El Colorado FWQ Tour 2* Competition in Chile

2nd place!

That’s right. I’m happy. But the result is hardly what matters here. That was a weekend full of riding with friends, shredding powder, leaving clouds of dry snow behind on every turn, sun, and dancing!

At 5 pm on a Tuesday, the day of the competition, the awards ceremony was starting. I didn’t know, I was in my room getting ready to leave.

I’m running like crazy. My friend Coco is texting me to get there as soon as possible. I am jumping into puddles of snow, my Vans are getting dirty, and so are my pants. The muddy road full of day-old snow is wet and slippery. Coco is spamming me with texts. You got second! I will go instead of you. Get here!!!

I arrived too late, but that’s sick. The idea was to come here and attend the event, and I scored the podium. That’s cool too, I think. But I haven’t really had a moment to think about it if you know what I mean. Or feel, whatever you’re supposed to feel after a good result, nothing was sinking in, not yet anyway.

It’s almost worse than a 3rd place, right? the 3rd place, you’re like Yay! I just placed. And the second place is like, Oh, I just missed winning the event…

The awards finished and my friend was leaving, I had to run after her because she had some of my things. I ran back to the house where I was staying and grabbed my board bag, left a bottle of Pisco Sour on the counter, and thanked everyone dearly for their hospitality and I’m sorry but I have to run.

My plan was to hitchhike to Santiago. Taxis were hard to find here and there were no buses. I was solely relying on fate here. A friend saw me on the road and dropped me lower down where the road from Farallones and the road from Valle Nevado meet. They told me I’d have a better chance of finding a ride here. I looked at my phone, almost 6 pm. My flight was at 10 pm, it would take me almost two hours to get to the airport if everything goes well. If someone picks me up, right now, I thought.

What the hell was I thinking, maybe this isn’t a good idea. 10 minutes go by and no luck, cars are driving by and everyone is giving me the face. The “I’m sorry, but we don’t have space/we don’t really want to pick you up but good luck though” face.

A guy walks by, talking on his phone. He signals me to come with him. OK… He looked like a skier, so naturally, I trusted him. He looks at me, and says “We are going to Santiago, but we are flying.”  Huh? That’s a joke?

We walk up the road, around a house, and into a closed property. A little bit further, an open area reveals a helipad… with a helicopter and its pilot, getting ready to take off. Nobody is asking me anything. The guy introduces me as a snowboarder who just won and needs a ride to the airport. The pilot smiles and takes my board bag. I get in and buckle up. Nobody is going to believe me. The beautiful sunset light is hitting my burnt cheeks, and wide open eyes, as the pilot starts to warm up the engine. We take off, and I put my headset on. Everyone introduces each other and they congratulate me on the podium. We fly over snowy mountain peaks and they’re showing me the lines they usually ski with their clients. “You should come to heli-ski with us, next time you’re here”.

I laugh because I didn’t have money for a cab, and I am now flying to the airport. This whole thing is crazy but it also makes so much sense. Why not? Those two were ski guides for Stellar Heli Adventures and very accommodating and welcoming people.

I took a chance. I took a chance to fly to Chile, from one day to another. I took a chance to compete at the event, I took one to show up at a stranger’s house, and I took a chance when I went out to the road and put my thumb out to get a ride. Life is funny and full of a series of events that lead you to the exact places, where you need to be at that moment. Following my intuition, & trusting that everything with work always out is the best way I can be. And it keeps on proving itself, over and over again.

What more can I do, rather to just simply trust the moment?

While arriving at the airport early was great, I spent the next two hours in check in. Due to their computer problems, I waited in line for as long as I would wait in the car to get there. The buzz from the competition and the surprise heli ride, was starting to wear off. I was suddenly, feeling it all. The pressure, the stress, the nerves. Everything that I have successfully been buried deep down for the last couple of days, with mantras and meditation, was coming up to the surface. Just how tired my body was, from all the cold, wind and hard training… I didn’t feel it, until now. until the adrenaline was starting to wear off.

I got into the terminal about 15 minutes before boarding, called my partner, and told him I’m coming home. I collapsed on my seat and closed my eyes. I wanted to cry, just a little. The feeling of relief, but not quite yet, because you’re not home yet. I was feeling like the weight of the world was pressing on me. Dozed into a dreamless sleep of constant awakings between the meals and turbulence. Barely recharged, I landed in Miami, at 6 am. I walked out of the plane and leaving the First Class, there’s Maluma. A famous reggaeton raper. What is happening? These last 24 hours have been a rollercoaster. The immigration line at Miami international airport was crazy.

It took me 4 hours, to get through, pick up my board bag and recheck it. I was running on last nerves here. I curled up in a ball next to my gate and tried to nap. Hours later, I boarded my flight towards Dallas, Texas.

This is where things start to go South. Literally. A weather system hit Dalles and all things West. My flight to Vancouver was slowly getting delayed hour by hour, and after spending almost 7 hours waiting around at the airport, it got completely canceled. Alongside the majority of the flights that night. The airport turned to chaos. Everyone was running around, the airlines were not providing… a lot of gates closed, as well as their windows… We were told we can’t get on another flight, so we need to book our own flight out. I managed to get out of the terminal and joined a long snake of a line, in the humid Texas heat, next to all the people waiting for a cab. 2 hours later, I was in my hotel room.

Finally, allowing myself to breathe. A shitty fish and chips meal did it, and a hot shower put me to sleep immediately.

Even though I kept trying to reassure myself at many moments that day, that things will work out, sometimes that’s just so hard to believe. When you are at your last nerve before the breakdown, with no energy left due to poor airplane food or lack thereof. When you are tired of waiting in lines and just spent 3 days in cold winter, training and competing. After that hopping on a plane and starting what turned out to be a 52-hour journey…  After wanting so badly, to just be home and fall asleep next in your partner’s arms, without a worry in the world…

This trip was not planned, it was not budgeted for, it just happened, before I even realized what was happening. I made a decision to attend the freeride world qualifiers event in El Colorado, Chile. It took about 20 minutes to really think about it, and a few days later I was on my way. After all of this, I probably spent more time on the airports and airplanes, than in Chile! But what can you do…

In those moments, it’s so hard to believe that it all happens for a reason and that it will all work out in the end.

But it does.