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IEnd of Another Season
Another season bites the dust. As usual I’m a little sad there is no more skiing for a little while, but I really need some time off.
The Spring Series were a good time as usual. The weather was incredibly hot, above 20 degrees all week. Because of that, an uncountable number of bags of salt were laid down onto the track to make it runnable. I wanted to end the season with some confidence in GS, which worked well because I won both GS races. It wasn’t a cakewalk because there were a bunch of good american guys there, so it felt good. I DNFed the first slalom, but ended up 5th in the second one which I was decently pleased with. After that last race it really just felt good to finally be finished because my body had had enough!
Mari and I both ended up winning the Super Series Overall as well!
Along with Julian Sheiner winning the J1 title, and Chris Steinke in 3rd for J1s.
As for now I’m in relax-mode for a few weeks, before starting the engines back up a few weeks before going out to Calgary at the beginning of May. I’ll be laying off the blogging for a little bit while I’m relaxing as well, so no updates for a bit.
I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has been following me throughout the year. Your messages, comments, and support mean a lot to me and make the long tough days more bearable!
Cheers
Canadian Championships
The Canadian Championships in Nakiska, AB, were a lot of fun, and I’ve never seen Nakiska with nicer weather. We had bluebird days nearly every day of the weeklong Championships which made for a great atmosphere and racing. It’s always cool to go from the über-competitive season races to the Canadians where everything is a little more relaxed and everyone wants to have a good time. Not to say that the Canadians aren’t competitive by any means.. they definitely are!
The races kicked off with the downhill, in which I didn’t do as well as I wanted. The DH was probably the opposite kind of course where I usually do well (ie flat and not technical), but I had had a great training run so I wanted to do well. I finished up 6th, pretty far off the pace set by Manny. Next up was the Super G. I went in with a lot of confidence and wanted to see where I measured up compared to the Overall Champ (Erik Guay). I skied a fairly good run,if a little too conservative in some sections, and was just over a second behind Erik, good enough for 5th.
The next day was the Super Combined, which I will skip over because it was very forgettable for me!
I was starting to hit the wall in terms of fatigue but I had my favourite event the next day, the GS. I made a pretty big mistake early in the first run but the rest was decent and was sitting third. I wanted to hold my spot so I really went for it in the second run and still had one of the fastest times starting from the back and finished third! I was super excited with my first Canadian Championships podium and having a good result in GS, which I haven’t been doing a lot of lately. The result put the icing on the cake of a great season and I was really pleased to have pulled it off.
Myself, Brad and Erik - GS podium
I was having a great run in the slalom on the final day but blew out near the bottom. Oh well, that’s slalom!
After that was the provincial dual at COP for the March Of Champions event put on by GMC which was a lot of fun. Quebec was unfairly ousted from the competition after the first round but I won’t go into that!! Following that was the annual end of year party with most of the racers which was a blast as usual.
I’m at home now for a few days of rest before going out to Quebec for the Spring Series at Stoneham and Le Relais. The Springs are a lot of fun and are a nice way to end the season on a relaxed, fun note. After that I will be more than ready for a break away from skiing and just relax for a few weeks after a long season.
I normally wouldn’t post something like this but I think they’re pretty cool so here they are.. The trophies I won for (from left) Canadian Champs GS, NorAm Super G Title, and the NorAm Overall Title:
Overall Nor-Am Cup Champion!
I am the Overall North American Cup Champion for the 2009/2010 season!!!
I can’t believe it but it’s true! I’m completely happy and a little bit amazed at everything that happened this season, and today especially to make it happen.
Coming into today’s race Will Brandenberg of the U.S. was ahead of me in the overall standings by 18 points. I hadn’t given up yet, but Will is an amazing slalom skier so I had prepared myself for the fact that he would probably win the title. This might have helped me a little because I was totally relaxed in the start of the first run, and laid down one of the better slalom runs of my career. As predicted Will laid down an even better one from bib 1 and was sitting in second.
