Outside Magazine's Ultimate Mountain Athlete competition went off this past spring and we are stoked to announce that Ridge athlete and all around awesome human Molly Armanino won 1st place! Go, Molly, go!
The Ultimate Mountain Athlete Competition isn't your average contest. Eight seasoned mountain athletes came together to test overall skill, style and endurance in three distinct sport stages: mountain biking, backcountry skiing and sport climbing.
We sat down with Molly to ask her about how it went. Here's what she had to say.
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How did you get involved with Outside’s Ultimate Mountain Athlete competition?
Outside reached out to me and I took a bit to decide if I wanted to do ANOTHER competition, but I felt like this one would be a bit more unique. Turns out it was really different from your typical freeski big mountain comp, and it was so much fun to meet such cool, unique people.
Which activity of the three was your favorite to participate in?
Freeski for sure! It was the last event but definitely where I felt most comfortable.
How did you train for the competition?
Well, they sort of told us about it last minute, so none of us really had time to train, but I climbed a few times around home in Tahoe and got on my bike I think like one time before the competition. Mostly I was skiing, but we kind of all were still in spring skiing mode.
Between winning 2nd overall in the Freeride World Tour and now nabbing a first place finish in this contest, do you plan on entering more multi sport/big mountain contests?
I'd love to! I really like the concept of competing in different sports instead of just one event. I think this is a good way to show talent in a different perspective and I'd be psyched to do more contests like that.
Which Ridge pieces were your go-tos for the contest?
For biking and skiing I wore my favorite shirt, the Natural Merino Tencel Relaxed Tee. When it got a little cold I put my favorite lightweight hoodie on of course (the Solstice Sun Hoodie). And for the climbing competition I made sure I brought my Crowley Compression Tights for flexibility and style. Obviously if I'm going to be on TV, I have to look good. :)
Any other summer plans before the snow starts to fall?
Hmmm I think just relaxing and doing some of the same things, climbing and biking, but not putting so much pressure on myself in either of those things. Really I just want to spend the rest of summer having a good time with my friends and family. I've been helping out my dad on his ranch a bit, and it's been nice to get back to my roots a little bit and prep for winter.
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To keep up with Molly's incredible adventures and future competitions, follow her on Instagram.
