'On The Come Up' is a series in which we highlight an up and coming skiers. Some of you may recognize them but for many, the name won’t ring a bell. Either way, one thing’s for sure, you’re going to be hearing a lot more of that name in the near future.
It's somewhat contradictory to say that Sarah Hoefflin, who won the overall FIS World Cup Slopestyle title last year is 'on the come up', but despite her success, she's not exactly a household name outside of her native Switzerland. She's been on the rise in the women’s slopestyle scene for the past couple of years, culminating with that FIS title last year. Yesterday she took 3rd in Dew Tour and like most in the competition scene, her ultimate aims for the season are spots at X Games and the Olympics. She certainly looks odds on to make it to both.
Beyond that, Sarah is far from the typical competition skier. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, she moved to England when she was 12 and stayed until she finished University, before moving to the French Alps to pursue skiing. Unusually for the comp scene, in her breakout season she was 25 not 15. Nor is competition her sole focus, she doesn't spend a ton of time training in the park. In fact, when she’s not off competing or on trips with the Swiss Freeski Team, the park is often the last place you’ll find her. “Whenever I come home from competitions I usually spend my days ski touring and finding powder away from the crowds, which I love. I’ll do a handful of backcountry days where I spend the night sleeping in huts or in a tent”, she told me.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BV7kfAAAb7O/?taken-by=sarahhoefflin
The first time I saw an edit from Sarah I thought to myself ‘how has she not blown up yet’. Her bag of tricks is not only impressive, but she executes them with smooth style. From just watching her season edit, you can tell how well rounded of a skier Sarah is in the park, ripping both rails and jumps. She's also right at the forefront of progression, at Sosh Big air earlier this fall she joined the ladies dub club with a switch dub 10 and it's looking like the sky is the limit.
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/883500/Sarah-Hoefflin----16-17
What's next? Well you can expect to see a lot more of Sarah in slopestyle competitions this season- and she's stoked to be a part of the growing women's side of the sport. "I think women’s slopestyle skiing is really picking up and I’m always stoked when I see the other girls ripping. It’s so exciting, a few girls are now doing doubles and it’s a really good time to be a part of the progression of women’s freeskiing," Sarah told us.
I'm always excited to find ladies like Sarah who are not only progressing the sport on the competition side of things but getting after it in the backcountry as well. It'll be great to see if she can bring the two passions together after comp season is done.
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