Going into the second run I was a little more nervous because I knew that if I wanted to even have a shot, I would need to have another run like my first. But I figured it was better to lay it all on the line and blow out knowing I had given it everything, than put down a mediocre run and know that I could have been faster. With that in mind I laid down another of my better slalom runs, made a decent mistake at the bottom, but was still in there. Mari and I were standing in the crowd at the finish watching the remaining 10 racers and I remember saying, “Well, I was second on the season, that’s pretty good right?”. I knew that in order for me to win, Will had to ski out, and I had to be somewhere inside the top 15. (The whole season I’ve been trying not to get stats and numbers in my head because that has thrown me off my game in the past) Watching Will come down was one of the most stressful things I’ve done in my career so far. As he came over the knoll onto the last pitch and into view I thought, oh well that’s that.. So when he crashed through a hairpin on the 2nd last roll in the course, I couldn’t even believe it! The crowd (mostly Americans) let out a collective groan, while I let out a mini scream of joy before I caught myself! I still wasn’t sure I had won until Travis told me I was 13th in the race and that gave me 2 more points in the overall. I was stunned. I was ecstatic, relieved, surprised, overwhelmed. It was incredible!
Will and I have had a good battle over the last half of the season and I can’t even imagine what he’s feeling right now, because we were both so close right up to the last run. If he had won I couldn’t have been too disappointed because he deserved it just as much as I do.
The title means I have a spot in every World Cup race next season! That doesn’t mean I will race every, or even close to every one, but if the coaches feel I’m ready, I’ll be in there!
It means so much to me to have won the title. I can remember a few years back when I first started racing Nor-Ams, watching the top guys and wondering how in the world I would ever be able to compete with them.. And now I’m the one on top. It’s a little surreal when I think about it! A lot of hard work has paid off this year, and although this is a big step in my career, it’s only one step and hopefully there are many more to come!
Nor-Am Super G Title!!
After moving to Burke Mountain after training in Orford, the first of two Super Gs was held there on Sunday. The hill at Burke is pretty cool with lots of terrain, jumps and blind knolls. After several delays the race finally started at noon and I had a pretty good run and wound up third! I was happy to have another Nor-Am Super G podium (my third of the year) and still hold onto a good lead in the Super G standings. There was also a slalom run to be done that day because it was also a Super Combined race. Due to the girls also racing we had to wait until nearly 5pm to start the slalom!! I had a fairly conservative but mistake-free run in the slalom portion and moved back to fourth.. 15 hundredths away from getting a World Cup spot in SC! I wasn’t too worried about it because it’s not one of my preferred events but it was still a bummer.
The next day was the final Nor-Am Super G of the season, and I was in the lead. Everyone was gunning for me to try to overtake the lead for the title, so some nerves were definitely present! Having said that I’m a pretty laid back person and I try not to let things rattle me too much, so I put all thoughts of the standings and any sort of pressure aside and just did my thing. I had a run that I’m really pleased with, just let it all hang out and went for the win. I was sitting in third, less than 2/10ths of a second behind the leader (Jan Hudec, who had just come 17th at World Cup Finals). However the race was cancelled after 10 racers because the conditions on the bottom were not going to hold up well enough for everyone to complete the race. And so I became the Nor-Am Super G title winner for the season!
I couldn’t be happier about the accomplishment, and I’m really pleased with how I handled myself under the pressure and threw down a great run. As a result of winning the title, I have a guaranteed spot in all the World Cup Super Gs next season!
ACA Press Release on the title
Now my focus shifts to the slalom tomorrow, which will decide who is the winner of the Overall Nor-Am Cup. I’m currently sitting second, 18 points back of the leader. I did a few slalom runs this morning to get myself ready to surprise some people tomorrow!
Check back soon for video from the races..
Orford Training
I arrived in St Johnsbury, VT yesterday after three days of training at Mont Orford, QC. The block in Orford was the first training I’ve had since mid-January because my schedule has been chock-full of racing and those pesky Olympics! It was really good to get back in some gates and especially to do some GS, which I haven’t even skied since racing over in Europe in January. I got back into the grove pretty fast and I’m feeling confident in my skiing again, which is really important going into the NorAm Final races starting tomorrow.
The first race of finals is a Super Combined tomorrow at Burke Mountain, VT. The final Super G is Monday also at Burke. I then move over to Waterville Valley, NH for the final GS and Slalom. These are really important races for me because I’m leading the Overall and Super G NorAm standings, and I’m in the hunt for the GS title as well. Wish me luck!
Aspen DH Video
"Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!" Kind of how I felt after messing up in the first Super G and redeeming myself in the second! Ahh too many great quotes from that movie..
Anyways here is video of the 2nd downhill training run in Aspen. The snow was a little firmer today, making the course nearly 3 seconds faster. All in all a fairly easy, but super fun track.
A Little Place Called Aspen
After my Olympic 'vacation' I hopped on a plane and flew over to Denver, then drove straight up to (a little place called) Aspen. For those who don't get the joke it's from a great movie called Dumb and Dumber!
