Catching Up with Vera Janssen at SASS

Sarah from SASS brings us another report from Argentina. This time she uses a mutual sweet tooth to get the scoop from pro rider Vera Janssen.

When I signed up for SASS they said I would be riding with pros but everyone makes big promises and hardly delivers.  Of course my cynicism was once again defeated when I sat down for dinner one night and recognized rider Vera Janssen.  On her first day out, while I was having a hard time keeping up, she was dropping cliffs, slaying powder and hiking the backcountry like it was the peak of mid season. 

The one place I was totally on the same level as Vera was at lunch.  As we pulled out our sack lunche,s graciously supplied by SASS,  and we both immediately devoured the alfajore – the local Argentine cookie filled with dulce de leche and graham cracker, I knew I had an in. I took advantage of this little idiosyncrasy and started up a conversation in efforts to learn more about who she was both on and off the mountain.  Here’s what I asked and her witty responses: 

      Me: How does it feel to be chasing winters?

      Vera: Cold 

      Me: How many in a row?

      Vera: This is actually my first summer down south – I never had the opportunity to do South America before and I didn’t want to go to New Zealand because I don’t like their accents.  

      Me: What’s an average day at home like?

      Vera: Wake up, look outside to make sure the forecast was correct, go shred. On sunny days I shoot and on crappy days I just ride. After shredding I cook an awesome healthy, vegetarian meal and after eating that I’m usually pretty tired. Throughout the day I check my emails probably a million times and brush my teeth twice. 

      Me: What’s the strangest thing so far in Argentina?

      Vera: You don’t throw your toilet paper into the toilet – you put it in the trash bin, so it’s full of s*** tickets. Its gonna take the me entire two months here to get used to. 
 

      Me: What’s the best part of the mountain?

      Vera: Laguna is my favorite zone. It is a backcountry bowl that is hike accessible from the ski area and you can just traverse right back to the chair lift. After it snowed it took 4 days to get tracked out and on the 4th day we were still finding great snow. 

      Me: What is really unique to the mountains in Argentina?

      Vera: Cliffs don’t have signs on top of them that say “cliff” so you want to watch out where you go. It’s kind of like that in Europe, too, actually. 
 

Well, there you have it.  Vera Janssen at her best, in the middle of an awesome day on the hill and eager to return.