Back On Snow

I am now in Frisco, Colorado after my first two races back from a possible concussion. My last day in Whistler, BC at NORAM Finals I felt like I had a breakthrough in GS, and I have been worried that my week off snow would allow the time to effectively forget what it was I figured out. That said I feel great after two days of slalom races in Beaver Creek, and am looking forward to SG tomorrow at Breckenridge.

My crash at Whistler was nothing special, but still worried some of the staff enough to have me take the impact test. The first time I took it my reactions were .07 of a second slower than they were in July, with everything else the same. The Doctor said that I was probably fine, but that it would be wise to give it at least 24 hrs to make sure things were all ok. After a few days there with limited activity, I decided that it was best for me to get on the road for CO, and get my brain moving again. I stopped in at the COE in Park City on the way for an impact test and some physical examination and passed them both. =) Its great to be back on snow!

Whistler

I went into NORAM Finals in Whistler, BC really pumped on how I was skiing and ready to go. The first day of GS was one of good performance, but not the best circumstances... And all of my own making. In a confusing turn of events I "misplaced" my skis at the start and ended up running on one of my buddies' trainers-- not the best plan! I skied well, but was not in the front of the pack.  The second day, however, was far better! I moved from 73rd starting position in the first run, to 24th place and got to start 7th in the second run; It was a perfect situation. I skied well all the way until the last pitch where I got pulled low and caught some soft snow. I couldn't get my foot out of it in time and straddled the gate with my shin. It was a pretty good crash, but I didn't really think much of it at the time. Just another day, you know? Well the IMPACT test (a special test which compares against a previous baseline and determines if there's a head injury) said otherwise apparently! They are still not sure if I have a concussion, but my reaction time is 7 hundreths of a second slower than it was when I tested in July.  The bottom line is that I am not racing until that changes or the Team doctors decide that I am 100%. I left three days early from Canada after being told that I wouldn't be racing in order to get on the road for Colorado and save some money. Two days of driving later has put me in Park City, UT where I will be testing again tomorrow to see if I can get back on snow. I hope it goes well!!

Home

I have been home for 4 days now, which is the longest since Christmas, and am thoroughly enjoying every second of it! It’s been dumping snow ever since I got here and I am getting very familiar with my pow-skis. :) A friend of ours rented Turner Mountain for his Birthday and invited a large group up for a day of rippin'. The top half of the Mountain was dumping snow, and the bottom was pouring rain, yet the lodge was totally empty.. Gotta love those North Idaho people!! I drive out tomorrow for NORAM Finals in Whistler, BC and am very excited for these next few races! 

Park City

Back to base camp for a week in Park City! After Racing 4 tech races up in Rossland, BC, I headed down to Park City, Utah for 5 days of lifting and training. The snow was a bit crumbly and it snowed a couple days, but the value of training couldn’t have been much better. After all, we ARE heading to some interesting conditions in whistler, BC next week. The off snow training was good as well, allowing me the first chance to get in the gym in quite a while. I look forward to the next and final trip of the season starting with NORAM Finals in Whistler!

Bigsky, MT

After arriving home from Europe, I got to spend a day recovering from jetlag at our family friends the Kern’s house in Washington, DC. My dad flew in the day after me, and we hit the road hours after his wheels touched down. Two, 17 hour, speeding filled, days later we arrived in Bozeman, MT to race the FIS speed series at Big Sky. It was such a great time! The downside to always traveling the NORAM circuit is not being able to see many of my old friends that only do the FIS elite races, so I tried to make up for lost time while there. Sure was great to see them! I didn’t expect to score at all at these races, but was rather just looking for speed-training going into the NORAM speed-week in Aspen, CO. I came out with two 37’s in SG and four days of DH training before the biggest speed races of the year; couldn’t ask for more!   

Europe!

          I had a great two weeks of training in Europe. The snow was difficult to figure out (pretty peely and inconsistent) but still was well worth it. The schedule didn’t end up having as many starts as I would have liked, but I still got three GS starts and a ton of time on snow.

          I had forgotten how much I love everything over there! The little shops, the amazing food, the people, and basically the entire environment are just awesome and smile inspiring. Each day after training we would all go out free skiing as a group for a few hours; what a blast!! The Italians don’t seem to mind fast skiers like many American ski resorts do…  At home you blow by a group of beginners too close and you get reported to the ski patrol for being reckless, over there the entire group starts tucking and straight lining trying to keep up! However, they do mind people skiing the “off piste.” One afternoon we decided to hit up some cool looking powder lines just off the main trails. It wasn’t roped off so we figured it was fair game and sent it. We also figured that the man yelling at us at the bottom was congratulating us on some awesome skiing, and failed to notice the “Carbineri” patch on the back of his coat.  After asking for documents and lift tickets, he took us to the Police station on the top of the mountain and paced back and forth talking animatedly on his phone. After what seemed like an interminable amount of time he told us to stay on the groomers in the future and keep the speeds slow. I could swear he wanted to arrest the lot of us, but apparently I need work on my Italian hand signal diagnostics. Thank goodness they liked us there!    

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! :)