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Nakiska Nationals DH Training Vid
Mar 20, 2010 09:35 PM
» Kananaskis, AB
The Canadian Nationals are in Nakiska, Alberta, this season. The first DH training run was held today on the Map Maker trail. It’s a very easy downhill track but is pretty fun nonetheless, and sometimes the easy courses are the hardest to be fast on! I had a good run today, finishing third with a 56.96. Manny won the run with 56.60, with Erik right on his tails in 56.64. Tomorrow is another training run with the race on Monday.
http://canski.org/cdns-brydon-and-osborne-paradis-fastest-in-opening-training
The Canadian Nationals are in Nakiska, Alberta, this season. The first DH training run was held today on the Map Maker trail. It’s a very easy downhill track but is pretty fun nonetheless, and sometimes the easy courses are the hardest to be fast on! I had a good run today, finishing third with a 56.96. Manny won the run with 56.60, with Erik right on his tails in 56.64. Tomorrow is another training run with the race on Monday.
http://canski.org/cdns-brydon-and-osborne-paradis-fastest-in-opening-training
Orford Training
Mar 13, 2010 10:05 AM
» St. Johnsbury, VT
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!
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!
Back on the Road
Jan 01, 2010 09:00 PM
» Montreal, QC
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 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!
Lake Louise! (and overview)
Dec 08, 2009 11:08 PM
» Lake Louise, AB
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!
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!
Nakiska Update
Nov 18, 2009 07:32 PM
» Kananaskis, AB
Nakiska has been great so far this year! Quite a change from last year when condtions weren't great for the most part, this year has been pretty stellar as far as conditions and training go. They opened up a different run this year to start off, which I think was a good idea because it allowed for much safer training and gave them more time to set up the other runs.
I've been here for nine days so far and have skied eight. I've skied every event so far which is awesome. And I've finally been able to get a bunch of slalom training in, something I've been severely lacking in this season! We even got in a day of downhill. We have been doing double sessions almost every day though, which gets super tiring and I could really use a day off soon!
I'm staying here in Nakiska for one more day of GS, then heading to Panorama for a FIS GS race on saturday. After that I'll be in Pano for a few more days, and finally forerunning the final training run of the Lake Lousie Winterstart World Cup. Should be fun!
Here's one last run of SG from Nakiska:
Nakiska has been great so far this year! Quite a change from last year when condtions weren't great for the most part, this year has been pretty stellar as far as conditions and training go. They opened up a different run this year to start off, which I think was a good idea because it allowed for much safer training and gave them more time to set up the other runs.
I've been here for nine days so far and have skied eight. I've skied every event so far which is awesome. And I've finally been able to get a bunch of slalom training in, something I've been severely lacking in this season! We even got in a day of downhill. We have been doing double sessions almost every day though, which gets super tiring and I could really use a day off soon!
I'm staying here in Nakiska for one more day of GS, then heading to Panorama for a FIS GS race on saturday. After that I'll be in Pano for a few more days, and finally forerunning the final training run of the Lake Lousie Winterstart World Cup. Should be fun!
Here's one last run of SG from Nakiska:
Nakiska Pre-Season
Nov 11, 2009 11:45 PM
» Kananaskis, AB
Good ol' Nakiska! Just like the last four years of preseason I find myself at the wonderfully tough mountain that goes by the name of Nakiska. AKA the host of the Alpine events of the 1988 Olympics. The crew at Nakiska does an awesome job of getting the hill ready for us (the CAST, other national teams, and provincial teams).
I say it is wonderfully tough because Nakiska is not an easy hill. You need to have your head in the right place and your butt in gear to rip on this hill! Due to being so early in the season, there isn't a lot of snow coverage and the terrain can get pretty gnarly. Skiing on the tough, jagged, rolly terrain this early in the year definitely prepares you for later in the season.
I've had two days on the slope so far (only one run open right now!) and things are going fairly well. Due to my recent back injury I'm taking things pretty slowly; getting a really good warmup in the morning, taking breaks if anything fees off, and stopping if I feel any pain. Better to take it easy now then be forced to take it easy when it counts later in the year. Even with the injury I've been able to get in eight good runs both days so far, and I'm getting back in the groove.
I'll be staying here for a solid 12 day block before moving over to Panorama my first GS race of the season on the 21st.
Don't forget to check me out on Twitter (@dustincook). I'll try to update my blog as much as I can, but I post quick twitter updates every day because its super convenient!
Good ol' Nakiska! Just like the last four years of preseason I find myself at the wonderfully tough mountain that goes by the name of Nakiska. AKA the host of the Alpine events of the 1988 Olympics. The crew at Nakiska does an awesome job of getting the hill ready for us (the CAST, other national teams, and provincial teams).
I say it is wonderfully tough because Nakiska is not an easy hill. You need to have your head in the right place and your butt in gear to rip on this hill! Due to being so early in the season, there isn't a lot of snow coverage and the terrain can get pretty gnarly. Skiing on the tough, jagged, rolly terrain this early in the year definitely prepares you for later in the season.
