Turning the Paige to go up a level

Published Tue 14 Jan 2025

It's over four years now since Paige Jones first stood on an ANC podium at Perisher and now at 20 years old she is looking to take her career to another level.

In her final competition last season, Paige scored a top five finish in the European Cup Premium Big Air event in Corvatsch, Switzerland, before starting off 2025 with an EC Premium podium in Snowboard Slopestyle at Font Romeu.

She has since followed that up with a World Cup debut appearance at Kreischberg, just finishing outside the top 20 as she took on the best riders on the planet.

"It was definitely a mix of excitement and nerves," said Paige. "To be up there competing against the best in the world is amazing and something that I have been working hard towards, so a dream come true! It’s crazy to be standing next to my idols that I have looked up to for so long."

Paige's early year performances are a credit to the work she has put in during the off-season. After an injury derailed her domestic campaign in 2024, Paige put the hard work required into her rehab and has taken instant rewards.

"Unfortunately, injury through our Australian winter forced me into making adjustments to my preparations leading into the Northern Hemisphere winter," she said. "Preparing my body to be a strong and fit as it can be through my strength and conditioning program has been my number one priority.

"I was able to get a small amount of airtime at the NSTC airbag prior to leaving Australia and left home as early as I possibly could to head to Europe to start some on-snow work."

After finishing on the podium at the level just behind World Cups, Paige is now looking to hone her skills, challenge herself and get used to competing at the highest level.

She is keen to make the most of every opportunity to learn as much as she can in training and competition and make the most of the chances afforded to her throughout the rest of the northern winter.

"To compete at such a high level and going up against the best in the world is going to help challenge me and push my snowboarding," she said. "Setting realistic performance goals based on the tough competition and assessing those goals will be an invaluable learning experience.

"Learning to adapt and calm the nerves in such an environment will be experiences and lessons that I can take into my next competition.  It’s all about my growth as a snowboarder and taking on the highs and lows and gaining that mental toughness that is needed.

"Fingers crossed that I can gain some more World Cup experience throughout the season but will continue to train hard and compete on the Europa Cup circuit as well."

 

 


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