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AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH PAULINA LIGOCKA

Mainpeak's own snow junkie, Marcin Orlowski, was lucky enough to catch up with his homie Paulina Ligocka, the winner of BEO 2010, for an exclusive interview this week. A huge star in her home country and blowing up all over Europe, Paulina is someone to keep an eye out for in the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Read on for more of an insight into her life, coaching and upcoming comps....

Paulina Ligocka (POL) - the female half pipe Winner of the 6STAR TTR BURTON EUROPEAN OPEN 2010

1. Paulina, can you tell about your snow setup? What gear do you rock on the slopes?

Roxy is my main sponsor, so I ride their board called the Olly Pop in two different lengths, the 151 and 154 cm. Even though Olly Pop ss is my favorite snowboard to ride, I also rate the Roxy Torah Bright Eminence snowboard very highly. As far as bindings go, I have been riding the Roxy Eminence binding, which is Torah Bright’s signature binding. My outerwear comes from Roxy, too. I really like their Silver 5K Outerwear Collection, which is super comfy, looks hot and is perfect for shredding in the halfpipe. For boots, DC Boots keep my feet warm and comfy.

2. Do you have any interesting pre-competition rituals?

It varies on the competition itself as much as on the snow and weather conditions on the given day. I like to get up a little early on the day, so as not to rush around before the comp gets underway. Ideally, some morning Yoga, a hot shower, breakfast, a quick warm-up before hopping on the lift, a few runs to get into the feel of my snowboard and the snow conditions and that’s how I kick off my  runs.

3. What is your motivation for training and riding half pipe instead of say, rails, backountry or slopestyle?

I used to ride in many Slopestyle events, something I that enjoyed and had fun doing for many years. Unfortunately, I had a serious injury resulting from a big air jump gone wrong, which put me out of action for a few long months. When I recovered and went back to snowboarding, I decided to focus my attention on bettering my half pipe riding, because it is where I feel the most confident and can have most fun doing.

4. Do you have a snowboard coach? How important is having a coach to a pro rider like yourself?

Wladek Ligocki has been coaching me in snowboarding for many years. Privately, he is my Dad and also a very good friend. My parents have always been very supportive of my shred career, backing me up and motivating well. The Father-Daughter coaching relationship has been great for us and we have reached many goals along the way thanks to mutual involvement and through sharing good ideas together. Many other people have influenced and helped my riding career, too, starting off with my Mom, who was the first to give me pointers whilst on a trip to Laax in Switzerland. Other big influences come from my brother Szczepan Ligocki, who is a former pro rider turned coach for AZS Poland, my riding club. And last but not least, my fiancée Dino and all the other snowboarders I ride and hang out with have influenced my riding. Even though snowboarding is an individual discipline, it works almost like all the other team sports-riders hang out and shred together, have fun and feed off each other’s energy.
In addition, my other Coach is called Jesse Fulton. He is a Canadian ex-pro rider and now the main coach of “Shreducation”. Jesse knows what it is all about.
 
5. How did it feel to win such a prestigious Ticket to Ride World Tour Event snowboard event as the BURTON EUROPEAN OPEN 2010?

I can not even begin to describe it. It was like having one of my snowboard dreams come true. After my half pipe run in the Finals was over, I was super stoked and happy to have landed all my tricks and put a dream run together. Everything just fell into place, there was no talk of going to Plan B. Right from the start it went as planned. And then I looked at the scoreboard and saw my Score and Event Ranking-since then I can not describe how euphoric I was.

6. Paulina, what are you plans for the rest of 2009/2010 Winter?

At the moment I am in Michigan, USA training and getting ready for my start in the Vancouver Winter Games next month.
I am traveling to Canada on February the 8th,my runs will take place on February 18th 2010.I am going back home to Poland after that on Feb 21st to recover a bit, and then am off to compete in the BURTON US OPEN OF SNOWBOARDING in mid-March.
Then, I aim to ride in one of my favorite snowboard events-THE ROXY CHICKEN JAM at Mammoth Mountain, USA. My snowboard event calendar closes off in April with the coolest shred event ever-the SNOWANGELS INVITATIONAL at Aspen Snowmass, USA.

Paulina, thank you for your time and Congratulations on your win from Mainpeak Australia and Aussie snowboarders! Good luck!

You can check out Paulina's winning run, plus all the finals from the BEO in the vid below.