The best (or worst… you decide) part about this video is about half way through you get to see me explode myself, and my leg.

This past weekend in Squaw Valley USA the 2nd annual PMS, PainMcSchlonkey Invitational was held. It’s a tribute event to Shane McConkey, the greatest and most influential skier/BASE jumper/person to ever have lived- the event is a full on snowblade Chineese-Downhill and “small mountain” extreme comp. If you don’t know what either of those are… you are going to have to just watch the videos. Last year, I won the coveted golden saucer by winning the Chinese Downhill, which was TERRIFYING, by the way… But this year I got the invitation to come judge the madness since I’m not in prime snowlerblade form yet. Unfortunately my phone/camera died and someone forgot their charger, so here are photos from the first 4 hours of the weekend and photos I stole from other people of the gala.

In other news, my rehab is going great! I am 4 weeks out of surgery today and walking on my own! I’m still a little beat up with some broken ribs still inhibiting me working out too hard but I’m spinning on a bike and super pumped to start really whipping myself back into shape. Skiing is my passion, and since I can’t ski right now, rehabbing my leg so I can ski stronger and harder is my passion right now. Bring. It. On.

On Feb 14^th I had a really bad, and really scary skiing accident while filming with my ski company, Fischer in British Columbia, I impacted the uphill side of a boulder after skiing off a cliff, pretty much just like hitting a stone wall going 40 mph. I ended up breaking my leg- a compound fracture in my tib/fib- my fibula, the smaller bone in your lower leg was sticking out the back of my calf!- some broken ribs, a massive contusion on my hip, mild concussion, and lots of other bumps and bruises. I am a lucky, lucky girl considering how bad my crash was. It should have been a lot worse but for the second time in the past few months someone was watching over me. (I rolled my car and ended up upside down in a river in December!)

I was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Revelstoke, where unfortunately they couldn’t treat the severity of my injuries, so I was then flown in a little fixed wing plane down to Vernon, where I was rushed into surgery that evening. I was on a backboard for 6 hours after the accident, and didn’t have any kind of pain killers until I arrived in the first hospital 4 hours after it happened. They used a bone saw to cut my ski boots off, put a rod in my Tibia, and set my fibula back into place. I then spent the next 4 days alone in the hospital- where I had to share a room with 3 other men, only separated by sheets hanging from the ceiling, no phone, no internet, and no TV. Oh, I was in a C-Collar neck brace for 3 days straight so all I could look at was the ceiling anyway. Socialized healthcare is a different world… since you aren’t a customer up there, “customer service” doesn’t exist either. Going to the hospital is like going to the DMV, take a number, sit around and wait, and you get what we give you.

Thankfully, 5 days after my accident, I was able to fly back to the states, a miserable day of traveling, but I just needed to be home. My team manager from Fischer, Matt, and some other teammates got my 130 lbs of luggage checked in and sent me on my way.

As soon as I got home, I called my orthopedic doctor here, Dr Charley Marshall, who is amazing. (The surgeon up in Canada said all I had to do was go to an instacare to get my stitches out, no follow ups, no physical therapy, nothing…) But I just needed my doctor who I trusted to take a look and tell me a little more about what was going on, and get his opinion. The moment he pulled my new x-rays up on the screen he just started shaking his head. Said something along the lines of “I hate to say this, but this isn’t great. You can clearly see as well, there is a 1.5 cm gap and the bones aren’t alligned…” We had to do something about it because if we left it how it is, I would have been out for a year at least, if it healed at all. I wouldn’t have skied next season either… My doctor got a bunch of opinions from other ortho’s and a few days later we decided our only choice was to completely redo the surgery. I was scared of another big surgery so soon, and it’s so much trauma to my leg… but I was prepared to do whatever it took. I’m just so fortunate to have a phenomenal surgeon who truly went above and beyond to get my leg fixed up perfectly. Dr. Marshall, I can’t thank you enough, I owe you everything.

My second surgery went really well, and my awesome surgeon even wore a GoPro, so get excited for some sweet surgery footage. It’s super bloody and gnarly and awesome. I spent another few days in the hospital here, and now I’m back home and finally on the road to healing!

Here is a comparison of my first surgery and my second. The one on the left in the surgery I recieved in Canada. The one on the right is the surgery I had done here. Big difference huh?

Here is a photo of the first rod that was put in my leg in Canada. There is a similar one in there now.

