"Success in highly complex tasks such as ski racing, is not due to innate ability, it is thousands of hours of purposeful, challenging practice and determination to improve that create the superior skill observed in top athletes" Mathew Syed
We had the qualifiers today at the World Cup in Grindelwald, Switzerland but I didn’t qualify for the finals unfortunately. I had some trouble part way down the course and got out wide into the soft snow which dragged my speed down tremendously. I’m pretty bummed out about it because it was course that I should’ve done really well on. It was set more like a downhill and the jumps were pretty mellow.
However, I had the chance to try the local bungee jump/rope swing with the Australian team. It was 88 meters of free fall which lasted about 3.5 seconds and was quite the rush. It was freaking scary but such a blast. The adrenaline rush definitely helped me get over the bad race today. One of the Aussie’s made a comment that he wasn’t sure whether he’d rather do the rope swing or run the X-Games course without looking at it before hand…I’d rather do the rope swing for sure.
Luckily, I’ve qualified for the World Cup Finals which take place here on Sunday so I have another shot on the Grindelwald course. Looking forward to ending the season on a high note.
Might want to turn your volume down on this one…I may or may not have used a few bad words…Plus you won’t hear me scream as loud.
The Americans had a fairly successful weekend at the World Cup in Germany. John had his best result of the season and I tied my all time best World Cup Finish. The conditions were really difficult as it was raining/snowing and the course was very bumpy. People crashed in almost every heat because there weren’t any good places to pass which caused people to try and force it in there. It was a real challenge to ski with three other guys so close together in conditions like that. People were going down left and right so you had to be ready for anything.
I almost made it through to the semi finals but could’ve used another 20 yards of course. I drafted the guy in third around the last corner and made my move trying to pass him over the last jump. I started gaining on him but unfortunately he got me by a foot or so.
On another note, the hotel we stayed out was really cool. It was a small family owned kind of place but the bartender there used to be an 80′s Metal Rockstar. He performed in a band called Vice and then a later band called Wet Paint. They have some pretty good stuff and he hooked us up with a couple signed cd’s so pretty pumped about that. His name is Peter Juhre and is the guy on the right in the picture.
Had a really fun week out at The Canyons. We had the whole team out there competing and it was nice to get everyone back together again. The competition and course were really tough but it was a great experience. The course resembled a mini-X Games track and had some tough features including a huge hip jump gave everybody in the field a run for their money. I had a good shot at making it to the finals but went down pretty hard in the semis. I’m really happy with my skiing though and feel like a learned a lot and gained some much needed experience skiing in traffic.
It was also a great opportunity for our team to get some exposure on national television. NBC Sports came and did some interviews and got a lot of great footage. The race will be televised next Saturday and is definitely worth watching. There was some major carnage out there during the finals.
We have the next week off and then continue with the World Cup Tour over in Germany. Looking to finish out the season strong and try to land some podium finishes.
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.
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 13th 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 25th through the 29th 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.
Just finished my first World Cup Ski Cross race today in Innichen/San Candido, Italy. It was such an amazing experience and felt really good to get one under my belt. In the qualifier, I started 64th and moved up to 12th so I was in a pretty good position for the first round of heats. I was able to have the second lane pick so I chose the inside right which gave me a straight shot to the first gate but still left some room so I couldn’t get pinched out at the first turn.
It was neck and neck out of the gate but I found myself in second place coming into the first turn. The rest of the run I focused on making good moves over all of the jumps/terrain and made sure to keep a tight line so I wouldn’t “leave the door” open for people to pass. I ended up in second place which allowed me to move on to the quarter finals.
The next round was a bit more difficult as I was up against David Duncan, Patrick Gasser, and the 2011 Overal Champion Andreas Matt. In the quarter final heat, I had some trouble in the start and was fourth place coming into the first turn. I thought my day was pretty much over but I was able to catch up to the pack midway down the course. I knew I had to just be patient and wait for the right time to pass. After a rythm section of rollers, Matt attempted to pass Gasser but leaned in a bit and dropped some speed. I was able to crank out a turn from the back of the pack and catch up to him over the next jump. Into the next left handed turn I had a slight advantage and cut him off at the gate.
Now I was in third place…I continued to be patient and waited out the next section of the course sticking right behind Gasser and Duncan. The last pitch was my chance to make speed into the final straight away to the finish so I knew I had to make a clean turn. As the three of us hammered down the pitch at about 60 mph, I got a little too close to Gasser and the tips of my skis were slapping the tails of his skis. I suddenly got off balance and spun around to the right but my left ski was still heading in the direction of the track. I tried to recover but got launched over a double feature and faceplanted off of the course.
Initially, I felt pretty bummed out because the guy in second place crashed off of the final jump so if I stayed on my feet I wouldv’e been set to make the semi finals. However, I’m really happy with my 14th place finish and I’m looking forward to the next race tomorrow. I’ll have a better start position and a little more experience so we’ll see how it goes.
Today was day two of our training camp in Telluride. It’s a great set up here and we have two courses to work with. One of them has a few rollers, a jump, and then about six big banked turns and the second course is basically a straight shot down with five gap jumps and a big ”cheese wedge” jump to the finish. My main focus at this camp is to work on my starts and get comfortable with the interesting terrain that Ski Cross has to offer. Check out some of the head to head videos from today…
This is Pat Duran and myself going at it…The goal for today was to absorb the jumps as much as possible in order to keep the flight moving forward/down the hill rather than up high.
Here’s a free lesson…
I popped the last feature and went a little bit farther than I wanted to jump.
Looking forward to another few days here in Telluride…It’s been a great experience so far and it’s a great group of guys to ski with.
