Manon_Costard

There seems to be a lot going on on this thread and quite a big misunderstanding concerning Pro Open Women's reasons not to compete in the event. Here is why I personally decided not to go. As I told Marc privately yesterday, my decision has nothing to do with my confidence in my skiing abilities not any sort of worries about competing against whomever it might be. As a professional woman skier, my goal is to help grow pro women slalom as much as possible. I believe our pro women slalom events are a great spectacle. People want to see us ski and compete. The level of women skiing has been increasing considerably and our field has been growing tremendously over the pas few years with more and more women running deep 39 and into 41 off. It has been great to see more people, event organisers and sponsors seeing high value in what we do. I do not wish to bring this value down by seeing pro open women as an "add-on" to a tournament that is meant to be an amateur event; which is why I decided that I would not be competing in the 55K WEST. Not because I am worried I might lose, nor because I don't think the event is a good idea. I think it is great to get amateurs so very excited about skiing competitively. In my opinion it just isn't the type of event I should be competing in (yet!).

Knowing that, beside the abuser, the victims are the only ones knowing the true facts, in my opinion, one of the most efficient ways to prevent child abuse or sexual misconduct is to show them that we will listen, support and take the ones who come forward seriously. One of the many unfair things a victim has to go through, on top of the abuse in itself, is the battle between wanting to leave their painful past behind or speaking out to protect potential future victims. Because the sad reality is that, at the end of the day, they are the only ones who can bring light to the facts which can lead to justice and a safer environment (I say sad because they truly deserve to move on and not to inherit the tough position of having to step up to protect others). So, when someone has to go through all of this, showing them their entire community will take them seriously, have their backs and will support their bravery is the very least we can do. We must show them that such bravery is not disregarded but on the contrary leads to positive impacts. I have come to the point where the thing that shocks me even more (if possible) than the abuse in itself is the victims being silenced by fear of repercussions (whether it is judgments on a personal level or potential consequences on their careers within skiing). We can generally blame the abuse on one person; however, if victims fear our reactions it means that our entire community is to blame for creating or tolerating an environment in which support is shown to the wrong persons. If we fail in reassuring victims in their decisions to come forward, we fail in our duty to keep our community safe and healthy. I am speaking here in a general manner about the attitude towards sexual misconduct and child abuse in our community, not about a specific case. Sadly, there are far too many of these.

@BorisL , MC Skis, As I have told you privately, I am beyond thankful for the support you have provided me with over the years. It was an amazing thing to have you beside me and I have no doubt that the impact you had on my skiing played a huge role into taking me where I am today. It was such a tough decision to make this move of leaving the company as our history means so much to me and as I truly believed we had a powerful and unique relationship. While I seriously appreciate those words you posted today, it saddens me to see that such an important message in my eyes is shared publicly instead of said privately. It makes me wonder if those words are meant to reach me and to answer to my previous private message or if they are meant as a marketing move… Never the less, what we have accomplished together will always remain and that is the most important.

From what I understand, I think your ski is still perfectly fine for basic tricks, but if you want to change it and start learning flips, I think hard edges is a great choice. I find these skis more reactive and I believe it is easier to keep speed and direction when you are edging for your tricks. It will be more reactive. I am not one of the best trickers in the world but I have tricked over 7600 points, I used to ski on a rubber edge ski for a long time and it was great for tricks like 540s and steps but for flips, hard edge skis are definitely the way to go. I now use a D3 hard edges for my hand pass (43') and a rubber edge for toes (41').