TRAINS - words by Sean Carey

 

Coming from the point of view of a long time competitor, high fives is probably the most progressive competition of its kind.  The standard of excellence from skiing, organization, and just flat out fun will continue to out-do itself year after year. We've all heard the expression "if you ain't first, your last"!  Well, in this competition they both meant the same thing.  It didn't matter how well you did, because of the spirit and support each athlete dedicated.
As one of the older athletes competing in High Fives, I am thrilled to watch this foundation grow as a whole and continue to lift the standard of freeskiing!  Congrats to all !!

High Fives (where excellence is average)

Sean Carey

Becca Babicz on TRAINS

Trains

When Roy invited me to TRAINS this year and told me it was going to be a team competition with a girl on every team, I was really excited and one thing popped into my mind "Orage Masters of Tahoe."

I missed the practice/photoshoot day on Friday which wound up being a good thing because I didn't get to see the set up and didn't lose sleep. A lot of times before competitions I cant sleep because I'm too excited/anxious/nervous thinking about the next day and what tricks I want to throw.

Saturday went by really fast but you know what they say about time flying by. Kress Durfee, Courtney Royce, Shawndrea Wisma, Brit White and myself were the invited girls and got to be captains picking our team middle- school gym class style. I was captain of team blue, which also happens to be my favorite color. It was a good sign.

After skiing with Matt Nelson and seeing him kill it numerous amounts of times at Northstar this year, I was confident he would be my first pick. I really had no idea he could do double rodeos, I just knew he had silky smooth style and cat like reflexes where he always lands on his feet. Matt wound up impressing the judges by throwing a rodeo off the up rail feature, a double rodeo and numerous spin rotations, taking the top individual prize of best overall male. When it came
time to pick my next team member, I couldn't believe no one picked Sean Collin, last years winner and the only kid I know that can do every grab ever invented plus grabs that I've never even seen or heard of before. The judges also like Sean's style and he won best 540. When I got to pick my last two team members I was baffeled. How could no one have picked Tyler Homen and Sean Carey!? I really got lucky, I guess. I skied with T-Hoe in previous years but not much this season and didn't know he learned  double back flips! Sean Carey was my savior  and let me follow his speed into the jump. He also came up with our team high five, that won the best high five award. He sat up on the barrel and slapped our hands as we flew through the air. Sean and Matt even did flipping high fives! I also had an honorary member, Jex Lawrence who skied with me throughout the individual competition. Jex is like that Twista song "overnight celebrity" somehow he woke up one day in March and decided to get really sick at skiing.

The speed in the jump got slower and slower throughout the day, but what else could you expect from a blue bird 60 degree weather day? There wound up being more cases than a liquor store on that jump and I felt like an 80- year old woman the day after the competition, after getting worked quit a bit.  But my blue team killed it and we won best team which meant $100, a bunch of cool swag and my favorite thing ever, moon boots!

The competition for me was one last time to see all my ski friends before the season ended. It's weird how ski friends come and go in waves, and sometimes you'll be skiing with someone for weeks straight and then not see them for a month. And with season pass prices, it seems like my friends were all scattered at different mountains this year. So that was my favorite part, to reunite and see everyone killing it on a nice sunny day. 

high five, BB

Becca Babicz following TRAINS teammate Sean Carey, as Team Blue sends a train over the 62-foot jump at Sugar Bowl

TRAINS event photos UP

Event photo's on the High Fives Foundation facebook group page from GP Martin Photography.  Athletes interested in obtaining shots of them from TRAINS please email james@highfivesfoundation.com.

Reno Gazette Journal - High Fives Foundation

Check out the article by TRAINS athlete, Becca Babicz, in the Reno Gazette Journal.  Thanks for coming out Saturday and taking an interest in our cause!  High Fives

TRAINS - words by TRAINS athlete Matt Nelson

This year High Fives event "Trains" was the most fun competition this year.  The setup and different events including best high five, train, 540, male, female, and overall team made for an awesome event.  Every time I went down to the chair lift all I saw were high fives and smiles on the riders faces which is what the event is about.  I was really excited to see the setup this year because I heard Roy saying that it was going to be super fun.  When I showed up Friday for practice I saw what JP Martin had created and knew that the event would be one of a kind.  When Becca picked me for the blue team I was ready and couldn't wait to see who the rest of my team was.  I was stoked and knew we had an awesome team when riders Sean Collin, Tyler Homen, and Sean Carey were picked.  One thing I really liked about this event is that you don't get that nervous feeling because you only have two runs to lay down your best tricks.  Instead you are out there having fun skiing with all your friends at Sugarbowl.  Some highlights that I will remember from this years event:  Our teams high five which was two superman front flips with high fives over the barrel jib, winning best male, and to top everything taking the best team overall!  I know this event and the High Fives Foundation will keep growing and look forward to upcoming years!  HIGH FIVE!!!!!!

Matt gets rad at TRAINS with the Sugar Bowl Palisades behind.  One of the many tricks that Matt threw down to win Best Male.

TRAINS clips from Unofficialsquaw.com

Thanks to Tim Konrad and Mattias Sullivan from Unofficialsquaw.com for coming out to TRAINS on Saturday and putting some clips together for everyone to enjoy.  

High Fives Foundation from Timothy Konrad on Vimeo.

Another epic day at Sugar Bowl, TRAINS 2009

What a great day for High Fives Foundation to host this year's spring ski event, TRAINS, up at Sugar Bowl Resort, California.  With temps well into the 60's and abundant sunshine, all 25 invited athletes gave it their all in an amazing display of slopestyle skiing, team work and positivity.

Thanks to all the supporters that came out to celebrate High Fives and see Tahoe's young guns show off their talents.  Thanks to all of our sponsors for this year's event:  Volkl skis, Tecnica, Smith Optics, Charity Smith, Discrete, Grundens Weather Gear, Surefoot, Porters, Full Belly Deli, The Mountain Forge...and many other strong supporters!  Last but not least, a huge thanks to the team at Sugar Bowl for an amazing job making this event a success for the econd year in a row.  JP Martin you are the man, thank you.

Results:

Best Male: Matt Nelson

Best Female: Kress Durfee

Best 540: Sean Collin 

Best Trick: Parker White

Best High Five: Sean Carey, Matt Nelson, Sean Collin

Best Train: Red Team  (Jed Kravitz, Jimy Greenleaf, Casey Krueger, Chris Logan, Courtney Royce)

Best Team Overall:  Blue Team (Sean Carey, Matt Nelson, Sean Collin, Becca Babicz, Tyler Homen)

Here's some pics from earlier today.  Much more to come very soon!  

High Fives

Two Deep over the jump, mid TRAIN.

Sean Collin - Winner Best 540...Sean put on an amazing display today

Ralph Backstrom - High Fives supporter and all around ripper, gettin' dirty

The Mountain Forge custom trophies presented to Best Trick, Best male, Best Female, Best 540, Best High Five

Getting rad over the rail yard