Full Send Personified: A Day of Extreme Freeride Skiing, Extreme Terrain and ‘Extreme’ Watches with Alpina
“Three, two, one … GO!” Leif Mumma stabs the hard-packed snow with his ski poles and launches himself out of the start gate. He immediately takes a different, more central line down the steep Ozone face. By the looks of his sheer speed and direct approach, he’s charging hard, taking the mountain head-on. Judging his quick decision making and go-big-or-go-home style, you wouldn’t think that this is Mumma’s first rodeo, but it is. He’s just a rookie on the Freeride World Tour. With a handful of speed, Mumma dramatically cuts in and out, just holding onto his ski’s edges down what seems to be one of thinner areas on the mountain face. He makes one technical jump off a rock face, lands, then cuts right. Then another. As Mumma dances around several spruce trees, the oohs and aahs arise from the spectators along the opposite ridge. At that moment, we’re all witnessing poetry in motion. All Downhill From Here Suddenly, an audible crack breaks the excitement. The mountain face starts to erupt on Mumma’s left as he completes a 20 foot jump. Whatever snow that was settled along the lower center portion of the face has now released, rushing down like a raging waterfall. Mumma is just out of the avalanche’s grip as he attempts his last trick. Out of nowhere Mumma’s ski gets caught by a sharkie (an exposed rock in a sea of snow that resembles a shark’s dorsal fin). He’s projected off of the face, his arms and poles flapping like a wingless bird, and his body...
Quill & Pad
