SCOTT athlete Lori Huber followed her third place finish at the New Zealand Freeskiing Open Big Mountain Finals with a Big Mountain Chill series victory at Mt. Olympus, NZ.  Huber skied a technical line en route to victory over a competitive field who was greeted by near perfect conditions.  Huber's victory scored her qualifying points towards a spot in the Freeride World Tour. 

Lori Huber:
From the start it was clear that the 2-day big mountain event would be reduced to skiing on Saturday only.  The event had been plagued by wind, rain, and gale force winds, and the same was forecast for the last day on Sunday. Luck was on our side though as we awoke to blue bird skies on Saturday – comp day! The chosen venue this year was a ridge line referred to as “Little Alaska”, where competitors are given the chance to ski two lines to impress the judges: one on the left and one on the right of the venue.


photo: Lori Huber

Lori:
The first line I skied was more technical than I usually choose at a comp, but I liked the challenge it posed for me and I decided to hit it. I carved the first two turns in beautiful dry powder over a spine and wind lip before the terrain narrowed into two tight chutes (tighter than I had anticipated!) separated by two large rocks. Taking the skiers right chute I managed to stay on my feet, a couple of hop turns between 2 boulders, and then I came making out of the chute at full speed. The remaining 150 vertical meters went by in a blur of 3 huge turns. Thankfully I managed to hold it together, what a rush!


photo: Lori Huber
I really was looking forward to skiing my second line – the face was quite short but packed with features to play with. I was so stoked to have skied my line just as I had planned!