TNF PPOS women's slopestyle winner Katrina Siegfried is keeping skiing fun

Katrina Siegfried isn’t like the rest of this year’s crop of The North Face Park and Pipe Open Series winners. Rather than partaking in the competition scene, the Delaware-native prefers to shred the park at Keystone every weekend with her friends, and above all, wants to keep skiing for fun. Following her PPOS women’s slopestyle victory, we caught up with Siegfried to get a bit of intel into her world.

First off, where are you from and what’s your home mountain?

I grew up in Delaware and got into skiing while in college at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where I still live. For the last few years, I have pretty much always skied at Keystone.

What made you decide to enter this new PPOS virtual competition?

I had some friends who encouraged me to, and it didn’t involve me having to attend a competition or do any of the traditional contest things so I thought, “why not?”

Watch: Katrina Siegfried’s winning slopestyle run.

What did you think of the new format vs. the old one?

I don’t have fun doing competitions so I just don’t really participate in them. Skiing is something I do for fun and with school and work I don’t have the time or money to be traveling to different cities to do the competition thing—so the old format wasn’t for me at all. This new set up is really great. It broadens the pool of eligible skiers and allows for creativity and style in a way that really isn’t easily achievable in a traditional slopestyle competition.

Judges highlighted your technicality on the rails as a factor in your win. What do you think about that?

That’s pretty cool. I don’t really know what judges look for so I’m glad they liked it. I was pretty content with what I made and when you’re making any edit that’s all that really matters.

Do you see yourself entering into the comp scene?

[Laughs] No. Stuff like this is fun, but I don’t enjoy the traditional contest, so unless that changes I won’t be doing that.

Ideally, what does this success with the PPOS do for your skiing career?

I have a skiing career?

You seem to have a pretty solid social media game. How did that help with this competition, if at all?

Like Noah [Wallace] mentioned, it certainly didn’t hurt. However, I don’t think I had the most votes or anything so I’m not sure that really factored into how I did.

Can you talk about the importance social media has on getting your name out there?

Your questions make me feel way cooler than I am. I suppose unless people have met me in person they probably only know me from social media. It’s like having future friends that maybe someday you will meet. I’m stoked on it.

Who do you look up to?

I really admire what some of the female urban snowboard crews, like Jetpack 5000 and Too Hard, have been up to. It’s so refreshing to see girls not only throwing down harder than anyone else out there but also being real adult human beings. The riders built up their crews from the very bottom on their own dollar and their own terms. And as humans I have to say I greatly admire Mr. and Mrs. Hartman, living proof that you can have a great life, great love and still pursue your passions.

Katrina Siegfried on that urban grind.

Who is your favorite skier to watch? Ski with?

I don’t watch a ton of skiing, but I love watching and skiing with my friends. We are a kooky bunch, and really run the gambit as far as skiing styles. Everyone’s unique styles are what I love most about skiing.

Have you had help from peers? Do you ski with a friend group that encourages one another to up the ante?

I feel like I have that with all my friends. There’s always so much hype when anyone lands something dope, and I get this feeling like, “how can you not want to also land something dope?” That feeling, that is why I love skiing. Hotpossie has helped encourage me to hail Satan. The Molesquad group continues to encourage me to “take a mole” but that won’t ever happen. The Nightmare snowboard crew encourages me to appreciate snowboarding. And the guys at Goodenough continues to encourage me to quit skiing and join them in their pursuit of the “most chyll life$tyle.”

Talk about motivation to rise to the next level? What’s the ultimate goal for you in skiing? What pushes you to progress?

I like the feeling you get when you and your friends learn new tricks and do new things, it’s fun. So as long as that remains the case I am definitely trying to continue learning tricks and pushing myself. Ultimately I want to go to medical school so my only plan for skiing is to ski as much as possible and have fun until I am ready to go to medical school.

What are you going to do with your prize money?

I plan to do what any normal human would do, pay rent.