I've had two days on the slope so far (only one run open right now!) and things are going fairly well. Due to my recent back injury I'm taking things pretty slowly; getting a really good warmup in the morning, taking breaks if anything fees off, and stopping if I feel any pain. Better to take it easy now then be forced to take it easy when it counts later in the year. Even with the injury I've been able to get in eight good runs both days so far, and I'm getting back in the groove.
I'll be staying here for a solid 12 day block before moving over to Panorama my first GS race of the season on the 21st.
Don't forget to check me out on Twitter (@dustincook). I'll try to update my blog as much as I can, but I post quick twitter updates every day because its super convenient!
Stubai Video
Oct 29, 2009 09:50 AM
» Morin-Heights, QC
The video from Stubai is now live on the site. You can check it out here or on the videos page.
We managed to get a few decent days in at the end. The snow was pretty soft, but soft snow is better than skiing on rocks!
The video from Stubai is now live on the site. You can check it out here or on the videos page.
We managed to get a few decent days in at the end. The snow was pretty soft, but soft snow is better than skiing on rocks!
Stubai Camp
Oct 25, 2009 12:58 PM
» Ottawa, ON
The almost three weeks I spent in Stubai, Austria for the second on-snow camp of the year were eye opening to say the least. Our first ski day was on October 10th. We had heard about how little snow they had, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I got to the top of the glacier:
Fantastic first day conditions!
22 runs in a slalom course later and one wrecked pair of skis and we left the mountain in disbelief. It snowed a little that night and the rocks got covered over for the most part, but a new challenge arose. We switched to another side of the glacier the next day and though it had much better snow coverage, the snow was coverring up glacial ice. If you've never skied on glacier ice it is the slickest, hardest ice you will ever find. Razor sharp edges are rounded and dull in two runs on the stuff!
So after an interesting first two days the storm started. It snowed for eight days straight after that. Eight! The mountain went from zero snow, to waaaay to much snow in a matter of days. All the accumulation, plus a seemingly never ending stream of hazards made training extremely tough, but we hamered on through and skied every day. Iced over goggles, giant ski-wrecking rocks, 80km/h winds, and freezing temperatures kept things from getting too dull!
Finally some nice weather!
With about five days left the sun finally poked through and brought us a few good days, which we took full advantage of. The snow wasn't perfect but it got better and better over those last five days and we got some decent GS and Super-G training in. On the penultimate day of training we skied Super-G to start off then moved to slalom. I did the first run of slalom gates then went to do the second run and couldn't put any pressure on my skis. Turns out I likely have a bulged disc in my back. The pain was so intense the first day it happened we thought that it might be serious, but the pain has lessened considerably since then so the doctors think I should be good to go in a week or so.
With all the soft snow we only did 3 days of slalom which brings my slalom training total for the year up to about 4 days. Even though I've done so little slalom I've been skiing well when I do get the chance to ski it, which is encouraging because I had such a tough time in the event last year.
Overall it was an extremely tough camp mentally. I've never been on a camp where we faced such challenging conditions, and it seemed like some new, even more difficult challenge arose each day. Every day can't be perfect as my coach constantly reminded us! The way I see it, I made it through all the bad weather so the rest of the season should be blue skies! Not likely, but I can dream.
The almost three weeks I spent in Stubai, Austria for the second on-snow camp of the year were eye opening to say the least. Our first ski day was on October 10th. We had heard about how little snow they had, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I got to the top of the glacier:
Fantastic first day conditions!
22 runs in a slalom course later and one wrecked pair of skis and we left the mountain in disbelief. It snowed a little that night and the rocks got covered over for the most part, but a new challenge arose. We switched to another side of the glacier the next day and though it had much better snow coverage, the snow was coverring up glacial ice. If you've never skied on glacier ice it is the slickest, hardest ice you will ever find. Razor sharp edges are rounded and dull in two runs on the stuff!
So after an interesting first two days the storm started. It snowed for eight days straight after that. Eight! The mountain went from zero snow, to waaaay to much snow in a matter of days. All the accumulation, plus a seemingly never ending stream of hazards made training extremely tough, but we hamered on through and skied every day. Iced over goggles, giant ski-wrecking rocks, 80km/h winds, and freezing temperatures kept things from getting too dull!
Finally some nice weather!
With about five days left the sun finally poked through and brought us a few good days, which we took full advantage of. The snow wasn't perfect but it got better and better over those last five days and we got some decent GS and Super-G training in. On the penultimate day of training we skied Super-G to start off then moved to slalom. I did the first run of slalom gates then went to do the second run and couldn't put any pressure on my skis. Turns out I likely have a bulged disc in my back. The pain was so intense the first day it happened we thought that it might be serious, but the pain has lessened considerably since then so the doctors think I should be good to go in a week or so.
With all the soft snow we only did 3 days of slalom which brings my slalom training total for the year up to about 4 days. Even though I've done so little slalom I've been skiing well when I do get the chance to ski it, which is encouraging because I had such a tough time in the event last year.
Overall it was an extremely tough camp mentally. I've never been on a camp where we faced such challenging conditions, and it seemed like some new, even more difficult challenge arose each day. Every day can't be perfect as my coach constantly reminded us! The way I see it, I made it through all the bad weather so the rest of the season should be blue skies! Not likely, but I can dream.
