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"\"&lt;figure id=\\\"attachment_89483\\\" style=\\\"width: 640px\\\" class=\\\"wp-caption alignright\\\"&gt;&lt;a href=\\\"http:\\/\\/www.powdermag.com\\/files\\/2013\\/03\\/POWP-130200-GIRL2-01.jpg\\\"&gt;&lt;img src=\\\"http:\\/\\/www.powdermag.com\\/files\\/2013\\/03\\/POWP-130200-GIRL2-01-640x425.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"\\\" title=\\\"Photo: Erik Seo\\\" width=\\\"640\\\" height=\\\"425\\\" class=\\\"size-medium wp-image-89483\\\" srcset=\\\"http:\\/\\/www.powder.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2013\\/03\\/POWP-130200-GIRL2-01-640x425.jpg 640w, http:\\/\\/www.powder.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2013\\/03\\/POWP-130200-GIRL2-01-970x645.jpg 970w, http:\\/\\/www.powder.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2013\\/03\\/POWP-130200-GIRL2-01-135x90.jpg 135w, http:\\/\\/www.powder.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2013\\/03\\/POWP-130200-GIRL2-01-100x66.jpg 100w, http:\\/\\/www.powder.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2013\\/03\\/POWP-130200-GIRL2-01-200x133.jpg 200w, http:\\/\\/www.powder.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2013\\/03\\/POWP-130200-GIRL2-01-150x100.jpg 150w\\\" sizes=\\\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;&lt;figcaption class=\\\"wp-caption-text\\\"&gt;Photo: Erik Seo&lt;\\/figcaption&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Slopestyle veteran Kaya Turski felt out of place at last year\\u2019s U.S. Grand Prix. She barely recognized the cast at the top of the course, with most of slopestyle\\u2019s familiar faces forced to the sideline. Among others, Keri Herman and Ashley Battersby sat with concussions, joining Meg Olenick, who had a torn ACL\\u2014the fourth in her six-year career. \\u201cIt was just like, \\u2018Where is everybody?\\u2019\\u201d says Turski. \\u201cEverybody was injured.\\u201d&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nWhile injury is an inevitable part of skiing and competition, the women\\u2019s field has been disproportionately affected. Females are getting hurt three and a half times more often in competition than their male counterparts, according to the responses of an anonymous survey of 100 male and female skiers and snowboarders conducted last March by former pro Kristi Leskinen, with help from Turski and other athletes.&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nSpeed is the major on-course issue, leading female athletes to come up short on jumps or skip features altogether. On last year\\u2019s Winter X course, gold medalist Jamie Anderson was the only competitor in women\\u2019s snowboarding slopestyle to string together two complete runs (out of three).&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nSo how does women\\u2019s slopestyle increase safety and maintain its competitive integrity?&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nThe issue acts as a point of contention among female skiers, as many feel that safety measures would limit a sport that has fought so long for gender equality. Both sides argue that progression is at stake, and course design has quickly become the epicenter of the argument.&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n \\u201cSometimes I feel as though it\\u2019s more who can get down the course\\u2026 as opposed to everyone feeling comfortable and throwing down their best run,\\u201d says Turski, the three-time Winter X Slopestyle gold medalist. \\u201cIt\\u2019s more of, \\u2018OK, I\\u2019m surviving.\\u2019\\u201d&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nTurski, who has endured two ACL reconstructions, pancreatic surgery, and dislocated shoulders, thinks competition organizers should address the rate of injury. Though she admits there isn\\u2019t a perfect solution, Turski wrote on her blog last April suggesting events implement a second course with smaller jumps\\u2014a \\u201cladies tee\\u201d she called it. The 24-year-old Canadian added that, because of their anatomic disadvantage, women are \\u201cjust not as fast as the guys.\\u201d In addition to safety implications, she feels smaller takeoffs will lead to more complete runs, putting trick progression first and amplitude second.&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n \\u201cI\\u2019ve seen so many people wreck themselves after trying to get enough speed, straight airing a jump, and coming up short,\\u201d says Turski. \\u201cWhere\\u2019s the progression there?\\u201d&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nWhile Turski argues evolution is stunted by current jump sizes, some competitors think cutting back will regress the sport. Olenick, a member of the U.S. Freeskiing Slopestyle Team and WX Games veteran, says that, \\u201cPeople want to see that girls can do the same thing that guys can.\\u201d&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nEchoing the opinion of several peers, including two-time Winter X silver medalist Herman, Olenick feels that separate courses could marginalize competition. \\u201cI think as female skiers we have pushed so hard for equality\\u2026that if there was a separate course we would kind of be taking a step back,\\u201d she says. \\u201cEven if tricks are progressing on small jumps, if the big jump is built correctly, you should be able to do the tricks on big jumps, as well.\\u201d&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nAs concerns build, F.I.S. Freestyle Coordinator Joe Fitzgerald says they will take measures to reduce injury in the upcoming Olympics in Sochi, including entertaining double takeoffs or pushing takeoffs forward for women. The latter, suggested by Turski in her blog post, would require men\\u2019s and women\\u2019s events to run on separate days to allow for course modification, and both changes would require an added cost for competition organizers.&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nWhile the F.I.S. seemed open to exploring their options, changes have yet to be officially implemented, a frustrating realization for some.&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n\\u201cSometimes I\\u2019m more intimidated than I think I should be at an event where I\\u2019m supposed to showcase my talent and best tricks,\\u201d says Turski. \\u201cI just don\\u2019t think that\\u2019s the way it should be.\\u201d&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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