BANFF – When Banff's Michelle Locke flew to Japan in January to compete in the Freeride World Tour, she was on the road to redemption.
But two months later, safely back in the Rocky Mountains, the 41-year-old professional snowboarder finds herself at the end of a path that led to perspective instead.
"I am so thankful I got to experience this, not once, but twice in my life," Locke said. "It was something I fought hard for and I can be proud of.
"I fought to go back for redemption. I didn't really kill it, but I have more experiences, friends and have travelled to new places ... I wouldn't trade any of it."
The 2020 Freeride World Tour was Locke's second attempt at competing at the highest level in her field. Her competitive results in 2019 as a freeride snowboarder qualified her for the tour this year.
The tour includes men's and women's competition in skiing and snowboarding on some of the most technical and steep terrain available at ski resorts around the world.
The tour schedule includes four stops in Japan, Canada, Spain and Austria before the final competition to ride Le Bec Des Rosses face at Verbier in Switzerland. Only the top three competitors in each category move onto Verbier. Competitors are judged on their runs for the line they chose to take on the mountain face, their style, the fluidity of their run and speed.
Locke did not qualify to move onto the finals and post-season has dissected her performance to reach the conclusion she could have done better.
"I do not think I did really great," she said.
"I do not think I represented my riding as well as I could have and it is hard to push your limits when you are out there competing and trying to not get hurt."
In Hakuba, Japan, at the end of January, Locke said she did not have the best start after becoming lost and being disqualified. At Kicking Horse Resort in B.C. – and closer to home – Locke said she regretted not going bigger.
At Ordino Arcalís Andorra in Spain in February, Locke was frustrated by bad lighting during the competition and the style of riding did not play to her strengths.
"It really was not my kind of face," she said.
"I like more steep, rocky and icy [conditions] ... every different event has a different style of riding."
In Fierberbrunn Austria, she said she knew what she had to do to get onto a podium, however, her points and fourth and fifth place finishes throughout the tour, did not add up to her continuing to Verbier.
One of the challenges is that European venues only provide athletes with the ability to visually inspect the mountain face they must ride before the event. In North America, however, freeride athletes are able to perform an inspection on the course.
Locke said an on-course inspection provides her with a better understanding of the features on the mountain she is going to ride during the event.
"I had a rough time with the inspection," Locke said.
"I felt ... not confident in a lot of my line selections because of the visual only inspection and found it messed with my orientation on the mountain. I second guessed myself a lot more than I thought I was going to."
In 2015, Locke was the first female Canadian snowboarder to qualify for the Freeride World Tour. Her results this year were similar to five years ago, with Locke not able to advance to the final competition.
Typically there is a break between stops on the tour, and after competing in Austria, Locke planned to pick up a few qualifier events at European ski resorts. The strategy was to gain more experience with the visual inspection process.
But with the COVID-19 coronavirus spreading across the globe, organizers of the Freeride World Tour found themselves scrambling to pull it off at the beginning of March instead.
Travelling with U.S. competitor Erika Vikander, Locke headed to Verbier with her, as she wanted to be able to watch the final competition as well.
The event was set to move forward, but was cancelled at the last minute after Switzerland shut down all ski hills as a precaution to prevent the spread of the virus.
"I like that persistence," she said.
"They were really pushing for that [event to go forward] and it was the 25th anniversary of the Freeride World Tour this year as well.
"Everyone was in limbo. The borders had not closed in Europe yet, but it was not long after that everything started to go into lock down."
Locke spent a short period of time visiting a friend in Switzerland, but it was becoming increasingly apparent she would need to return home to Canada before international borders closed and commercial flights home were cancelled. The final standings for the tour saw France's Marion Haerty take first place, Australia's Michaela Davis-Meehan second and Vikander third.
She was on the last direct flight to Canada out of Geneva and once back in Banff, quarantined for two weeks. As Verbier was the site of a significant outbreak of COVID-19, she was also tested for the virus upon returning to the valley.
Looking back, Locke said she is grateful for the support from the community, especially a fundraiser held at the Rose and Crown before she left. She was also impressed with the level of riding from other competitors and gained perspective on the Freeride World Tour and whether or not she wants to continue to pursue that goal.
"The level of the other [competitors] riding was amazing to see how much we have progressed over the years," she said.
"After 13 years of competing at this Freeride World Tour goal, do I still have [motivation] to keep going after working my way up to the qualifiers twice? Or do I take my experience and try and share that knowledge with other women out there who would potentially like to pursue that dream?
"I don't know. I guess we will have to wait and see."
