Eastern Unicorns from Louise Lintilhac on Vimeo.

I hope you enjoy! I know I did!

Until next time,

Louise Lintilhac
a.k.a. Steezy Weezie

Something that I have always regretted is not becoming a proficient climber. As a skier, I shrugged off learning rope skills and picked up mountain biking as the summer counterpart to my winter endeavors. When I was about 23 years old, I spent a winter in Courmayeur, Italy skiing on the Mont Blanc Massif and dabbled in crevasse rescue and basic glacier travel skills, but I was inexperienced and my nervousness made it hard for me to absorb the information that I was taught. When I lived in Colorado, I spent many days in the backcountry, but I never really found the need to apply any of those skills that I had learned that winter in Europe.

Me laying some turns down on a day of filming, Stowe backcountry, Photographer: Dana Allen

It is not often in life that you have an amazing opportunity to be a part of a project that could be industry changing. As a woman I am constantly trying to advocate for myself and my fellow female athletes and carve a place in the action sports world for all of the young girls out there who dream of outdoor adventure. It is difficult to battle the stigma that women are not as good at sports, that we are weaker, that we are not as adventurous. All of these preconceived notions make it that much harder for the next generation to be secure in their abilities and push their personal boundaries and the boundaries of their sport of choice.

Burnin' it up, Athlete: Louise Lintilhac (Me), Photographer: Dana Allen

 As a Vermonter, Quebec sometimes seems like a bizarre alter ego to the north. We are not sure exactly what goes on up there in the frozen north, but what we do know is that their beer is unbelievably good and they know cheese curd better than anyone else. For these two reasons alone I like to travel in this remote portion of Canada, but I am especially drawn to the Gaspe Peninsula where the mountains rise from the shore of the Saint Lawrence sea way like giant breaching whales. This range, known as the Chic Chocs, is an incongruity in the flat agricultural expanse that makes up the majority of Quebec. They are not spiny peaks, but more rounded like some of their pacific counterparts, the Monashee and Selkirk mountain ranges. Despite this softer geometry, the Chic Chocs provide some serious descents for the interested skier. All the skiing is backcountry, but most approaches are just a few hours and can be accessed directly from the road that cuts through Park National de la Gaspesie. We had set out to ski a new region in the park that just opened to backcountry skiing this year. What we found atop these coastal mountains was a series of open ridge lines, spacious forests, and around 4+ ft. of new fresh snow to shred at will.

In the distance, Mt. Albert reigned over the park, always in our view. We were blessed with an unprecedented number of bluebird days and squeezed every once of ski potential out of each one. Once we were too tired for another lap, we headed back to our Chalet at the Gite du Mont-Albert. We also toured the local town of St. Anne des Monts where we took in the local sites and tried a few regional dishes.

As a recent addition to the Mammut team I should introduce myslef. My name is Louise Lintilhac, but most people call me Weeze. I am a Vermonter by birth. Raised in the land of ice and mud. Because of this I have a fairly high tolerance for bad weather, but last year put my patience to the test. The winter of 2011-2012 was my first winter back in the east since moving to Crested Butte, Colorado after college. I was spoiled during this absence with bluebird powder days and epic terrain. I knew that the transition from being a ski bum out west to going to grad school and competing on the Freeskiing World Tour from the east was going to be hard, but hard as it turns out, was an understatement. First it did not snow, then it rained and rained, and I thought I was going to lose my mind. I was about to make a lounge chair out of my skis when, on a fateful weekend in February of last year, the skies let loose with an unbelievable amount of snow. People think I am insane for saying this, but I really don't think I have ever skied snow that felt so deep. Maybe it was the withdrawal, maybe it was the beauty of the eastern woods coated in a sheet of white, but whatever it was, it was one of the most memorable weekends of skiing I have ever had. To top things off, I got a call from Chris James, a.k.a "Rooster," co-owner of Meathead Films asking me if I was interested in filming for their movie that was released this September called "No Matter What." I of course was ecstatic and agreed with no hesitation. Isn't this every girl's dream? To shred the gnar on film? Well, it is mine anyways. The film was a great success despite the crappy winter and I am happy to say "No Matter What" just won an award for Best Powder Segment in the 2013 Powder Awards.To top things off, a brand new webisode from Meathead Films was just released with unseen footage, and while I was not an official member of the Mammut team at the time, I believe I was in spirit and so thought I would share the powder karma of that weekend in February one last time. One thing I remember as an eastern skier is that "no matter when" I am skiing, I am always having a good time, but man, a good powder day is better even than a large serving of maple syrup.




"No Matter When" Webisode from Meathead Films