Aline Bock, 2010 Freeride World Champion (Snowboard), spoke to PowderGuide about the 2011 Freeride World Tour, snowboarding and her goals as a professional rider. After finishing a surprising second in her first year on the tour, she won the title race in 2010, her second season.
PowderGuide: From your point of view, how did the planning and especially the final announcement of the FWT 2011 go?
Aline Bock: Because it was initially said that we women were completely out of the tour and would only start in the qualifiers, we riders naturally held out against it. Then there was pressure from sponsors and riders. Then the FWT organization completely changed everything again. In the end, it now looks like we ladies will be riding three World Tour stops and the rest will take place in qualifiers. At the moment, I'm not quite sure how the points system works. Above all, we qualified riders have privileges again thanks to the opportunity to take part in the FWT stops. I think there was a lot going on.
PG: How do you see the FWT 2011 with all the innovations and changes?
Aline: First of all, I want to say that I love the World Tour. I love this tour and especially this big family. I really enjoy riding the World Tour. I'm really looking forward to riding the three World Tour stops together with the men, especially because it has such a small family feel to it. It's been a nice thing so far that we 35 riders, men and women, meet up and travel the world together and compete against each other on challenging mountains. On the other hand, I have to say that it is all getting too much for me at the moment. I would have said "no" to the FWT if they had really put us all in the qualifiers, because I think that's discrimination. That is just not right. Especially when they try to push the women out and then put them back in afterwards because we or the sponsors put too much pressure on them. There are enough points for me to say: We women have really come a long way! We have improved our level year on year to such an extent that we could already keep up. What we showed last season in particular was simply a clear step up! There are women in every sport who do the same thing and can be spectacular in their own way if they get the chance.
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PG: Then what reasons do you think the FWT had for making the plan to have the women compete in the qualifiers?
Aline Bock: I can't figure out what the real reason is. I don't think it's just because of the event budget. Especially because there is also a Junior Tour this year. In this context, I ask myself questions like: Why are we not allowed to compete in the Engadine? Why are we not allowed to go to Russia? But why is it OK again in Chamonix? Why should the women start in the qualifiers and the juniors be allowed to take part in the main events? In my opinion, there need to be clear facts or reasons as to what this is really about. I haven't spoken to Nicolas Halewoods myself yet. I will meet with the FWT officials in Berlin and see what comes out of the conversation. (Editor's note: This meeting took place shortly after the interview date). We female riders will definitely try to fight and maybe it will come down to us being fully involved again next year.
PG: Would a truly independent Women's World Tour be a solution, as has already been suggested by various parties?
Aline: For me, organizing a separate Women's World Tour is not an option so far. I don't think it would really be beneficial for women's sport, but I'm happy to be proven wrong. It would be best if women and men were together at one spot. Then the women are also transported along and can show that they are there, are strong and can also do the sport. That's why I don't think it makes sense to isolate women in freeriding and generate their own tour. We women have a different anatomy and we can't jump 20 meter cliffs, but that doesn't mean we have to be pushed away and need our own tour. In my opinion, this is really counterproductive for women's freeriding. If it was really about equality, the FWT could also make sure that we women get enough attention and media presence. If they wanted to do that, then they could easily take out the best footage of the women and incorporate it into the trailer and the 26-minute film, for example, which is unfortunately not the case at the moment.
PG: So what do you think is the best solution for the FWT?
Aline: Ultimately, it would be best for us women to ski the tour together with the men. Ideally like in Verbier, where we have our own face, are allowed to start first and have an untracked slope. It's even good for us if we get a face that isn't quite as extreme as the Bec des Rosses, where we can let off steam. If you set up a really good tour together, then we women can show what we've got. Then we don't have to ride in the shadows after the boys through an already bombed-out field just so we can still be there.
PG: So what are your plans for the 2011 season? What are you going to prioritize?
Aline: If it all goes over my head, I'll have to look for other options for the winter if it doesn't work out with the World Tour. So if it doesn't work out and I feel like I'm being treated like I don't belong, then I'll try to pursue my other projects more.
PG: What kind of projects or options are these?
Aline: I'm just going to wait until all the trouble has died down. I also have to admit that I've only just come back from all my travels and I'm only just starting to plan the season. What's more, I'm currently working on other projects, a plan B so to speak. And these projects sound great. Nevertheless, I would 100% like to ride the Tour and defend my title. But as I've already said, there are other options besides the FWT if that turns out to be negative. After all, I'm not just a competitive rider. I want to be flexible and versatile and also show off my other snowboarding skills.
