Home for Christmas!!

I’m done with the early season races now and am resting before another month and a half on the road. Looking back to the first NORAM cup races in Loveland and Aspen, Colorado makes me see how much I have progressed in the past month. I was having some trouble “cutting the line off” at the top of the turn in those early races. I noticed it more in Giant Slalom than anything else, but still felt it occasionally in my Slalom. I was 0-4 in that series, but didn’t let it get me down. I think it’s really important to use times like that to focus on the little things that went well and poorly without the distraction of a result or a time. It’s the perfect training for the mind.


After those races we went to Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek to forerun the World Cup Downhill. Unfortunately I didn’t get to run, but I was still there and got to inspect the track and watch all the big guys on the hill. What an experience! It’s hard to go to a hill like that with the best athletes in the world and not be impressed and a bit awed. Pretty cool stuff.  During the free time between inspection and the race each day I had the opportunity for some GS training, and felt like I got a lot more work done on the line. I really like having races followed by some time to train and work on the different aspects that weren’t performed well in competition.

After Colorado I went up north for the NORAMS in Lake Louise, AB and Panorama, BC. I felt like I really had a breakthrough in speed in Lake Louise. It is hard to describe, but it felt like I was moving differently on the skis and getting much more power out of them than I ever have before. I scored in one of the Downhills, and had a pretty bad mistake in the other, but was very pleased with the series as a whole. From there I went to the tech/Super G series in Panorama. I had some trouble in the Super G’s on the soft snow, and felt like my pressuring was too aggressive for the conditions. I lost the pressure on the outside ski every time the snow gave out, and ended up running a low line—not very fast on a flat hill. I skied much better in the Giant Slalom the day after, but crossed my tips in the first run and went down on my side right before a flat. I ended up 58th after the first run and thus qualified for a second run, in which I executed my plan very well, finishing 40th overall. The slalom was a blast! I always like slalom, but the ridiculously turny course set on steep terrain with variable snow made this one more fun and exciting than usual  I skied really well and felt like I was very solid and comfortable on my skis, which was an accomplishment I thought, considering it had been 3 weeks since I touched slalom gear. All in all I am happy with where I am right now and feel confident moving into these next 40 days of racing!

Skiing at home with my team and local friends is great. I’ve coached the younger kids a couple of days, trained some slalom (although the snow is too soft), been the pacesetter for NASTAR, and done a lot of free skiing. I’ve missed free skiing thus far this year; I feel it helps every aspect of my racing. I got some sweet powder skis for Christmas, it’s supposed to storm tonight, and I’ve got a seat on the Selkirk Powder Company Snow cat tomorrow.. Should be a great day! :)

Turkey Time!

The Vail camp is finished, and to be perfectly honest I’m already salivating for some turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy! The ladies of the family are coming up for Thanksgiving in a few days; I can’t wait to have the whole family together again! The camp concluded on the 20th, and these last few days have found me hanging out, lifting, and schooling in Dillon with our family friends the Johns. I just realized while at the gym today that its been five weeks since I’ve had a serious leg workout, so put in my time under the squat rack and the cleaning pads this afternoon. It feels great to get the power muscles going again!

 
The Giant Slalom race the USST hosted at Vail didn’t go quite as well as I would have liked, but it was still a good experience and a confidence booster. I had a few mistakes in costly areas, but ended up decently placed amongst the field. I could have done much better, but sinced I’m skiing really well that's all that really matters. I had one more week of training in Vail after the race, and man it was a long one! The double sessions every day really took it out of me! Six hours of amazing four event training in the morning led to great bounds in performance, tired legs, and lots of afternoon naps. I’m really feeling fast right now and can’t wait for the NORAMS in Loveland and Aspen the 27th-30th. That said, I still have some turkey pounds to pack on before then! :-)

Colorado

So I am in Colorado for the whole month of November training in Summit and Eagle counties. I’m staying with the US team in a lavish hotel named Manor Vail right at the bottom of Gold Peak. I wake up every morning and walk 100 feet from the room to the bottom of the lift… how can you beat that??  The team injected the slope last week and the surface is about as good as I’ve seen. I think it’s helped my skiing a lot to get on a solid, icy surface that makes me work to hold an edge. It took me a little while to figure it out, but now I feel great on it. A good confidence builder for sure!


I’m really feeling good on my skis right now and am getting a lot of power in the top of the turn. “The move” that I have been working on the last 6 months is now automatic, but I still have to focus on giving my body room at the gate in order to get the full benefit. I’ve got this annoying tendency to pinch off the top of the turn and hammer the panels, (It feels way sweeter but it’s definitely not the fast line) so fixing that is one of my biggest focus points. There is a USST race next week in Vail for all the Team guys and a few selected invitees. It should be a fun race and hopefully a good points opportunity!

Back on the road!

Chile was great fun, but coming home felt really good. After relaxing and catching up on laundry I hit the gym hard for two and a half weeks. Unfortunately, I had my wisdom teeth pulled on the 15th, which brought all workouts to a halt. (I must say though, my mothers Chocolate shakes made that experience much more enjoyable ;-) The month ended with pre-season physical assessments at the COE in Park City, followed by a “Team Building” camp at Moab, UT.

We all loaded up for Moab on the 26th and spent four days camping and biking around Canyon-lands and Arches National Parks. What a great spot! Several of the guys had been there before and they led us on some tough rides in marginal terrain. I was on an “old school” bike, so my hands and legs took quite a beating. I had a great time just the same! We did a lot of bouldering and rock climbing as well, which I really enjoyed. Dad caught up with me on the 29th and we’re now in Colorado for 36 days of training and competition.

 
This next week should be a lot of fun. We’re going to ski with our Canadian friends, Matt and Michelle, at their camp for 5 days. They are a constant laugh and I can’t wait to spend some time with them again! On November 5th I join the team at Vail for on snow training. It will include speed training at Copper Mountain in the early mornings, and tech at Vail and Loveland. I’m really looking forward to the start of competition November 27-30!!

Home again, home again....

Well I must say there is no place like home! I had a great time in Chile, but I was ready to get out of the snow and rocks and back into the forests of the North West. J The last few days were GS and I really felt like I was skiing well. Having only two days of it didn’t give me a ton of time to get the feel, but I still felt pretty good, all things considered. After packing out on our last day, we got to spend a few hours down in Santiago. We stopped in a small “crafts fair” type thing with hundreds of little one room shops which openned into walkways that displayed their owners hand-made items. Things were pretty expensive, but it didn’t matter.  Anything bought there was the only one like it in the world, so I figured it was totally worth it.

The flights home seemed to take forever to me. That was partially due to the fact that my seats on the ten hour flight were located right next to the restrooms in the rear of the plane, and there were no complementary nose plugs. :P Not too much sleep for me! When we touched down in Atlanta, the first thing one of my buds and I did after clearing immigration was to buy a couple of huge Cinnabun’s each..  and honestly, junk food has never tasted so good! Mine disappeared in about two minutes. Then it was just eight more hours of travel to Spokane Airport and a hour and a half long drive home from there. It felt great to sleep in my own bed that night J

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!