Australian Snowboarder Michaela Davis-Meehan Scores Wild Card for 2025 Freeride World Tour. Interview.
Mountainwatch | Reggae Elliss
Michaela Davis-Meehan has had an up and down career since she first qualified for the Freeride World Tour in 2020. The Aussie snowboarder hit the tour with a bang, placing second in the first event in Hakuba and then winning in Spain, finishing second on the World Tour rankings in her rookie year.
The following year she missed the cut, but solid results on the Qualifying Tour saw her awarded a wild card for the 2023. Michaela won the FWT event in Kicking Horse but again missed the cut by one place, finishing fourth with only the top three women making the finals and re-qualifying for the 2024 tour.
Michaela set her sights on re-qualifying and had some good results on the 2024 Americas Challenger tour, winning the event in Kirkwood, California. She finished third on the Challenger rankings but in the dog-eat-dog world of the Freeride Tour you have to win the Challenger tour to qualify for the World Tour.
So close, but not quite. Michaela recently received the news for the FWT that she has been awarded a wild card for the 2025, giving her another shot at a Freeride World Title which is her aim when the tour kicks off in January. Michaela has been on a around Australia road trip over the past few months and was in Esperance, WA when Reggae Elliss caught up with her earlier this week.
All right, Michaela, you’ve just found out you’ve been given a wildcard for next year’s Freeride World Tour, congratulations. You must be stoked – this is the second time you’ve been granted a wildcard.
Yeah, it’s very exciting, very unexpected. I had no idea it was coming my way, but something I couldn’t say no to. It’s all happening.
Well, you came close to qualifying again, you competed in the Challenger series in North America and winning the last event in Kirkwood. But you just missed out on qualification again though.
I took 3rd place in the qualifiers this year, missing out by 2 spots as they only take the overall winner through to the FWT. I’m excited to have the opportunity to give the Tour another shot!
Your first year on tour, 2020 – seems ages ago now, doesn’t it? You had a good year that year, your rookie year. You came a second in your first event in Hakuba, then you won an event, finished second on the rankings that year. Then the next season, 2021, you didn’t re-qualify. A couple of years on the Qualifying tour and you were back on in 2023, but missed making the cut for finals by one place when they only took three athletes through, not four.
Yeah, it’s such a tough sport because you only get one run at each event and then out of the five events I think you get maybe two stuff up runs, they take your top three best results. I’ve just been unlucky with hitting sharks and having a few crashes. But I know I can do it.
Yeah, exactly. You just got to complete those runs. Well, after last year when you didn’t make the cut, what were your plans prior to getting this wildcard?
I was actually thinking of having a bit more of a cruisy season, maybe heading over to Revelstoke in February and not doing the whole time over there, but still going back to the Challengers and trying to re-qualify. Just maybe spend half the time than I have in the past and trying to settle back. I changed all my plans and now I’m thinking I’m going to head over just before Christmas. I need to get some training in before the first event.
You weren’t in the mountains at all this past Australian winter, you’ve been on the road and now you’re in WA?
Yeah, I actually did a road trip up to Darwin in my van, which I’m in now, also known as my house. I’ve just been traveling around seeing more of Oz, which has been awesome. I thought I’d have some time off because last time when I got the wild card onto the World Tour in 2023 I was actually planning on having the northern hemisphere winter off completely. Then I got the wild card, so that changed my plans again. I’ve been doing back-to-back seasons for I can’t remember how many years. I think it’s maybe my first southern hemi winter off in maybe six years. It was nice to have a little break, mix it up a bit, get some sunshine.
Well, you didn’t miss much.
I know – it was a good season to miss! I haven’t ridden at all since I was over in Canada in April. I’m going to need at least a few weeks on snow before the first event.
Over the last few years you’ve been based in Revelstoke for the Northern Hemi winter. I know when you first qualified you were in Europe for that qualification series when you did make it to the Tour. Why the move to North America, well, Revelstoke in particular?
I think I just wanted to mix it up. I’ve done Europe a few years in a row now, so I like to try something else, try something new. And Revelstoke, I can’t even remember how I ended up in Revelstoke, but I’m glad I did. I’ve done three seasons there now and it’s just my second home, my home away from home. I’ve got all my friends, I’ve got my shred crew there and I know the mountain and all the good powder spots, so I love going back there.
Will you be by-passing Canada and heading straight to Europe this year?
Possibly. I’m still in the planning stage, but I might even go to Revelstoke first to get my pre-training in. But it’s hard because then I’d have to fly to Canada and then to Europe, and then there’s another comp in Canada and then back to Europe and then home. I’m just trying to figure out all the logistics of travel and then of course, because this was sprung on me, I’m financially unprepared. All my big monetary sponsors I no longer have anymore.