Hey look, I’m even a big deal when I’m broken. Ha! Good think I hadn’t showered in 6 days… cute.

My ski boot after they used a bone saw to cut it off.

So what now? I had a busy season lined up, and am super bummed to be missing out on the rest of the winter. But hey, it’s all right, season enders are by no means career enders. I’m sitting on a large pile of footage right now too from the past few months so expect some cool edits popping up. I have some projects to keep me busy as well. Plus, I’ll be back in no time! I’ll be blogging regularly (now that I’m out of a drug induced in and out of hospital haze…) about my recovery and I’ll try to keep it interesting!

Click here- http://www.powdermag.com/stories/suz-graham-and-creeper-in-the-woods-style/

What do I do when I’m waiting for it to snow in Utah??!

And then a little bit of this….

http://live.tetongravity.com/_News-Suz-Graham-Newest-Member-Of-Silverton-Mountain39s-Pro-Freeride-Team/blog/5561895/75233.html

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News: Suz Graham Newest Member Of Silverton Mountain’s Pro Freeride Team

The 40 Year Anniversary issue of Powder Magazine came out on newsstands a couple days ago- and I’m thrilled to be listed as the “influential  skier” who was influenced by the one and only Seth Morrison. If you get a chance, you should pick up the issue, it’s a keeper for sure, on newstands now!

It’s that time of year in Salt Lake City where it is a bit awkward, it’s cold- and the snow is beginning to fly. Which is super exciting- however I’m past the point where I’m jonesing so hard to ski that I head up to the mountains after the first snowfall. But in reality, destroying your equipment and watching people get carted off the mountain with season-ending injuries from stumps and rocks… really isn’t that fun. (Sorry if I sound jaded… I’ve had a few bad preseason experiences) So anyway, it’s snowing but not enough snow to really ride, it’s too windy to jump, and the weathers just bad to do anything else outside. So this is when I pack up my car and head south. It’s totally Moab season!

Just a note about Moab, it’s my happy place. Always has been, even when I was really young. There is something magical and indescribable about the desert and the towering red rocks and dramatic landscape has always spoken to my soul. Now, it’s even better as it’s an absolute BASE jumping, climbing, biking, mecca. My kinda place! I went down there with the ultimate goal of climbing a tower and BASE jumping off, and was determined to stay as long as it was going to take.

I was getting antsy in Salt Lake so late Tuesday night I just threw everything in my Outback and hit the road. Slept in my car that night (the thermometer read 22 degrees… brr!) and at first light crawled out of my cozy nest to greet some bushy-tailed BASE jumper Moabites for a sunrise mission to a gorgeous cliff that’s a bit of a rarity because of the super long car shuttle. Thanks DP! (my new aussie friend who is temporarily gimpy so he drove the 28+ mile each way shuttle)

That day we climbed some awesome crack routes on Wallstreet, where I got to break in my new Siren climbing shoes! Then finished the day with a sunset jump off one of my favorite cliffs, Potash. I had impeccable timing too because that night we all gathered at fellow FiveTen’er Andy Lewis’ house for fresh tamales and green chili straight from New Mexico. Ahh, and the world is right again!

The next day rallied off three more jumps around town running into jumpers from near and far, making new friends and reconnecting with old friends. The weather was looking prime for the next day so getting on something in the Fisher Towers area was the first thing on my mind. This requires quite a bit of planning and coordination, just climbing multi-pitch routes like these takes lots of gear and logistics but we are also BASE jumping off so that’s a whole new addition. Luckily I have the coolest friends on the planet and we assembled a great team, including fellow five ten BASE jumper, Ellen Brennan, and 3 other jumpers. Another early morning the next day and we cruised out to the Fisher Towers area with the classic Ancient Art climb in our sights. We took our time, since we had two groups climbing- and we are all carrying huge stash bags with our parachutes and other gear on our backs (sooo awkward in chimneys) but the conditions were perfect and it was yet another beautiful chilly morning in Moab.

