Empire Attire

Words by Brian Schroy

Sarah Burke was the most positive, outgoing, strong and intelligent woman I ever had the pleasure of knowing.  I first met Sarah in an elevator in Aspen, CO, and was completely starstruck.  The girl that I had grown up watching in the videos was right in front of me.  I immediately named dropped as many mutual friends as I could in order to look cool, and not like some crazy fan.  She looked at me, laughed, and accepted me as a new friend.

I was thrilled when I found out that I would be working with Sarah as her Team Manager at Empire Attire.  I would call and email back and forth with her every week or two to seek help with glove designs, get an interview for a blog article or just check in with her.  She would always respond as soon as possible and blow my mind with the amount of time and thought she would put into her work. Occasionally she would take awhile to write back, and I would find out that she was traveling the world to the most spectacular places.  She was a doer and truly lived life to the fullest.

I remember the first time I contacted Sarah, I got her voicemail and ended my message with “have the best Wednesday ever”.  She really enjoyed my sign off. From that day on every time I spoke to her she would end our conversation with “have the best day ever,” and I would.  Sarah had that ability.  Just the shortest conversations had the power to make you feel better, stronger and more confident than before.

I will forever cherish the times I spent with Sarah and she will always motivate me to do my best.  The impact that she had on the sport will forever be remembered.  I believe that Sarah is off in a better place, looking down on us, having “the best day ever”.

The US Freeskiing Grand Prix at Copper has come to an end.  It might have been the first halfpipe competition of the season, but it sure did not appear that way.  There was no holding back in the finals for this talented group of athletes.

Simon boosting switch

For the Empire team, Jossi Wells, Simon Dumont, and Sarah Burke advanced to the finals.  Peter Olenick decided to compete in qualifiers, after a long time out due to injury.  He took it very easy in his runs, being that it was his first day back in the pipe, but the crowd went wild for his flares and 900 at the bottom.  Jossi boosted high with effortless style, which the judges rewarded him for.  He decided to stay away from some of his more daring tricks, since he also had a season full of injuries last year. Jossi still earned a respectable 8th place finish.

Peter Olenick back on his feet

Simon took a serious digger at practice last Tuesday.  He shook it off in true Dumont fashion and decided to compete in qualifiers on Wednesday. Simon qualified 3rd in his heat, throwing down a safety run.  He decided to go for it in the finals, putting together one of the more technical runs of the day.  Unfortunately, Simon was unable to get enough speed for his double 1260 on his last hit and ended up in 9th.  The competition season is very young and Simon will be the man to beat when he puts his run to his feet.

Simon peeps the competition

Sarah Burke was a trooper in the women’s competition.  She put down a solid run in qualifiers, which did not get scored as high as she would have liked due to a couple butt-checks. On her second run, she took a gnarly fall on the deck but got up with a smile.  She advanced to finals with her first run, but could not quite stick the run she wanted.  She finished the competition in 7th place.

The kids line up for Jossi

In the last major competition of the 2010-11 season, Empire athletes have wrapped their years up holding the top two spots in the AFP (Association of Freeskiing Professionals) roster.

Gus Kenworthy took home a win from the one hit super-pipe, nailing a new trick: a double 1080 tail grab. This wraps up a great season, which included strong finishes at the X-Games, and his performance this weekend put him at the top of the AFP’s ranks. Kenworthy shared the final podium with fellow Empire Athlete, Simon Dumont, who was a close second overall.
Both Dumont and Kenworthy had a strong year, with Dumont leading the field for the majority of the season. Dumont had huge performances at the Dew Tour, X Games, and the Dumont Cup before this weekend’s competition.

Between Sarah Burke winning the one hit super pipe with a 1080 mute grab, Kenworthy’s promising attempts at nailing a triple cork, and Dumont’s consistent domination all year, next year’s competitions promise to be exciting, and the Empire roster is poised for another series of strong performances.