I'm in Aspen for a week for a Nor-Am speed series. We've already completed two Super G races and start DH training tomorrow, followed by three DH races. The first two races are Nor-Ams, while the third is the U.S. National Championship race. With the Nationals so close a few of the World Cup speed skiers who aren't competing in any more events at the Olympics are here. Jan Hudec, Steven Nyman and Erik Fisher are the big names that are here at the moment.
It has been snowing for the past 3 days in Aspen so the track was extremely soft yesterday. Not the kind of snow I like but I had to figure it out regardless. I had a decent run going until I came off a cat track about half way down, got light and twisted but somehow managed to stay on my feet and make it down. I finished in 7th overall which was pretty disappointing. Today's race went much better. The snow was a little firmer and I had an early bib, so I put the hammer down and wound up second... by two hundredths! Two silly little hunnies. I guess thats the way it goes in this sport, but I am very happy with my run and the way I skied. Like Bode says, to be proud of what you just laid down is more important than your results. After having very little training for the past month, the past two days have been really good for my confidence and it felt good to lay it all on the line and come out with a result.
Flowers for my Super G podium
Tomorrow is the start of DH training. I'm excited to ski it, it looks like a laid back and fun track.
An interesting side note on the two Super Gs.... A relatively unknown U.S. racer won the first SG by a large margin; nearly a full second. He was also sitting in 5th today before it was noticed that he was on some illegal equipment. Namely his skis and their stand-height. After a protest was filed it was determined that his skis were illegal and he was disqualified from today's race. I have never experienced something like this and it was quite interesting to see the procedure and the lengths people go to get away with cheating..
An Incredible Olympic Experience
Trav, Dave (Trav and my technician) and myself moments before the start
What an unforgettable week! My Olympic experience was full of delays, snow, fog, but most of all fun. It was awesome to be at the Olympics, especially a home one. The support from everyone was unbelievable even though I was just forerunning. I ran into a ton of people from the Ottawa skiing community while out in Whistler. A bunch of them were volunteers (working their butts off!) and some were taking in the sights and sounds of the Olympics. But everyone was really supportive which was awesome, so thanks a lot!
When race day finally rolled around the atmosphere was like nothing I've ever experience before. There were TONS of people at all of the viewing areas (7,000 in the stands!) hours before the race even started. It's a pretty cool feeling when people cheer when you come through the finish.. of the inspection! Due to only having one official and incomplete training run, everyone had a chance to run from Coaches Turn to the finish. After that I had to head straight back up to the top because I would be the first forerunning and would open the Alpine events at the Olympics. 
The view from the start on race day (20 min before start). Notice the line of people forming on the top left.
At precisely 10:20 the beeps started for me to begin my run. Leaving the start and hearing the roar of the crowd up there was something I didn't expect and will never forget! I almost broke into a smile before the first gate (good thing I was only forerunning I guess). Since I was the guinea pig and the first one down, I found out pretty quickly that the jumps were huge that day. The track was way firmer and a little faster than training, but was also a lot bumpier. Coming through each viewing area I could hear people cheering, which is something I have never heard before. Coming over the last two jumps, which were massive that day, I could see all the people in the finish and was just awestruck by how many were there. As I came through the finish I was so excited to be there and that I had just been a part of the Olympics that I let out a scream and fist pump, which I guess the crowd liked because they went wild! I will never forget that moment.
A view of the crowd
So with that said I'm really glad that I had the experience of running in such a big event because of all the little things that kind of took me off guard. For example the noise, people, and cameras everywhere. I think the experience will definitely help me in the future and hopefully in Sochi 2014!!!
The volunteers deserve the biggest medal of all. It was ridiculous how much work they were doing! Even making snow-slides to clear the track. Genius.
A bunch of the speed guys training Super-G on one of the nice days
Trav and I had the chance to watch the women's Super Combi. This is Vonn after straddling and a collective "oouhhhhhh" from the crowd. Just goes to show that anything can happen in this crazy sport.
After watching the Super Combi we went up top and took a 25 minute hike to find some freshies.
Todd Brooker hooked me up with some fatties for the trip
Awesome.
What a Long Strange Trip it's Been..
As the title says, it's been a long difficult trip this year in Europe. Three weeks over here is a relatively short trip compared to the past years, but the difference this year was the crazy amount of racing jammed into those three weeks. Last year I was over here for a month and I did three races.
