It was great to see all of the girls again, most of whom I haven’t seen since last season. Everyone had huge grins and were sincerely happy to see one another, which is uncommon amongst females. It was great to see the Shred Betties girls, and we were happily greeted by our amazing team manager Diana, and the newest member of the gang, her baby boy Tosh. Thanks for making it out you guys!

Most of the competitors had been up at Mt. Hood for the summer, and their riding definitely displayed that. Unfortunately I was not able to make it up there this year, so I was a little behind on my skills on the rails, and these girls came ready to throw down.

The first heat consisted of a lot of good riders, the girls really stepped it up from last year in their twenty minute heat. After some redesigning of the course, it seemed to me that everyone was a lot more comfortable trying stuff since there were no stairs underneath the rails. With the anticipation building I was ready for our heat to start.

The second heat seemed like it was more “stacked” to me. Wishing I had some more practice under my belt, I dropped in and tried to get motivated by watching girls like Laurie, Gabby, Megan, Desiree, and Colleen just destroy this setup. Twenty minutes flew by, and I wasn’t feeling very confident about my performance. Mostly due to the fact I haven’t snowboarded in 3-4 months, and I have never ridden my current board on rails.

After the finalists were announced, myself not included, I hung around to watch the rest of the event. Finals were crazy! I was ecstatic to see how much every single girl was pushing themselves and truly trying new things. In the end I saw lots of stylish frontboards, some great 180’s on and off the rail, and some other amazing tricks. In the end it was Danyalle Patterson who took first, Desiree Melancon in second, and Laurie Currier in third.

I can definitely say that every single girl had a great time, and was truly inspired by girl power. We are all supergirls at this competition and the good vibes were high. Can’t wait to throw down next year at the S3 Supergirl Jam. Special thanks to Courtney Dornstein for putting this all together and keeping all of the competitors informed, as well as ASA entertainment, Fuel Tv, and Fox news, without you guys this competition would not get the coverage that it deserves!

My Trip out to L. A. for the Super Girl Jam 2010 began as I left South Lake Tahoe at 6:30 A.M on Friday the 20th and began my adventure to HWY 395. I love my GPS; it took me the most scenic route possible. It took me 9 hours to make it to Laguna Beach where I met up with fellow Shred Betties and Akinz team rider, Erika Vikander. She was very hospitable for the 4 nights I stayed with her! While i was there we did a photo shoot with her mother on the beach during the sunset. The photo shoot was a lot of fun and the sunset was unforgettable.

Sunday the 22nd Erika and I left Laguna Beach early in the morning to drive out to LA for the Super Girl Jam. The competition was held at Venice Beach on the boardwalk. Venice beach has a lot of creative people. I have never been so dumbfounded and amused in one place all at the same time! The competition brought together some of the top female riders in the industry. It was 80 degrees out, but the girls and I still threw the snow pants and sweaters on to protect from snow rash. Most of the girls had spent time at Mt. Hood for the summer, and although i have gone a few times this summer, I felt a could have used a little more practice before the competition.

I ended up not placing in the event, however I had a great time and I got a few really good interviews! As a result of the competition I was able to see some of the Shred Betties riders that I have not seen in a while. I was also able to meet some other great riders such as Gabrielle Maiden and Tammie Varner. All the girls that came to the Super Girl Jam were very nice and they all brought good vibes to the event which made the competition fun and enjoyable.

When I left Laguna Beach on Tuesday the 24th I realized even though I did not leave with a 1st place I left with great memories, new friends and the experience to travel Laguna Beach and LA. I hope to have a successful next year at the Super Girl Jam 2011!

If you’re in the Cali area, head out to the Supergirl Rail Jam on August 22nd at Venice Beach. Akinz team riders Erika Vikander and Claire Hewitt-Demeyer will be competing and if you’re lucky enough to be a contestant, expect a little extra something in your swag bag from Akinz!

Hood edit 2010 Ashley Battersby from Ashley Battersby on Vimeo.

Snowboarding in the middle of the summer, is there anything better? Boreal brought a smile to every local rider in California this weekend! They opened one lift, with a run including two jumps and eight jib features. Boreal was charging only $20 to shred from ten till two! every rider/skier came to the resort with great vibes, it was another amazing day in Cali! I to want give a big thanks out to Nathan Vetter for posting up and taking some great shots! Boreal will be opening in October for some early pre season riding. Hope everyone out there is going for a never summer like myself!

