Photo: Nick Dahle

Photo: Schoech Christoph

Photo: Nick Dahle

Anna Segal is one of the most exciting women skiers on the slopestyle tour. Hailing from Australia, Anna has helped put the country on skiing's radar. Her knack for throwing stylish flips over large jumps has landed her on top of the Winter X Games Podium in 2009 and earned her a bronze in 2012. She is also Australia's best Olympic hopeful for gold. This is all really cool, but what makes Anna exciting is that she's intelligent, fun and always ready to raise a glass high in celebration of life. Read below and get to know more about this bubbly Aussie.

Who are the athletes and/or people that inspire you and why?

First and foremost, my mum. She has done exceptionally well in her career, despite working in a male dominated area. In terms of athletes, I've been really inspired by Sarah Burke. She had such great work ethic and belief in herself. She would take the hardest crashes, then go up and try again until she got what she wanted. Whenever I'm having a hard day on the hill, I think of Sarah's crash sections in old ski movies!

Favorite place or type of terrain to ride? And who would you ride it with? Either real person or type of person.

Favourite terrain to ride would be steep slopes, bottomless pow with my friends. I wouldn't mind a few pillow lines thrown in there too!

Singles, Doubles, Triples; Oh My! Do you feel this type of progression is injecting fun into skiing? Or is it sucking it out? Do you want to do any dubs?

Progression always seems daunting and scary at first, but once you learn a new trick, especially one you never dreamed of landing, it's one of the best feelings in the world. So I don't think it's making free-skiing any less fun than it used to be. Learning a double now brings to me the same thoughts that I had before landing my first backflip. I do want to learn dubs, but I'm not going to just huck them because I feel pressure from others. I'm going to make sure that I'm feeling confident in myself.

What do you tell yourself before dropping in on a competition run? Are you nervous or calm? Is there any ritual you perform before dropping in?

I try to calm my nerves by pumping some fun music and singing along to it. Then just before I drop it, I'll take a few deep breathes, look out to the scenery which surrounds me and try to clear my head of any thoughts.

Do you have any superstitions you abide by?

I try not to call last run. It's always, "two more runs, skip the last." And if I'm ever talking about injuries, I'll knock on wood.

How do you prepare for competition season? Intense training or intense vacation?

Before the northern winter starts I'm usually training pretty hard. The gym isn't my favourite place, but I know that building up strength off snow will help me ski better and prevent injuries. So I do spend a lot of time in there getting trying to get massive!!

How do you decompress after a competition? Dinner and drinks? Or a night at home? Please elaborate a little.

It definitely depends on how my body is feeling. If I'm completely exhausted and sore, then I'll stay in and try to rest up. After X-Games this year, I was so beat up that I couldn't move off the couch, so the girls and I just chilled at home, then partied the next night. But... if I have the energy, it's always fun to celebrate straight after I compete! Dinner, drinks then a dance party is usually the way to go.

To apres or not to apres? Where is your favorite place for apres skiing? What makes it fun?

I live in a ski town 5 months of the year, so I don't apres too often. Except if I've just had an epic pow day! The funnest place to Apres is in Europe. Euros are CRAZY about it. The party starts just after lunch and by 3 there'll be people dancing up on the tables. It's pretty awesome to witness.

If you weren't skiing what would you be doing? Saving the world or clocking lots of Cash?

If I wasn't skiing I'd probably be finishing up at Law school. I got into Law a couple years ago at Monash University in Melbourne. I studied it for a year (while I was rehabbing a knee injury), but as soon as I was able to ski again I found that I didn't have enough time to do both. I guess I chose life of fun over money.

Boys with Tall Tees or Nerds with socks to their knees? How do our readers get your attention?

Haha. Ummm I'm not so into tall tees, so I'm gonna say nerds. I'm a bit of a nerd myself and a guy needs to have brains to catch my attention.

Last thoughts? Words of wisdom? Anything you want to say or people you want to thank?

The only words of wisdom I have is to always go with your own gut feeling- they're actually not my words, but my mum's. She is a very wise one and I owe a lot to her. Thanks to my family, all my friends and also my sponsors; K2, Bolle, Breckenridge, Full Tilt, Icebreaker and Marker.