This was my first time climbing Ancient Art, but I’ve been enchanted by it for years. Even before I started BASE jumping. I have been wanting to climb and jump one of these towers for so long, so once we reached the summit, the feeling of excitement and accomplishment was indescribable. I will never forget those last few steps up to the very top of the corkscrew, the teetery pedestal with room enough only for your own feet, standing up straight and untying myself off the rope. It’s only me and my parachute and I felt on top of the world. What a view, and what vertigo!!! With shaky legs I put my arms in the sky and shouted, body pumping with adrenaline and attempting to grasp my surroundings, taking it all in. This, this is what I live for, moments like these are the reason I do what I do and why I’m a BASE jumper. 3, 2, 1, Cya! The visuals leaping off that little guy are sooo cool, awesome conditions and a nice soft landing right by the flag we put up in the landing area. It’s this moment when you are filled with such ecstasy, especially after a mission like that when you are so focused for so long- the adrenaline pumping through the whole approach, it’s mentally exhausting and the bliss you experience when your mind is no longer so gripped, when your feet hit the ground is better than anything else in the entire world, hands down. Everyone else had safe jumps and we all ended up laughing and yelling like the maniacs we are. I am so lucky to have the coolest friends in the world.

After that, I was totally satisfied. Could have driven back to Salt Lake at that moment and been psyched. But it was a full moon that night, and it was 11/11/11, so my friend Sean and I decided to do a midnight full moon jump. Too bad it was super cloudy so the full moon did absolutely nothing, but hey, it still worked. The cherry on top of a day I will never forget. The next morning it was super windy so we headed to Indian Creek for a fun day of crack climbing and chillaxing in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Today, I’m back in Salt Lake repacking and reorganizing for round two- next stop, California and Oregon for some coastal shenanagins, speedflying, sightseeing, and my friend wants to meet up and climb and BASE jump out of a redwood tree. BASE jumping out of a tree? Hey, my life is a cartoon anyway, so why not?

Until next time!

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in my world. It started out with a mini BASE safari with the GoPro Bomb Squad working on getting some footage with their new GoPro Hero 2 camera that was just announced today- (“BASE safari” = road tripping for the sole purpose of jumping as much as possible, off anything and everything) This week was unreal. In literally a couple days I got to: climb under bridges, jump off bridges, fall out of a hot air balloon, hang from the skids of a helicopter, watch the sun set while speedflying, and hike and jump some local cliffs. It was literally non stop fun and once again my life felt like it was something totally made up. (I really love it when my life feels like a cartoon… which is a lot lately)

The balloon waking up at sunrise

The heli at our own personal little DZ

Mmmmmm GoPros! Camera candy.

Here is the new video GoPro just came out with- all filmed with the new GoPro 2, and a good amount of footage shows is ours from that week! This new camera is sweet by the way. Fantastic picture, and the colors pop so much more. It’s great in lower light and has an easier to use interface than the previous model. Among many other awesome new features.

Then I took off to California to see some friends, get some beach time in, and spend some good quality time with my family! We are all pretty spread out and I don’t see everyone nearly enough so it was great to have everyone together.

Not to mention my adorable nephews and nieces!

Now, the original plan was to be heading to Thailand in 2 days to do some filming for a TV show. Then heading straight to China where the government had invited a handful of BASE jumpers to come jump off a bridge for it’s grand opening. Then staying in the area for a filming project. I received a stamped invite from the Chinese government and had sent my passport to Washington DC for my Chinese visa. The next day I get an email stating it’s been cancelled/postponed as the bridge’s construction was not on schedule and the transportation officials pulled the event. So now it’s supposedly in May. Bummer, never been to China. But it’s all right, I’ll just kick in in Thailand- and another opportunity came up to do some extra filming and jumping and climbing. Cool! Today, I’m packing and settling some last minute details for my month long trip to Asia in like 36 hours and I get the call… bam… nope! Again! Postponed. It’s a long story as to why, but it has to do with polygamists… for real… Anyway. Plane tickets have been moved to the end of November through December now. Welcome to my life. This is why I have an overwhelming fear of commitment hate to plan things. Great, now I’m all discombobulated. C’est la vie.

Okay… so what now? I have a whole month free. It’s exciting, really… I have some tricks up my sleeve, we’ll see how well they work out. But I’m in the mood for an adventure.

At least I got some fresh new kicks! Just in time! Again, so psyched on my newest sponsor Five Ten and the care package I got in the mail a couple days ago. Foot candy. ( <—???)

And a random note. I’ve been pondering this question a lot lately. I think it’s a fantastic way to shape goals in life- to give you some sort of direction. And I truly believe nothing is out of reach, no matter how crazy or impossible it may seem at the time.

“What if you woke up tomorrow and you could be anything you wanted to be, do anything you want to do, what would you become? What would you do?”