And because it’s still not an Olympic sport there’s no government funding, so I’m just starting like a Go Fund Me, but through the Australian Sports Foundation. It’s a tax-deductible donation so if anyone wants to have a look at that, it’s under the Freeride World Tour 2025.
Yeah, well, it’s tough for Australian snow athletes. You’ve got to maintain some sort of sponsorship and even then, it’s usually not anything massive. You mentioned that it’s not an Olympic sport, but now that FIS has recognised freeride as it as an official discipline, that may change.
Yeah, well, there are rumours that in January they may announce something – there’s talk of putting it in the 2030 Olympics. That’s a possibility.
And there’s also going to be stand-alone World Championships.
In 2026 in Andorra is the first one. I might give that a crack as well.
Well, I imagine that’ll be like a Snow Australia chosen team not sure what the qualification criteria may be.
I’m not so sure how it all works, but it would be cool to get some money in the sport and then maybe there’ll be some pathway for Australians to get more involved in freeriding, which is pretty exciting. I saw we just had the first Freeride qualifiers in Australia this year, so it’s coming along.
Yeah, the events in Hotham were a success and there’s talk of a sanctioned junior event in Thredbo next year as well, so a step-by-step thing. The tour starts with two events in Europe at first and then it’s off to Kicking Horse after that?
Yeah, so first it goes Spain, France, then back to Kicking Horse in Canada, then Georgia and then Austria and finals in Switzerland. Full World Tour, lots of bouncing around.
Yes, a lot of travelling and costs ad up. Do you get subsided on accommodation and other expenses when you are at an event?
Yeah, so another good thing about being on World Tour compared to qualifiers is that the accommodation, passes and food is all covered during an event, so maybe for a week long. Whereas on qualifiers you have to pay for everything yourself, and then it’s also around a $200 or $300 entry fee just to do the competition. Definitely hard on qualifiers. And then World Tour, everyone down to last place gets paid $1000 US.
There’s some bits and pieces that help out, but it’s still pretty all self-funded. I still have to get to the events and the in-between events as well, trying to figure all that out. And right now, I’m just self-funded, so I’m working at the moment in WA, just bartending and saving up and trying to make it all happen.
Well, what do you think it takes? What’s the budget for you to do the tour?
For my fundraiser I’m aiming for 30 grand. If I was just in one place, I can do it for cheaper, but with all the traveling and the extra flights and things, 30, that should cover it. And if I want to get some coaching in too, that’s another expense. And I’m pretty good at traveling. I’ve got friends all over, so I couch hop and share cars with people. That’s what us snowboarders love to do, just to make it work and then we get to go snowboarding at the end of the day.
Well, you are getting to go snowboarding, but it’s often in tough conditions, not just lapping fun terrain with your mates. How do you deal with the intimidation factor of the events? Last year there was some good snow at Kicking Horse and Georgia, but often it’s pretty gnarly, the snow can be really hard packed, and the venues can be cliff-laden with a lot of exposure. How do you get your head around somewhere like the Bec des Rosses for the Verbier event?
Yeah, I had ridden that once out of competition and it was so icy. We rode down with ice picks, that’s how steep it is. If anything goes wrong, you just got to shove the ice pick in and hope you don’t keep falling. Ideally you want powder runs, that’s the best. But when it’s not powder it changes your whole run. I’m not going to go jump off some massive cliff onto hard packed snow. That’s not for me. It definitely makes you not want to push as hard when it’s not good snow. It’s a bit more scary because you still want to ride hard and you’re still in a competition and doing a comp run, so you just weigh up the risk versus reward on those days.
Are you excited about the ’25 Tour?
Yeah, I am, but I think this year I’m coming in with a more chill vibe to it, which works for me in competition. When I first made the World Tour, when I won the qualifiers for the first time ever, I actually just came back from an ACL reconstruction. I figured I’m just going to go and see and see how the knee holds up. I ended up winning and making it onto the World Tour.
That’s my approach to things. I still care, I still want to win, but I have a cruisier vibe to it and just go to have a fun time, that’s when I ride my best.
Well, stoked to see you back on the tour. Let’s hope you have a good one, it’d be great to see an Aussie World Champ. Just before we go, what’s the deal again on the funding and where can people go to help?
Oh yeah, it’s through the Australian Sports Foundation and if you type in Freeride World Tour 2025 and you can make donations. They’re all tax-deductible, to help me out on my pursuit to World Champ! Any donations are greatly appreciated!
All right, sounds good. All right, Michaela. Enjoy Esperance and watch out for sharks.
Michaela: Ha, Yeah, I will. Thanks.