Saturday the 17th of April marked the very first Beach Bash competition hosted by NEFF and Brighton. Garrett and I picked up Cory from Arkade Magazine in the morning and headed up to the hill. We met Cory at last years Campus Rail Jam Tour’s Finals in Portland. Cory asked me last year if I would like to do an interview with the magazine, but unfortunately we couldn’t get together until the last weekend of the season this year. So we planned to get some pictures for the magazine, and the boys watched me compete.

We couldn’t have asked for nicer weather. After registering, I was pleased to see lots of other girls around ready to compete! However, since this was a “Beach Bash” most of the girls were there to hang out in their bikini’s and not to try hard and throw down on the course.

Practice lasted long enough for me to get one run in on each of the features which included; a flat rail all the way to the right, a fun box in the middle with a 5 foot gap off the end, and a wall ride, all over a pit of beach balls! I was very eager to get going, and after watching the 14 and under boys destroy this course, I was inspired to do so as well.

I like dropping in first and setting the standard for everyone else in the competition. To make sure I had enough speed to make it to the landing of the fun box, I charged in fast, and popped hard. No problems there. I decided to next hit the flat bar rail. After competing in multiple rail jams this year, I felt comfortable enough to just go right for a front-board to switch out. After doing that I moved to the wall ride- which was actually not as scary as it looked. I think the look of it got the best of most of the girls, because it was only myself and one other girl who even hit that feature.

Before I even knew it our heat was over, and I was covered in sweat. I ended up competing in a tank-top and my straw hat- to get into the spirit a little bit. I loved the layout of the competition. The heats were a perfect amount of time, and they presented us with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd right after our heat was over.
I was delivered my first place goodies from none other than Shaun Neff himself. It was a great honor to meet the guy behind the “Neff” name, and he had nothing but encouraging and gracious things to say to me. It was nice to meet a guy who was actually impressed with my snowboarding, and didn’t seem to care about looks. This event was so much fun, and for their first year doing it, it went flawlessly.
After I was done competing we all took a couple of laps around Millicent, and enjoyed the rest of the party.

I was sad to realize this was my last competition for this season, but thrilled I ended on a high note. The Neff Beach Bash at Brighton was definitely one of my favorite competitions I participated in this year. Great people, good music, good weather, and a fun atmosphere.

My friend and event director of the Queens Cup asked me to come be a coach this year, I happily accepted and was eager to see what that event is like from another perspective. Thanks Anna!

Saturday March 27th marked the 5th annual Queens Cup Open. Anna has been putting this event on at Park City the past 5 years, and it just gets better, and better. I walked into the registration room to be greeted by Anna, her mom, and Michelle Parker at the registration table. Everyone was really anxious to get things going, so we waited for the rest of the girls to show up, then we started practice.

My team consisted of some awesome shredder girls including; Melissa Riitano, Leah Klein, Alice Gong, and Michelle Zeller. I was thrilled to be the coach of such a strong team and practicing with them was a blast. By the time that the event was ready to start, my team was a ready to go.

Our team was dropping last, so we had some time to ride the halfpipe a little in between the heats. Spring riding is so much fun! The halfpipe has been amazing the past week, perfect amount of slush. When it came time for us to drop, we all met at the start gate at the top of the course. The course was on pick and shovel and in it it had; your choice of a butter box, a down rail, or a bonk, into 2 jumps, another rail option, and into the 3rd jump. We were having too much fun practicing and I was ready to watch my team kill it!



No one on my team stomped their first run like they wanted to, and I know how that feels. I told them to make sure they were having fun, and to visualize. I think that worked out for them. When I got to the bottom after my second run, my team was waiting with huge grins on their faces. All the girls did so well! Everyone stomped a good trick off the bottom jump and I got to see Melissa do a sick backside 360 off a rail!

With the combination of smooth rail tricks, and good airs, Melissa won the Queens Cup! Congrats Melissa! You deserved it! The awards were short and sweet, and Anna did a great job getting legitimate prize packages together for all of the winners. But even if you didn’t win, you never feel left out at the Queens Cup- Anna had enough prizes for everyone to get a little something!

This competition is so unique, and such a fun opportunity to get to know some of your fellow athletes. Whether they ski or snowboard, there is a lot of talent here. It was so fun to be a coach, and I hope I can do it again next year! Thanks again everyone for another successful QUEENS CUP OPEN.