Squamish's Maëlle Ricker is one of the best snowboardcross athletes in the world. For years, Ricker competed in both the halfpipe and snowboardcross, but has narrowed her focus this season. If her recent success at the World Cup in Chile is any indication, Ricker is on the right track.
Athlete: Maëlle Ricker
Date of Birth: Dec. 2, 1978
Q: You just won the first World Cup snowboardcross event of the season in Nevado, Chile. Was that a good start to the season?
A: I had a really great time. We usually go down for about a month to do some training. Luckily the World Cup is back on the schedule before the real ones in the Northern Hemisphere. I worked hard in training and felt like I was ready to go and I wanted to perform well in Chile.
Q: Are you still training for both the halfpipe and snowboardcross?
A: No, I am actually not on the halfpipe team this year. I am still riding pipe for fun, but I'm no longer focused on competitions. I wasn't passionate enough about halfpipe and willing to put in the time required to be competitive.
Q: So your sole focus is snowboardcross?
A: I am really enjoying travelling with my snowboardcross team and focusing on one event.
Q: What's the World Cup scene like these days? Have you seen a lot of changes in snowboardcross?
A: The courses are getting a lot better and builders are doing a good job to make sure we are on challenging but safe courses. Last year all of the World Cup courses were great. It also makes the sport more exciting to watch because athletes are able to do riskier moves like passing.
Q: How are you feeling heading into the winter season?
A: I am feeling strong but also feeling anxious because we have such a long break. I am still training and enjoying myself. I want to get on snow before I start competing again to ensure my legs are strong.
Q: When do you get back in the race scene?
A: Technically the next race isn't until January but there might be a professional event in December. Other than that I will be training and doing some freeriding.
Q: What does your training schedule look like?
A: We had a lot of snow-specific camps this summer. Most of my training involved freeriding and we also had the opportunity to build little sections of courses to work on different features. I am a strong believer that freeriding is a great training method as well.I spend a lot of time on mental training and nutrition. We also work on having nice fast boards.
Q: Sounds like a lot goes into snowboardcross. Is it almost an art?
A: I think it is an art because it is trickier than it looks. Sometimes you see a course and think, "Yes, I can do this." Then you get in there and realize there is a lot more going on. You need to be ready because each course is a different game. You have to ride well and making it down the fastest line is a whole other task.
Q: What are your goals for this season?
A: My first goal was to do well in Chile and start the season off on the right foot. I want to make sure that I am constantly getting better so when I get into race situations I have the ability and skill to ride it really fast.
Q: Is snowboardcross getting more competitive?
A: Definitely. There was a time when you just needed to finish the course in one piece to come out on top. Now if you make one mistake you'll be left behind the pack.
Q: So you need to be pretty aggressive?
A: You have to competitive during a race with three other people. You'll see a lot of different styles on course, from the freerider to the racer to the freestyler. We all work together and it makes for some interesting racing.
Q: What's next?
A: I am going over to Europe to do some pre-season glacier riding but then I will be back to hit some early snow.
