Meathead East Coast Skiing Adventure Movies & Films

First things first, you are the first female Meathead skier ever. What do you think of the crew?

I thought they were great to work with not only was I the first girl that they shot with for Meathead Films, I was also 5 months pregnant with my second child so they were pretty cool dealing with my snack breaks! Ha-ha

Pregnant and ripping BC lines, that's hardcore, when are you due?

I am prego for sure, I have 3 more weeks of my pregnancy to go I am due August 31st. It is my second child, don't know if we're having a girl or a boy but we'll find out when it comes out - very exciting! .... update: Asia successfully gave birth to a boy dubbed Logan in September and is doing great with her second child. We predict he'll be on two planks by January.

What’s your home mountain and why?

Jay Peak Ski Resort is my home mountain since I was 5 years old, so I have been skiing there for a whopping 26 years and it truly is home to me. I have shot all over the east coast for my work in television, and I know I am biased and a true Jay snob but really it does have the best powder anywhere in the east coast and the tree skiing, chutes, and crazy steep lines you can find there are truly sick. Also, it's great to be a local at a ski resort and know the inside scoop on where all the good pow to be found is.

Talk about what it was like hiking, skiing pow and tight trees while pregnant this past season. Was that a little nerve-racking?

Believe it or not it wasn't nerve-racking for me because I wasn't dropping any cliffs shooting with the Meathead crew it was just good old powder skiing actually the best powder skiing we've had out in the backcountry ever. So I felt like I was doing what I have always done, but with a little floating babe all protected in there for the ride. My husband was a little nervous because he didn't want me to take any extra risks for the camera but I promised him and the Meathead crew I wouldn't but he still worried because he knows how competitive I am. Now my doctor was a different story, I met my doctor for the first time 3 days after that shoot and she freaked out when she found out what I do for a living and she asked me if I have fallen since I found out I was pregnant and I replied well what kind of falling, does nice soft powder landing not near any tree wells count? She didn't think that was very funny and made me promise to not ski anymore for the camera for the rest of the season. She did say I could continue to ski with my 2 1/2 year old son Chase on the bunny hills so that put an end to a fabulous ski season!

You have a history with the IFSA Freeskiing Tour. Discuss….

I competed on the World Tour for a couple of years and I believe I was raked # 2 in North America and 6th in the World after my second season for the big mountain skiing and then top ten for the skier-x. I really loved the big mountain comps it really got the blood pumping at the top and it always made me push my limits with cliff jumping, you learn every run you get on that tour from skiing and watching the other girls and guys competing, and you drop bigger and bigger cliffs every time as well, very scary! The aggressive line skiing part of the comps felt more natural to me due to my ski racing background. Now the skier-x's they were not my favorite. It was way too serious and too much like the stale competitiveness of ski racing that I was so over with at that point, but the crazy gap jumps we had to do three girls across sometimes was definitely good training going into the big mountain comps.

How are you involved in the world of skiing and action sports?

I used to be more involved in the world of skiing as an athlete when I competed on the World tour and guest coached with the Xteam, but now I am more on the career end of things because of hosting television that covers action sports events and shooting/modeling for resorts and now my big debut in Meathead films will hopefully keep me legit in the ski world as still sort of being able to rip for a wife and mother of two!

Who else do you shoot with in the ski film world?

I shoot television with Dan Egan as one of his hosts for his show Wild World of Winter, so I cover events like Sno-X, Moto-X, and shoot at different resorts. That show has taken me to very cool locations like helicopter skiing in the Andes of Chile, out to Targhee and the Tetons, one of the best was this past season skiing with Lindsey Dyer in Kicking Horse Mountain, Interior BC. I love doing television, I feel very comfortable in front of the camera. I also coached with the X-Team around the world the coaches on that are Dan and John Egan, the DesLauriers brothers and Dean Decas, that was awesome and so helpful in making me a better skier and making the transition from racer to big mtn skier; those guys really know how to ski.

Tell us about your family…

My husband is Bob Ellis he used to be a pro snowboarder and is just an amazing athlete, his big thing now is snow mobiling sno-x style so he is constantly building jumps and his longest jump of the season is up to 70 feet so as you can tell we both love the extreme sports. My son Chase is going to be 3 in October and he is great! He's already a total sled head crazy about snowmobiling and moto-x, his favorite potty reading, go figure. He swims and skis on his own already we're prepping him so he can hang with us on our surf and ski trips. Sounds selfish but there are worst things to learn at that age.

How do you balance being a mother, wife, and skiing superstar?

I don't know if skiing superstar is the right word to use but I'll take the compliment. Us moms take any compliments we can get these days! Honestly I have to thank my husband Bob, he's the best he works like crazy at his landscaping business from April to October and then takes the winters off where he used to indulge in riding and sledding all day but now he is also full time papa with Chase so mama can go to work and shoot tv and keep my little career rolling. I really only work part time, enough to keep my image and name out there in the action sports television world as a host. I also do photo shoots for resort brochures and ski mags and now luckily enough skiing with the great guys at Meathead Films! I really do describe myself though as first and foremost a full time mama to Chase and this little one to be and then as wife to a great guy and then my career as an extreme skier and television host and am very happy with that priority list.

Didn’t you just move from Canada to the U.S.? How was that whole process?

We actually decided to stay here in St.Bruno, Quebec as our permanent residence instead of moving full time to Vermont since we figure we have the best of all worlds from here. Chase starts pre-school in french this September poor little guy doesn't know any french yet and he becomes a big brother at the same time lots of transitions for him all at once but he'll do fine. We also decided to stay because we have Bob's business that allows us to have our winters off and not miss any Jay Peak storms. We also get to visit my mom in the summer at the beach in RI where there is a sweet surf spot so life is good with health care and government checks that can be placed in the kids accounts monthly Quebec is not so bad after all!

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever skied in the East…

I think the craziest line I ever did was for the Big Mtn Jay comp for my second run around 4 years ago, where I threw down the biggest line for men and women supposedly by straight lining that little skinny chute to skiers right of the cliffs of the Face and then had to do a huge ripping g-force left turn to avoid going into the trees at mach 10 that was the best line I ever skied in the east I think. But man the feeling of satisfaction at knowing I can ski that line really carried me this past winter when I would look down from the tram with Chase next to me and my belly growing with number two and knowing that I know how to ski a line like that and hopefully will be doing it again in the near future maybe with the Meathead boys you never know.

Who are some local legends at Jay Peak?

Local legends, let me see that's tough there are some amazing skiers at Jay that's the beauty of that mountain the powder and tree skiing that we have breeds such strong skiers, riders and telemarkers that can really rip everywhere you look.
But my favorite is this old guy who is a ski ambassador and a great friend of my family- Ronnie Steinberg. He's probably around 80 years old has had 2 hip replacements, cancer twice, a stroke last year and is still trucking around Jay Peak every day enjoying life and being alive and ripping the glades and powder of Jay Peak- now that's a true local legend!

What are you up to this summer?

Being a mama to a super busy toddler, getting in as much beach time at my mom's before going into labor and working on having the brownest belly ever oh and body surfing at my mom's all that belly weight is good at winning the family body surfing competitions!

Any shoutouts?

Shout out to you guys at meathead fims for doing such a great job covering the fabulous terrain and athletes who call the East Coast home and for not only having me be the first women skier on Meathead Films, and a mama already but also taking an extra leap of faith with me and shooting me skiing 5 months pregnant - it will make a great story for this little one who comes out at the end of the month thanks you guys!!