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Weekend warrior charges the line
Stephanie Jagger decided to challenge the Guinness Book of World Records for most vertical feet skied in one year; in the process, she uncovered a new self
by Susan Hollis
Page 2 of 3
"I think the Japanese culture of having sake and a naked hot tub afterwards is superb," she said with a laugh. "Their hot spring culture and their ski culture mixed with sake is great, I loved that."
Jagger had a chance to immerse herself in a mish-mash of ski cultures, all of which differed greatly from the one she was used to. Observing a decided lack of hurry in the European resorts, she developed a deep appreciation for a chilled-out approach to the hill - even though she was skiing an average of 25,000 - 35,000 feet per day to meet her goal (that's once down Everest or eight gondola rides on Whistler).
"European resorts have very different cultures to the North American, they treat it much more like a leisure activity," she said. "They're going to go have a two hour lunch, sit in the sun and get a few runs in. In North America they are more competitive about their leisure time. I think the thing that most North Americans and people from Whistler can learn is probably the laissez-faire approach to the hill."
Jagger recognizes the irony in having discovered less competitive ski experiences in her quest to break a record, but considers it good training for the future. Once she meets her goal she plans to spend more time in the backcountry than on chair lifts and is determined to channel the no holds-barred approach into her professional and personal life.
"I've also spent a ton of time with myself and I think that's vital for anyone who is 20 to 30 years old to spend that time and get to know yourself that well and to really see how far you can push yourself before your own breaking point, it's pretty neat," she said. "The more that I think of it, I think it would be such a shame to live a year this way and say, 'Well that was great, and now I'm going to lower all my restraining devices, settle, and go back to the same things I was doing before.' I guess the biggest thing is that I've lived a year this way. Now I think the bigger challenge is can I live this way?"
Jagger isn't making any concrete plans about her future. Though she's had a successful career in marketing and public relations, she's more interested in writing a book about her year, something she describes as "Eat, Après, Love."
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Task force formed to address long weekend mayhem
Locals frustrated by damage to village; police log 17 cases of mischief over one night
- May 23, 2013
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Council to review pay parking
Task handed to EPI Committee for attention
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Budget for municipal hall renos up $200K
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