Monster Energy - Catching Up With Brita Sigourney lyrics

Growing up on the beaches of California might not sound like the ideal location to become a pro halfpipe skier, but that`s exactly what Brita Sigourney is. The laid back Californian has become one of the mainstays in women`s freeskiing, notching two X Games medals and multiple Winter Dew Tour podiums. Her rock solid style, ample amplitude and competitive drive, young Sigourney has her sights set on being the best, the apex of the sport. Finding a more permanent winter home at the slopes of Park City, UT, the US Freeskiing member`s progression has exploded and the sky is the limit for the cali-native turned winter combatant. Monster Energy: How did you get into skiing? You`re from the coast of California... Brita Sigourney: Well first, I have two older brothers who showed me how much fun it is to be reckless. And secondly, I just have really great parents who were willing to drive me 10-plus hours to Tahoe every weekend. It would have been hard not to fall in love with skiing the way I was raised. Monster Energy: You spent half of last season on the shelf, what happened? Brita Sigourney: Last season started off really good but after a solid first two competitions, I ended up tweaking my knee at a training camp in Breck the week before X Games. I got an MRI after a few days of limping around and it showed I had cracked the cartilage in my right knee. It didn`t look like a big deal but definitely something I would need to get scoped at the end of the season. Since X Games was coming up I skied more during the next week than any doctors advised. My knee was in a lot of pain but I didn`t think about it while I was skiing, it was just something I dealt with at night. In the next month that I continued to ski, the crack in my cartilage turned into missing chunks of cartilage. That month was ended in Sochi, Russia at the Olympic Test event when I clipped the deck, breaking my collarbone and tearing some ligaments in my shoulder. Since I needed shoulder surgery and was already looking at a four month recovery, I decided to take care of my knee at the same time and make it a six month recovery. It was one of the hardest decisions I`ve ever made but I`m glad I did it. Monster Energy: You were just in New Zealand after spending 7-8 months off snow, how did it feel to be back? Brita Sigourney: Getting back from an injury is always the best feeling in the world. Skiing brings me so much joy, I`m always stoked to be on my skis even if I am only skiing groomers and making turns. My knee felt really good in New Zealand which made it hard to stick to my doctor`s protocol but I did my best to keep it mellow like they wanted. Even just doing straight airs in the pipe made me the happiest girl there. Monster Energy: Word on the street is that the weather is pretty iffy down south. Does that affect your training or ability to get back on the horse? Brita Sigourney: The weather is always just what you make of it. I try not to let bad weather get me down because nobody skis well with a bad attitude and you can`t control it anyways. Of course I would prefer perfect conditions for my first days back in the pipe but I know how to ski and I know how to do straight airs in low visibility. Monster Energy: What`s a bigger feeling: The frustration that comes with the inability of not being able to shred, or the stoke of finally being back on snow? Brita Sigourney: It has to be the stoke of finally getting back. If you let the frustrations of injury and recovery be a big deal, then you`ll never make it through. I always try to focus on the positives even if they are small, because looking forward to skiing again is what keeps me going. Monster Energy: The Olympics loom large this year, what`s your take on the Games and how freeskiing will handle it the first go `round? Brita Sigourney: I feel like the Olympics are adding a whole new level of competition to our sport, which is making everyone really push the limits. I don`t think anyone is going to be holding anything back and I definitely think we are going to surprise viewers who have never seen freeskiing. It`s going to be a new experience for us, too, with the Olympic regulations and judges but as long as everyone sticks to their style, I hope it will be like any other high level competition. Monster Energy: Do you think events like the Winter X Games and Winter Dew Tour will be marginalized by the Olympics or will they be just as important? Brita Sigourney: Knowing the crowd of skiers who compete at X Games and Dew Tour, I don`t think anything is going to be marginalized this year. If anything, I think these contests will just be seen as practice for the Olympics and everyone is going to be trying to win practice. It`ll be important to make yourself be seen as a threat to all the other competitors. Monster Energy: You`re gearing up for an extremely busy first half of the season. How are you going to balance all the travel and training and competing? Brita Sigourney: I`m just going to take it one day at a time. It can be a bit overwhelming when you look at it as five straight weeks of Olympic qualifying events. Right now I`m just really excited to start traveling and skiing again and I always compete best when I`m just stoked to be skiing and having fun. Monster Energy: With the inevitable rise in popularity of freeskiing, how do you explain what you do to somewhat less informed people? Brita Sigourney: I usually just tell them it`s what Shaun White does, but on skis. If they don`t get that, then I start using hand gestures to try to show them what a halfpipe is. [laughs] I`m never quite sure if they really understand but they usually pretend like they do. Hopefully after the Olympics, we won`t have to do that anymore. For more about Brita, follow her on Twitter & Instagram.