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Posted on Tuesday June 23rd at 9:17 p.m.
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I got into freeskiing in my last year of high school when I was working at Beggs Ski Shop in Dunedin with Dion and Taki. I snowboarded at the time but had ski raced from age 10 to 14 and had won a couple youth national titles. I had worked there since i was a grom and the guys were always giving me heaps for never skiing, so when i was 17 I stole an old pair of my brother, Georges twins. With help from the boys I taught myself some basics in the park and competed in and won the Freeski Youth Nationals.
From there I was selected for the NZ Junior Team and the sports academys Winter Performance Programme in 2007. Now I live in Queenstown and am skiing for Salomon, Groovstar, Oakley and Parklife. This season I'm coming back from surgery after blowing my ACL in left knee at the end of last year. I'm going to be easing back into it and re learning my old tricks but am also planning to compete in the Remarks Slopestyles, the NZ Open and the Winter Games.
When there's no snow or I'm injured, I'm studying towards my Design and Marketing degrees at Otago University. 2009 is my 3rd year of study but I have only been doing first semesters and taking the winters off to ski. It's a slow process but my points are adding up, I love my ski/student lifestyle and with the economy in recession its not like there is any hurry to graduate! I also work part time while I'm skiing and studying, bar tending and making burgers!
My short term goals in life are to become the top female park skier in New Zealand and to finish my degree, I really want to study abroad in Japan or Scandinavia as part of my course. In the long term I want to use my experience and education to stay in the snow industry to share my passion with others and to continue encouraging kids to succeed and grow through skiing and snowboarding.
But for now I am looking forward to getting back on skis this season and having a fresh start after a long summer!
I hope everyone has a fun winter, plays nice and stays safe!
Ella.