FreeRide – What’s Your Level?

There are all kinds of charts and guides that will help you figure out your rider ability level, most of which use categories like Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert. They’re all pretty good for figuring out stuff like gear choices and to assess your physical ability level, but at the Republic we believe FreeRide is as much a state of mind as it is a level of physical ability. That’s why we came up with some categories of our own. Where are you on your FreeRide journey?

Never stop learning

Access: 

• You’re already riding confidently on groomed runs but you’ve started riding on the other side of the piste markers whenever possible. 
• Mountain lunches are getting shorter to maximise slope time.
• You’ve started off mountain training in the weeks leading up to your trip. 

• You’ve started checking weather reports and getting ridiculously stoked every time there’s a big dump in the forecast. 
• You keep spotting fresh tracks on the ungroomed mountain and wonder how to get there. 
• You’re seriously thinking about investing in FreeRide gear because you can’t find the set-up you want at the hire shop.

Explore:

• You’ve experienced the thrill of riding fresh pow and you’re spending more and more time in the slackcountry. 
• Regardless of the weather you plan to ride first lift to last lift. 
• You’re constantly hunting for fresh lines. 
• You’re contemplating hiring an off piste guide to show you round the mountain or even booking off piste lessons. 
• Alongside the weather report, you’ve added the avalanche bulletin to your morning read.
• You’ve invested in a transceiver, shovel & probe and routinely carry them whenever you head out on the mountain.
• Your friends’ eyes glaze over when you start talking about the ‘authentic mountain’ (again). 

• You’ve added FreeRide as a dedicated budget line to your monthly expenses as you #GearUp for FreeRide
  

Deep:  

• You now spend more time riding beyond the markers rather than on groomers. 
• You’re willing to hunt for the best fresh snow to make first tracks. 
• You’re unable to sleep the night before bluebird powder days and get to the lift station hours before it opens on the slim to zero chance the Lifties will let you jump on with the ski patrol.
• You’ve donated to the local clothes bank in order to free up space in your wardrobe for your FreeRide gear.
• You’ve stopped feeling slightly self conscious when dropping the word ‘GNARLY’ into conversations. 
• You’ve started looking for a side hustle to help fund your FreeRide adventures.
• You’ve added first aid gear, an emergency blanket and fire making equipment to your backpack as standard FreeRide essentials.

Sensei:  

• You ride in any conditions or snow.  
• You love earning your turns on long hikes and always volunteer to cut the booter. 
• Even though there’s no snow predicted in the weather report you still leave the bar early because the forecasters don’t get it right 100% of the time. 
• You obsess about slope angle, aspect and elevation. You never leave home without an inclinometer and a compass, even on days when you’re not riding.
• Your entire wardrobe now consists of mountain appropriate clothing which is only ever a problem at weddings and funerals.
• You’re seriously considering travelling to a country that ends in ’stan’ to ride a mythic line that’s three days hike from the nearest road. 
• Your employer has identified a statistically significant link between fresh snowfall and your sickness absences. 

Lore #17: FreeRide for a Free Mind

How did you do? Is there anything we forgot? Let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you.