Kaya Bamba

How have you been doing Kaya?

I've doing great, thanks for asking.

So I know you've got some big news to announce, and some people might already know about it, but give us the scoop right off the bat.

I sure do. I've just signed with Nike 6.0 outerwear and shoes, which is really exciting for me. It's a company I've wanted to work with for a really long time, ever since I heard they were starting to get involved in skiing, so it's a dream come true for me.

Camp of Champions. Photo by Jeff Schmuck

What prompted you to sign with them?

Well they're obviously a huge global brand, and I feel they can provide me with a lot of promotion and support to help me reach my goals and make my dreams come true, especially with the Olympics coming up. Plus I just really respect the brand. I think it's awesome what they do with their athletes, and everyone on the team seems to be really happy to be working with them, so I'm really looking forward to a great relationship with them.

You must be stoked to be first and so far only female skier on their program.

Definitely. I'm super stoked and I'm really excited to hold it down for the girls!

Nine Queens. Photo by Klaus Polzer

What else have you been up to lately?

Well I just had a week off, so I did a trip down to New York City with my Mom, which we'd be planning for a while, so it was nice to do that with her, and I also got to go to Japan for two weeks a while back to visit my best friend who's teaching English over there. So it was really nice to get away from it all and see a country I've never been too before and have my best friend as a tour guide. Aside from that, I've just been back in the gym here in Montreal working with my trainer, doing some reconditioning and getting my body ready for the season, and then I'm heading down to New Zealand for a few weeks.

What are you planning on getting up to down there?

It's our first Canadian Slopestyle Ski Team trip, so we're all going to head down there together and get back on our skis. I'm super excited to get back out there and feel the snow under my feet, and it'll be great to see what the whole team dynamic is going to be like.

European X Games. Photo by Felix Rioux

Looking back on last season, you had a pretty tremendous one as usual, so give us your thoughts on last winter along with your plans going into this one.

Well thank-you for saying so. I had a great season and was very happy with how it all went and that I was able to make it through the year injury-free. I wish I could have filmed more, but I had a great competitive season, which I hope to do again, and I'm definitely going to be focusing quite a bit on the major competitions this season like X Games and The Dew Tour. I'm also hiring my own filmer this winter and plan on working hard on my own webisode series, State of Mind, because I think that getting online content out there is really important. So I'm going to be putting a lot of energy into that, plus I find that being on my own program with a project like that allows me to be more efficient and productive.

Dew Tour. Photo by Rocky Maloney

Speaking of filming, you were at IF3 in Montreal last month. How was it?

IF3 was crazy. The movies were insane, the parties were great as always and it was great to have everyone in Montreal, because IF3 always brings in a great crew and it's awesome to see everyone in between the summer and winter.

Kaya with Candide Thovex at IF3. Photo by Simon Lebrun

What would you say is your number one goal going into this winter?

That's a tough question. To be honest I wouldn't say I have a number one goal; I have lots of them. I want to compete a lot and do well, film as much as I can, get my webisode series going so I can get a lot of content out there, and all in all ski to the best of my abilities.

We talked a little bit about this in the summer during our Chairlift Diaries interview with you, but for anyone out there who missed it, give us your thoughts on the inclusion of slopestyle skiing in the Olympics.

I'm very excited. It's an amazing opportunity and I couldn't be more excited to be representing Canada right now on the National Team. I know that a lot of people are worried it's going to change the sport, but I think that we're a strong community and that all of us are going to have a say in what happens, so I have no doubt that we're going to be able retain the spirit of freeskiing.

Check out www.facebook.com/Nike6Ski to get the behind the scenes scoop on Kaya and the rest of the Nike 6.0 ski team all season long.