Skiing is not a serious sport for me. It’s a way to spend time outside during the winter months.

It’s a time to spend with friends and family.

And it’s a way to have fun.

You don’t need to have goals to have fun, though right?

Personally, I feel the exact opposite way. Goals just don’t have to be for serious things like work and school.

You can make goals while still creating a fun environment around those goals.

I wanted to write down my ideas, so that I can create a game plan that won’t put extreme pressure on myself to complete those goals, but instead create a journey for me to enjoy along the way :

Do a spin off a natural feature

Spinning is something that I have greatly improved on in the last year and a half. I have become more confident throwing 360’s off cat tracks, park jumps, and even small side hits.

And I have also loved exploring big mountain lines. From the steep stuff to bigger cliffs to tree hits and more.

And I am ready to combine them.

I want to find some possible hits that I can make this goal happen, so first, I will be scouting lines at my home resort.

And when the snow comes later in the season, I will be ready to try a sweet 360 off a cliff.

Throw a backflip

Throwback to when I was 8 or so and scraped my nose on the trampoline when I tried my first ever backflip. And now I’m ready to show that backflip who’s boss.

Last fall, I went to a trampoline park and honed in on my backflips skills in one night. And now every time I am at a house with a trampoline, I practice a couple times just to make sure I still remember the movements.

One thing that I need to remind myself once I go for this on snow:

My ski gear is heavy – I really gotta throw my whole body into it.

In order to get used to the feeling of my bulky ski gear, I want to try a small backflip/back handspring down a hill. I am definitely waiting for more snow to try this out.

Hopefully, we are able to have some super powder days so I can focus on practicing with a little softer ground conditions.

Create a personal ski style

I have advanced fairly rapidly in the past year, and I definitely have focused on just throwing things without thinking about what I look like to the average third party viewer watching me.

While I am super proud of my achievements, I want to be able to capture how I feel when I am doing the trick (WHICH IS SUPER RAD)

And that means adding some style.

I need to practice little things like grabs, butters, and shifties.

And then mixing them in with my spins in order to get together a nice stylish bag of tricks that look great IRL, in photos, and on video.

And last but NOT least: HAVE FUN.

It’s cliche, I know. But I never want to be skiing when I’m not enjoying it. Although… it’s a little hard to not have fun on skis…

While the bigger goals like the spin off a cliff and backflip are weather and specific-scenario dependent, I still have little goals to work on each day I head up to the hill. Only little changes may be happening, but I am excited to capture my progression throughout the 20/21 season.

Your nacforadventurer and woman with a plan,

AJ