C'est finis!

The past two weeks have sure gone by in a blurr! With only two days left in the whole camp, I've been trying to slow time down a bit and reflect on how my skiing changed while here in Chile. I worked all summer on getting my new outside hip over the up hill ski in transition (an idea that gave me numerous fits in my last 8 weeks on snow), but I think I finally have it. It isn't evident in every turn, but that's just a matter of time. I can really feel the power it gives in the fall-line, and the resulting speed. It's a good feeling! I can also feel that all the strength training I did over the summer is paying off. I was in the gym 6 days a week and wow, was every second worth it!


I was sick with some sort of bug the past two days, and that's left me feeling a bit weak. Thankfully one of those days was a planned day off, so I only missed the first day of Giant Slalom this week. Today (the second day of GS for the team) consisted of three, 20 gate, sections on perfect, rock-hard snow. What better way to get into a new event?!? It took me a few runs to get into the flow, but I started to feel it by the end of the day. I hear we have a timed,two minute long, GS course tomorrow... Hopefully I'll still be standing on unlocked legs when I reach the bottom, but somehow that is doubtful at 12,000 ft. ;) I'll let you know how it goes!

Half way!

So today was the half mark of this camp here in Chile. What great training it has been! Speed in the morning and Tech in the afternoon, followed by GREAT food.. What more could I ask for?!

These next 3 days are going to be primarily DH and SL, but we might get to do a bit of GS as well. With the snow coverage diminishing, it is a very good thing we are getting speed out of the way now so we can focus on tech later in the camp. We are all working hard to keep our bases smooth, but its pretty rough right now! So as far as equipment goes, my Atomic Slalom skis are the only new items I have with me. Wow, they are something else! The turning radius is shorter this year, and that coupled with a much lighter binding makes them a pretty sweet ride! I'm feeling really good in all events right now and I'm looking forward to a great rest of the camp and hopefully a great season!

Chile

I am here in La Parva, Chile for the first “winter” camp of the 2010-11 season. What an interesting place! Upon arrival in Santiago, I noted that the sky wasn’t visible through the smog. Trash littered the sides of the large river flowing through the city; it was stacked meters deep. I was relieved when after travelling 45 km East and climbing 10,000 ft., everything cleared up and revealed a beautiful mountain with tons of terrain and no people! The photo above was taken at sunset from my room.


Today was the fourth day on snow and things are going great! I skied Super G really well these past three days, and am really feeling “the move” I’ve been working on since the spring. The timing system was broken today, but tomorrow hopefully it will be operational and I’ll be able to see where I stand compared to all the guys. I can’t wait! Oh, and tomorrow starts the first day of a 3-day celebration here in Chile, so there will be live bands and dancing all over on our day off. Should be a good one!