This year I arrived on the night of the 9th, trained the 10th and 11th, did DH training runs on the 12/13th, DH races on the 14/15th. Raced a slalom on the 16th, GS on the 17th. Finally had a day off on the 18th. Trained on the 19th, GS races on the 20/21st, followed by two SG races on the 22nd. One day off and one travel day on the 23/24th. Which finally leads me to where I am now in Les Orres where I've done 2 DH training days (25/26th) and a DH race yesterday. 13 races (including DH training runs) in 19 days. Phew, just looking at that and I now realize why I am so completely wiped out. I was supposed to race a second DH today but I am so fatigued, mentally and physically that I pulled myself from the race to take a few GS training runs and try to get some feelings back for the final race of the trip: a SG tomorrow.
The trip started off fairly well in Patcherkofel, which I wrote about earlier. Moving on from there I did a FIS slalom in Lenggries, where I was 2nd in the second run! Definitely a step in the right direction in slalom. Following that was a Europa Cup GS, where I fell which was disappointing. After that was a FIS race in Kirchberg that did go alright. It was stacked full of World Cup guys (many of them top-30 GS skiers) and I finished 14th, not too far off the pace. After that the fatigue of all the racing and travelling has sort of taken over and my skiing and results have gone downhill.
The thing that makes a schedule like this so tough in Europe is that after each event that we've done, we've had to drive 2+ hours (sometimes 5 or 8) to the next stop, immediately following the race. That means your muscles don't get to recover and you get very little decent rest.
Needless to say I'm looking forward to getting home and getting some rest! I'll be home for a week, possibly up at MSM for a day to forerun, and then off to Whistler to forerun the Olympic Downhill and Super Combined!
The first few gates of the Les Orres Downhill
Nice scenery behind the start
Questionable signage?
Eurotrip 2010 Part 1 - Patcherkofel DH
Euro trip 2010! Very unlike the movie but fun nonetheless!
The trip this year started out very well. I used my Air Canada upgrade certificate and was flying first class all the way, yes in one of those pods that fold all the way down into a bed. After that amazing flight I can't imagine flying any other way! Following this great start was one of the worst days of my life. We landed (an hour delayed while in the air) to a snowstorm in the Frankfurt airport. Everything was delayed, lots of flights were cancelled, it was chaos. Trav (Dawson), Marie-Pier Prefontaine and myself were all going to Munich so we stuck together through the 6 hours we waited in different lines trying to get a flight to Munich that day. After many lines and tons of blatantly incorrect information (apparently there was a complete communication breakdown in the airport), we finally got to Munich, without any of my bags. No duffle, no skis, nothing. Great.
From Munich we moved on to our home base in Kirchberg, Austria. Without any clothes or anything I had to borrow a lot of equipment from the devo girls that were there, and from our physio. So for two days we trained GS and slalom in Kirchberg, me looking like a total yedi with shinguards over pants, full jacket, etc. Oh well, the training was great! I even skied well in slalom which hasn't happened in a while.
Our first races are here in Patcherkofel, Austria, for 2 Europa Cup Downhills. The hill is fairly easy for a downhill, but has a lot of little terrain changes and bumps that make it hard to master. The first two training runs went alright. I had some really fast sections and some really slow sections for some mediocre times. Today was the first race and I had my worst run so far but finished up 17th. Not a bad result, plus I scored my first Europa Cup points, but I know I can do better.
Race #2 happens tomorrow. Immediatly following the race we move to Germany for a slalom race there, then after that I head back to Kirchberg for a Europa Cup GS. My schedule over here is full of races, just the way I like!
Sunday Riv
Sunday River and I have not had the best relationship since I first raced there while I was on the Quebec team in 2007. Looking back at my FIS biography and in a span of three years I finished DNFed 10 straight races there, out of 12 in that time span. Yikes! It's a fairly tough hill that is usually a skating rink which leads to a lot of DNFs (for a lot of people, not just me). This year however I went in with a different mindset and a lot of confidence, and things worked out a little better than in the past.
We were originally slated to ski GS first but the 22cm of snow the hill got the day before the races caused the slaloms to be held first. This kind of ticked me off since I wanted a chance to rip some GS but what can you do? I had some serious bad luck in the slaloms. In the first race I was sitting 10th after the first run, which I was pretty pleased with. However I blew it in the second run, falling on the dead flats 8 gates from the finish and dropped back to 24th. The second day was when things got a little ridiculous.. In the first run a gate broke at the base, shot up and landed on my lap, stayed there for two gates plus a hairpin. It finally slid off and I made it down relatively unscathed and I was somehow in 11th. During the second run a gate broke in half and hit me in the back, then landed in between my skis so I had to stop skiing and move it before I could keep going. I wasn't sure about the rules for reruns in that situation so I didn't stop (I later learned I could have gotten a rerun had I stopped and asked after it happened). I dropped back once again to 20th place. I was extremely disappointed with these results because I was sitting pretty after the first runs, but disastrous second runs cost me dearly.
