Just finished up with the 2nd day of training at X Games.  The course is so much fun and not that scary anymore.  When I was in the starting gate during my first run yesterday I felt like it was my first time running the Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek.  Some of the features are pretty intimidating but now I’m ready to crush this thing.  Tomorrow is the qualification run and I need to be top 24 in order to make the finals but going for the win.

    Alpe d”huez ended up turning out pretty well for me.  I had a mediocre qualification run and just made it into the finals at 31st place.  I was a little worried going into the first round of heats but I had a little luck on my side.  I made it out of the gate first but half way down the course I overshot a jump and ended up in the fences.  I looked up and saw two guys passing me so I was pretty upset with myself for blowing such a good run.  However, Andi Matt pulled out because of an injury and then one of the Canadians was disqualified for barging (leaving the start too early) which allowed me to advance into the quarter finals. 

Here’s a link to the video clip of the start.

http://www.zapiks.fr/coupe-du-monde-skicross-alpe.html

   The next round I had a slow start and was in fourth place going into the first turn.  I was able to pass a Russian guy after he messed up a turn but then wasn’t able to close the gap on the 2nd place guy.  I finished in 12th place overall though so hoping to improve on that result this week in Les Contamines, France.

   The course this week in Les Contamines is really technical with some giant slalom like turns, injection, and an awkward hip jump towards the bottom.  It will definitely be an interesting race. 

    Just finished up with the World Cup in St. Johann, Austria and it was the coolest race that I’ve ever been in by far.  On Friday night the qualification race went really well for me and I finished in first place.  My goal for the finals was to break the top ten but unfortunately I got knocked out in the quarter finals.  I ended up 13^th overall which is my best finish yet so I’m pretty pumped about that. 

    The race didn’t start until 8:00 at night and there were probably about ten thousand people in attendance.  Sitting at the start, you could only see a hundred yards to the first jump before it dropped off down the pitch.  You couldn’t see the finish area at all and it felt like the only people there were the ones up at the start with you.  However, the smoke from the fireworks and the techno music bumping reminded me of the thousands of drunken Austrians raging at the bottom of the mountain. It was so cool to cross the finish line in my first heat knowing I advanced to the next round and at the same time be surrounded by the crazy scene taking place.

    The next round didn’t go too well for me as I got hung up on the first jump and dropped back to fourth.  I tried to make some good turns and catch up to the guys in front but ran out of real estate.  FIS did a great job putting on the event and everyone had a blast after the race listening to the music and hitting up the beer tent. 

    The next day we continued on to Alpe d’Huez, France where the next race takes place.  It took us most of the day to get here but we finally made it after a couple of detours.  We trained on the course today and it has to be the most fun course I’ve ever skied.  I was able to get five runs during the training time so I feel like I know the course very well and I’m confident I can do well in the qualifications tomorrow.  Also, I recently found out that I qualified for the Winter X-Games in Aspen so I’m pumped about that.  They take place in Aspen, Colorado January 25^th through the 29^th so it should be a pretty good time. 

    After a nice break for the holidays we are back in action starting January 6th in St. Johann, Austria.  It will be the third Audi FIS World Cup of the season and under the lights so it’ll be quite the experience.

    Here’s a pic from the first round of heats at Innichen/San Candido.  Looking to move on a little bit further this time.  Thanks www.walderchristian.com for the images. 

    Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of snow in Vermont over break so I only had a few days on snow.  I was able to spend some time in the gym though and did a session with Bill Knowles from iSPORT to work on reaction time for my starts.  Should be good to go for these next races.