Happy holidays!
The stars aligned and my body held up for the two days that it need to for the Big Air Istanbul. My goal going into the event was to do my personal best and as per always, have fun! I’m happy to say that I accomplished the personal best in a couple of ways and had a lot of fun :)
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| The main event - this was the best scaffolding Big Air jump I've ever hit. Props to the event crew |
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| The view from the top of the jump |
First and foremost, I landed the best trick I’ve ever done on a scaffolding Big Air. I landed a solid frontside 900 (with melon grab) on my first of two runs in the qualifiers. It was the first one I’ve landed in 8 months – since my knee injury – so you could say my timing was pretty good!
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| Looking down the jump - you don't have much choice but to go straight |
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| One stoked dude after practice went well |
Secondly, I placed my personal best at a World Cup Big Air with a 22nd place. The jump was great and allowed the riders to land very technical tricks... tricks that a couple years ago would have made podium weren’t even making the finals! So as you can imagine it was a pretty heated competition. My front 9 simply wasn’t technical enough to crack the top 10 or even the top 20. However it was great to see the guys throw down in the finals and good motivation to learn new tricks!
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| Metal detectors to get into the hotel - security was crazy in Istanbul |
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| The hotel set us up with a waxing room... I don't think they knew what they were getting themselves into |
After the competition was over for me I took advantage of the few hours I had before the finals started to take in some of Istanbul. I couldn’t believe how big the city is... 17 million people officially live in it and closer to 20 million unofficially. Istanbul straddles the boarder of Asia and Europe so I’ve officially been to Asia now. The culture and food in Turkey was amazing to experience... even if it was in what I’ve coined as a
tourist blitz.
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| My new friends from the Austrian team getting shown by our waiter how do prepare a Kabeb the proper Turkish way in one of the most bizarre and delicious dining experiences of my life |
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| These deserts are amazing! |
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| Turkish coffee - I don't think I could drink it every morning but it was cool to experience |
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| Stand and deliver toilets |
I’m so grateful for the entire experience. Meeting great snowboarders, coaches, announcers, and organizers from around the world was a highlight. As well as having the opportunity to challenge myself and represent the North while doing it. A big thank you to everyone who helped make this possible: my sponsors, my family and My Corner (MakeAChamp) Team!
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| Mosque stretching into the night sky |
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| Mid tourist blitz at on of the many Mosques in the city |
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| Until next time Turkey |
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