Molly Armanino checks in after her win on the notorious Kicking Horse FWT venue. Molly is in her third season on the FTW after being Vice World Champion in her rookie season of 2023.
I'm from a small town known as El Dorado, Ca. (near Placerville, Ca.) just outside of Tahoe. I grew up ski racing and quit when I was 16. From there, I went to college at UC Santa Cruz and distanced myself from skiing. I later came back to it when I was about 24 and fell back in love with it! Around 26 I had my first real contract with Elan Skis!
Pretty rough for me mentally. I was perhaps overthinking it when it's really supposed to be a fun opportunity to ski a sick face with relatively fresh tracks! I have to remind myself what is it is that I like to ski and what would I ski if I was just touring. That has helped get me back into a place where I feel confident in my decisions and line choice.
It felt amazing! I honestly was so stoked! I can't believe it really. Part of me is a bit underwhelmed. I don't think my run was anything special but I just chose something that I would have tried if I was at home and something I knew I wouldn't fall on.
This year is so cool! I am loving the time I've spent with the rookies this year. They are all so talented and full of excitement for their careers ahead and I really love being a part of this. After doing the Tour for 3 years now familiar faces have become friends and it's a really cool opportunity to travel around with like minded rippers!
I'd say my favorite memory of the Tour so far is skiing the day before the competition in Val Thorens. The snow was sooo good!!! I had a blast finally skiing pow in Europe.
I am looking forward to Georgia because it's such a unique place and the mountains are insane. I've heard the snow is good there and I'd love to ski some cool lines if we can get some time. In general, I'm looking forward to spending the time with all my friends for a few more weeksI I'm going to try and enjoy the entire experience as much as I can and not get so tied up with results, etc.
I've been skiing the usual ZipFit Freeride! I take them everywhere and have had ZERO foot problems over the past few years despite how cold it was in Canada! I cannot praise my zippies enough and will never go back to regular liners! The cork fit wraps around my foot and into my ski boot perfectly and the extra stiffness makes my 115 flex feel like a 130 flex without feeling too rigid. Of course, for me, the most important thing is being able to keep my toes warm and the wool liner in the zippies have saved the rest of my toes!
Just that I really appreciate the support from all my sponsors. There are so many ups and downs with competing, so having support no matter what is really important. I truly value each relationship I have and am excited for the seasons to come!
(Apr. 21, 2022)
Brought to you by ZipFit
Sasha Dingle Gives an Insider’s Look at “Nexus,” an All-Women’s Action Sports Film Premiering Fall 2022. Check out the original story here or read on below. Interview coordinated by ZipFit and SnowBrains.
(Mar. 23, 2022)
ZipFit worked with the team at SnowBrains to offer a behind the scenes look at the athlete inspired GFT touring liner. Dan Corn and Max Hammer share their insights around ski touring and why the GFT was needed to provide a liner that offered superior downhill performance in touring boots. Check out the original story here or read on below. Words by Greg Obernesser.
(Feb. 10, 2022)
ZipFit worked with the team at SnowBrains to share the stories of different ski professionals using ZipFit ski boot liners. Check out the original story here or read on below. Words by Katy Shipley.
(Feb. 5, 2022)
ZipFit invited 10 athletes to gather in our home range, the Elk Mountains for a couple nights of merriment and a couple days of skiing high alpine terrain. In 2020, ZipFit established brand values to guide our business practices: Build the best product, Foster community, Keep Winter Alive. These tenets help guide our decision making (and Sven’s design helped a lot with the first one) and led us to developing an athlete team that we wanted to have connections with and create connections within. Queue the idea of an athlete summit at Lindley Hut.
(Dec. 21, 2021) The French-based, Swiss freestyle skier had a standout year in 2021. Not only did Sarah land on a number of world cup podiums, star in the Faction Collective film Roots, and release her own street edit “Moitié, Moitié,” she also rose to the calling of being a role model for younger women in freestyle skiing.
(Dec. 3, 2021)
ZipFit is proud to announce our partnership with Alex Hackel. While much of the freestyle skiing world learned about ZipFit in the last year, Alex learned about ZipFits close to a decade ago from his parents, both of whom ski in ZipFit liners. Alex’s dad was known to rave about how much he liked his ZipFits, but Alex was still growing and his folks wouldn’t get him a pair that he was going to grow out of.