We finally got to GS on the third day and I was pumped. I let it rip first run and made a few mistakes but was sitting in 4th place, 2 tenths out of second. For the second run the sun disappeared after about bib 20 which made it really tough for the rest of us. I had a pretty brutal run to be honest but managed to only drop back one spot to 5th. I had mixed feelings about the result because I know I should have been on the podium, but 5th place is by far the best I've ever done in SR, so I'll take it.
Right now I'm in the lounge at the Montreal airport (frequent flying has its benefits) waiting for a flight to Frankfurt, then to Munich. It's that time of year again, the European time that is. I'll be in Kirchberg, Austria for a couple of training days before our first Europa Cup downhill in Austria next week.
Back on the Road
First off... Happy New Year everyone! After a very laid back NYE at my girlfriend's home in Morin Heights I am back on the road for a solid month of racing. Being home for the holidays was definitely nice and well deserved after all the time on the road since the beginning of November. I spent the holidays up at my family's chalet at Mont Ste Marie, skiing, relaxing and having a good time.
After a few days of R&R I did some coaching at the club which was a ton of fun! I was floating between all the age groups and got to spend at least a few runs with all the kids in the club. The kids seemed to really enjoy, which made it really enjoyable for me as well! One of the funniest moments was when I suggested to the Nancy Greeners that we should have a race, and for the rest of the runs I was with them that was all they wanted to do! I even got my first piece of 'fan mail' during the week! Julia and Nicola Gilmour (who also live across the street from my chalet up at MSM) gave me this excellently illustrated congratulatory poster, along with some champagne. Needless to say I was very flattered, thanks girls!!
The drawing is now proudly displayed on our fridge at the chalet :)
The support I received from everyone at the club was pretty overwhelming. I want to say a very sincere thank you to everyone who I talked to and supported me. I really appreciate it. I had no idea so many people followed the (non World Cup) circuit so closely. I've never experience anything like that and it was pretty awesome!
Right now I'm in Montreal with the rest of my team, awaiting an early morning departure to Killington, VT. We train in Killington for two days before moving over to Sunday River, ME for two Nor-Am GS's and two slaloms. After those races we skip across the pond for a Europa Cup filled trip to Europe. We'll be based in Kirchberg, Austria (the Canadian Ski Team's home-away-from-home), with races in Austria, Italy and France.
I'm looking forward to carrying the momemtun from the last string of races before Christmas into this part of the year!
First Nor-Am Win! (And a heck of a trip)
First of all thank you to everyone who has sent my parents or myself an email with all the kind words, it means a lot!
Trav and I, first and third!
A ton of things have happened since I last blogged (and last had internet access). First were the disastrous Lake Louise Nor-Ams.. I won't go into too much detail but the three of us (Travis Dawson, Tyler Nella and myself) who make up the Canadian contingent at the Nor-Ams had some great sections but couldn't put together a complete run. Trav did finish fourth in the Super-G which was great and sparked us all a little bit coming into Panorama.
Panorama was a different story as I won the first run of the first GS there. That GS run was one of the best I've had all year and felt great to lay one down in a race finally. A few mistakes in the second run cost me a few tenths and pushed me back to third overall. I was pretty disappointed not to have won, but getting the first podium of the year did feel good. The next day I was having another ripper first run before I fell about a quarter of the way down. I managed to finish though and was sitting in 16th spot even with the fall. The game plan for second run was go all or nothing and win the run because there was nothing to lose from that spot. I didn't win the run but second was good enough to move me from 16th down to 8th.
The next two days were slaloms which were mostly forgettable. As I've mentioned I haven't done nearly enough slalom this year to be competitive and my confidence just isn't there. Especially on a hill as steep as the Haymaker race run at Pano! I ended up 12th and 14th in the two race, picking up some Nor-Am points which was the goal. Trav finished 4th the first day however, which was great. Although he wasn't pleased with another 4th, or being the bridesmaid as we call it.
