So, a lot has happened in the past 2 weeks. In Kirchberg
Austria, I started my first ever European Cup! It was my first race on the new
radius GS ski (35 Meters instead of 27 meters). I started 86, and moved up
quite a bit at the first split but mistake after mistake at the bottom
eventually caught up to me and I had to ski out. It was a great experience and I
look forward to more Europa Cup starts next year.
Next up was Vail, CO back on the Nor-Am circuit. The first
day we got there, we were welcomed by 2 feet of fresh snow. The first day was
GS and I had a start number of 52. My goal was to have a good enough first run
to get me into the flip 30 to for a good start number for 2nd run,
and then to send it as hard as I could. After first run I ended up 8th.
I was in utter shock when I saw my first run rank on the scoreboard. My goal
for second run all of a sudden was to not blow it! When I was getting ready for
second run I was thinking to myself, “just ski clean and solid.” I did just
that. With no big mistakes second run, I came down in first place, which ended
up holding all the way until the last 2 guys went—one being my teammate Kieffer,
who won. I ended the day in third place, which was a huge improvement on my
previous best GS Nor-Am finish of 22nd.
The Next day I was able to start in the first seed and had
another good first run, finishing 9th. My goal for second run was to
just do the same thing as the day before. I was having a great run until a
couple mistakes at the bottom. I dropped to 21st on the day, which
became my second best GS finish ever.
I ended the Vail series with 2 Slalom DNFs.
Next was speed week at Apex, British Columbia. It was my
first time to Apex, and I didn’t really know what to expect. With a combination
of wind and snow, the race schedules were pushed around a bunch, but we were
able to get all the races off by the end of the week. I ended the week with a 7th
in DH, an 8th in SG (both being career best results) and a 14th
in DH.
Next up is World Junior Championships in Quebec, where I
will be competing in all 4 events!