That's why I'm currently focusing on filming alongside the World Tour. In this context, I'm going to fly to Alaska in April and try to get a film part off the ground. I just want to try and collect as much footage as possible to have a good part together at the end of the year. My goal is to film a whole movie part of big mountain riding, lines and freestyle backcountry. I haven't decided exactly which projects yet, but there are already talks with European and American film productions.
As part of the Alaska trip, I will also be taking part in the "King of the Hill", the sister event of the World Heli Challenge in New Zealand. This is an independent freeride event and I won a starting place for it by winning the Heli Challenge. Another idea is to go to Japan in February to film and enjoy the powder there. Especially because the FWT calendar gives us ladies a free February.
As far as the tour is concerned, I'll make sure that I only have to make as few stops as necessary. I want to make sure that I mainly take part in the events that take place in my area or that I like as a contest or event. I would particularly like to be in the Engadin because the contest is great and offers an interesting face. In terms of ContestHappening, I will concentrate on the 4-star events and the World Tour stops that are possible for me. Of course, I would prefer it if all of us women were on the tour.
PG: In connection with your strong commitment to film, have you ever thought about creating a similar project to the recently released women-only ski film "As We Are"? Could you imagine realizing a similar project, i.e. a women's snowboard film? Possibly even as a producer?
Aline: To be honest, I was already thinking about it last year. I was also planning to start a movie production with Eva Walkner back then. We had the entire concept in place. We had a director and were looking for sponsors. We had it all planned out. Unfortunately, it really fell through due to time constraints. At some point, it became too much for me to juggle everything. If you want to make a movie like this, it's a full-time job. You have to have your head completely free and be able to handle a big budget. It would have been a great story for us. I recently had it in my hands again. We really put together something professional. At the moment, the project has been put on hold, mainly due to time constraints. Because I have such a busy schedule right now with contests, traveling and filming, I would be really happy if someone else would get behind it and set up a project like this and I could be involved. But unfortunately I don't have the time to get behind it myself. At the moment, I'd rather be a character in a movie like that. When my career comes to an end, I could imagine taking the side of the producers and organizers. Then I would also like to do it with full commitment. Much rather than on the side, because I have simply realized how demanding and time-consuming such a project is. However, whether it will actually happen is still up in the air.
PG: You mentioned in a conversation at the beginning of the summer that you had plans to organize freeride camps with a focus on safety. Has anything happened in the meantime?
Aline: This is a project that is incredibly close to my heart. Unfortunately, I don't have the time at the moment. I would like to bring it in line with Ortovox and the "Soulcountry Tirol", who already have a cooperation with the SAAC camps. The idea is to be able to attend some of the camps as a freeride pro. I would like to use my role as a role model to show and convey that I was only able to pursue my career this way because I also have a certain idea of how dangerous the backcountry is and how to deal with these dangers responsibly at a high level.
I would also love to organize freeride camps for people who want to ride more backcountry and don't yet have the know-how. But unfortunately, this kind of commitment doesn't fit into my schedule at the moment. However, I'm working with my manager and friend, who really wants to do it with me. This means that this project will remain a lower priority the whole time. As soon as a good opportunity presents itself, we want to organize it accordingly. We might not get around to it until spring or even next season, but I'm really interested in it and it's very important to me to teach young snowboarders in particular how to be Safety First. It's particularly important for me to pass on that you only come home from the mountain with a smile on your face in the evening if you really know what you actually did up there. How dangerous it really is and how you can save your friends in an emergency.
PG: Since you just mentioned the next generation. We had a discussion in our forum about the death or extinction of snowboarding. As a freeride world champion snowboarder, what's your stance on this?
Aline Bock: There was a huge boom back then when snowboarding started. From then on, it always went up in percentage terms. And at some point, the boom just wasn't there anymore. But that doesn't mean that people aren't snowboarding anymore or that it's dying out. There is simply no longer such a high growth rate. It has simply established itself as a mass sport. Young people will always try snowboarding. But it's just no longer the boom that it was back then. It's just not possible to attract more and more snowboarders every year. Back then, it was just a new sport, like surfing on snow, which nobody knew about and was therefore totally crazy and super fun. The growth rate has been relativized by the establishment of the sport. But a growth rate of just 1% as opposed to 15% or so doesn't mean that snowboarding is dying out. It's no longer the case that it was uncool to ski, as it was for a while. It's simply become totally normalized.
PG: Thank you very much for the interview and good luck in the contest season and for your film part.
Aline Bock - Rider Profile
Age: 28 years
Successes: 2010 Freeride World Tour Champion; 2009 Freeride World Tour 2nd
Webpage:www.alinebock.de
Sponsors: ROXY, Völkl Snowboards, Dakine, Ortovox, Deeluxe; Jeewin, Souldcountry Tirol