The final day was the Super-G/Super Combined. Having trained a bunch at Pano since making the Devo team three years ago, we all know the track pretty well. Having not had the week I was hoping for, I knew I could make up for it tomorrow and quite literally convinced myself that anything other than a win in the Super-G just wasn't good enough. So the next morning I did my usual warmup stuff, inspection, got into the gate and simply charged. I went full out from the first push and had a heck of a ride down the course! When I got to the bottom and saw that I was winning I was ecstatic! Finally a Nor-Am win, and best of of Trav was on the podium with me in third place! Being a dual race day we still had the slalom to do and if there was ever a time to throw down a quick slalom run that was it! The guys behind me were all great slalom skiers so I had to go for it. The shorter, flatter slalom for the SC suited me better and I managed not to lose too much time and hang on for second in the SC! 180 Nor-Am points, not bad for a day's work.
I've been home for a few hours now and I'm going to Tremblant soon for the Super Series races there. After that it's time to RELAX and ski up at Mont Ste Marie for the rest of the holidays.
Anyways sorry for the huge post but I'm a little excited!.. Merry Christmas everyone!
Lake Louise! (and overview)
Lake Louise. The site of the first World Cup speed races of the year, and the first Nor-Am speed races as well. A lot of the European guys who race this track consider it a warm-up and it is widely considered to be the easiest race on the (World Cup) circuit. Then again those same guys who say that don't usually win here so it can't be that easy can it?! I kid, it is a fairly easy track but there are a few key sections that you have to nail to be fast:
After the initial pitch and a few technical, rolly turns (no photos sorry) you come into the Tickedy Jump..
The jump into the Tickedy Chute is key to having the right line and direction leading into the Wiwaxy flats..
The Wiwaxy flats may not look intimidating but you carry a ton of speed (115 km/h +) into them and they are usually set fairly turny so you need to ski them cleanly in order to carry your speed..
The Wiwaxy Flats lead you into a sweeping triple called Coaches Turn. Not an overly technical turn but you want to have the right line and not climb up to high on the last gate to have the proper direction coming into the final gate of the triple..
The last gate of the triple is the Coaches Jump. Looks a lot more intimidating than it is, but you do get a good flight. This leads you to the fishnet turn which you need to nail to have the right line coming into the fallaway turn on the gunbarrel pitch.
The Fallaway turn is where the hill literally falls away into C-Turn and the Gunbarrel pitch. Gunbarrel is the longest pitch on the course and sends you hauling in to the final flats (which you can see a part of in the photo).
I've skied well in the two training runs but made major mistakes at the end of Fishnet and into Fallaway which I will fix up for tomorrow! I'm starting bib 7 which is a good number to start, but the track is in such great shape it doesn't make too much difference what you start.
Wish me luck!
Seasons First Nor-Ams
Loveland Slalom #1
The first Nor-Am races of the year are over and they were tough! Everyday the field was stacked with guys who are ranked in the top 30 on the World Cup circuit. On top of that the snow at both Loveland and Aspen was water injected and the injection had been taken a little too far. This means that the hills were sheer ice from top to bottom.
The first slalom went fairly well. I haven't skiied very much slalom this year so the goal was really just to go for it and grab some Nor-Am points. I made it down in 16th with two solid runs. The second day I slipped out at the top of the pitch, skied a hairpin backwards, then nearly highsided in the middle of the pitch and went out.
The first GS day at Aspen was completely forgettable. I made it about 6 gates into the pitch then loaded the ski and got completely shot out of the course. The second day I had a decent first run and was sitting in 16th. I was having a wicked second run until I made a technical mistake halfway down which cost me a ton of time before finally recovering near the bottoma and finishing 17th.
Although it really wasn't the start to the season I was looking for, I managed to get two decent results in and with the crazy injection and tough field I can live with how things ended up.
Video from the first Loveland slalom race:
Lake Louise Photos
The 3 a.m. wakeup this morning was no fun, no fun at all! I'm sitting in the Calgary airport right now waiting to board a 6:30 a.m. flight to Denver, Colorado for the NorAm races there starting this Monday (the 30th). I foreran the final training run of the mens World Cup downhill yesterday, which was super fun! The track is great this year with a lot more terrain to deal with at the top compared to previous years. The rest of the track is pretty much the same ripping fast downhill as always. When I went it was bluebird and not too cold making it probably the best conditions I've ever run a downhill in, which made it all the more fun.
Here are a few shots taken during inspection yesterday:
Tickety Chute
Wiwaxy Flats
End of Wiwaxy/Entrance to Coaches
Coaches Turn
Coaches Jump
Gunbarrel Drop Off
Gunbarrel (This photo really doesn't do it justice!)
