been going there every year with family since a little kid.
The event, where do i start... it was very bad for me but lucky at the same time and also a reality check, my run was messed up from the start, i cut in too early, messed up my position to jump and kind of just side dropped down to the next section, by this point i was already lost from my original line, i took the next section too deep on the left when i should have approached further to the right, the line was already very difficult and not much room for error as i found out next. I came up to the edge realising i was too far over and there was no way down from the big drop underneath me, i seen a gap with a small bit of snow leading to the area i should have been but it was a huge risk with the cliff directly underneath, at this point i should have disqualified myself and stopped but the adrenaline of the moment i think got to me and i tried to take the gap, i lost my edge instantly and started sliding down and over the cliff, i hit a few ledges on the way down before one last big ledge drop to the piste, at this point i was thinking as i was falling i was going to at least break my legs, i hit the ground board first but i was strangely ok, i got up, realised what happened and carried on to the finish. i was coughing pretty bad afterwards from the impact but i was ok which was most important and eventually i stopped coughing. If i didn't bounce on the ledges or landed a different angle i think i would be in a lot trouble right now but i managed to control the fall. Later on it was announced the 2 star face would be the same face for the 4 star event which is the highest level, if i knew the difficulty i probably wouldn't have entered as my first 2 star event as it just isn't worth the risk so early as i'm still pretty inexperienced in events.
The second event was similar, A huge face which was full of crud steep snow, I actually just fell trying to negotiate around the boulder field, i still had a decent jump and run but the fall put me in last the day before and then that was it, a very eventful but uneventful event finished and i came away with more personal questions rather than achievement.... I would say this is the reality check i needed right now though, I wasn't ready to enter such a high risk event so early in my career and season and i paid the price for being naive on the comp, the crappy snow conditions didn't help but it was too much too soon, the thing is i know i could handle it and my line was ambitious and big but but i wasn't ready to go all out and my experience so far was showing as i weren't fully sure of my run once out there, think the event was still good for experience if for the wrong reasons.
I had a lot more fun the following days just searching for powder and then i realised that right now i need to just enjoy what i love to do and experience will come naturally and i will be more prepared in the future. I also learnt that competition is not the only challenge in snowboarding and is not the most important, i don’t care if i don't win the fwt but as long as i enter a few events a year prepared and focused on a progressive level instead of in too deep too early i will be ok and more importantly enjoy the events.
Me and clement the Paris guy finished up with a great powder day but were both beat by the end of the day, i said fairwells and made my way back to the hotel and onwards to the airport for the flight home.
(back home)
I'm back now and on reflection all the things which happened have now made me come to realise a few things and although the direction and goals are the same, its ok to take a detour to discover all the other things i want to do and places i want to go ride just for fun and the experiences, i will still enter the comps but even if it’s only one then i will go in prepared and with more experience in the future to be competitive, I still have many years i can gain experience for high level comps so for now i will enter the comps on the level i feel i'm ready for now in the FWQ and just enjoy travel and bc snowboarding.
There are a few unique places i want to go ride, one of them is Greece and eastern Europe and also Nozawa Japan the land of powder so i will go check it out when i can, maybe early next season and i can reunite with my good pal taka in Tokyo! I will enter 1 more FWQ this year for experience and i'm really looking forward to it, the event is in Andorra so it should also be in a beautiful mountain location. I am going to Chamonix on the 25th jan to watch the FWT event, the trip should be nice with more of a holidayish feel about it rather than a road trip or practice. I will be supporting our coach pal from Hochfuegen Flo Orley in the comp, I'm going to get the party started in the crowd!
I could do with like a spa therapy thing to relax the tension as i'm good but feeling worn so need to restore myself a little bit.
The rest of the year i will save again, i want to get a big wild bird maybe from rehab centre but it’s a commitment and i need my own place to do it as a bird would send my cat crazy at home, the bird i think would still win in a brawl but my cat would just lose his mind he wouldn't resist trying to give it a go anyway. Also, I'm looking to finish studies in the next few years to support the travel stuff I’ve already done, nothing too big but just update my qualifications, I’ve seen some good courses but I’m just checking out the idea right now, i think in a few years i will go chill a bit to get it done.
Below is a Picture Diary from my blog Post - Annecy, France
On the Bus, trippy views
Arrival!
I loved these Gothic Streets
France also have a serious love for Tin-Tin
On the walk up to the Castle
Annecy Backstreets
The famous Chapel
Another Gothic looking back Alleyway
Hens in our Hostel!
The sun came out when we made it to La Clusaz
Barely a person in sight
The Highway Lift to Hell
This looks steeper than it was really
Drop in Looks good from here
View is amazing too
Half way into the line
Bailed out on the highway home, still smiling!
MORE TO FOLLOW...
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