Season Ends

Since my last post, a whole lot has happened. After my first World Cup, I took some time off to let my body recharge for the end of the season. After my break, first up was Nor-Am Finals in Aspen Colorado. We had 1 Super-G race and 1 GS race. The Super-G was first and it really didn’t go my way, skiing out of the course about halfway down. Luckily, I had one last Nor-Am GS race to redeem myself. I skied well first run and finished the run in 4^th place. Second run, I skied well all the way to the 4^th to last gate and ran into some trouble. I ditched almost all my speed, but luckily the finish line was close enough to not effect my time too much. I finished 12^th on the run, but 6^th overall for my best Nor-Am GS of the season! The Nor-Am circuit definitely did not go as well as I was hoping this year, but it felt good to end it with a solid race, and be 10^th overall on the season in GS. This will put me in the top seed for next year’s first races!

After Aspen we went over to Sun Valley, Idaho for US Nationals! First up was the Super-G. After not finishing in the Aspen Super-G, I really wanted to do well in this event. I had a good start number, and I was feeling it! I skied the upper half of the course really well and at the second interval, I was just .01 seconds off Tim Jitloff (the guy who ended up winning). But, unfortunately I had a few grindy turns near the bottom of the course that cost me a full second. Nevertheless, I was thrilled just to finish, and finishing in the top 5 wasn’t all too bad! The next day was the GS race. It was a beautiful day to be ski racing, at 40 degrees and sunny in one of the greatest ski towns in America. The course set was very challenging, but I liked how much terrain the trail had, and I was ready to send it. But luck was not on my side that day. About 1/3 of the way into my run, the plate under my binding completely ripped off of my ski, resulting in a fall. It was an amazing, fun weekend in Sun Valley, and I can’t wait to go back there in 2018. Next year’s US Nationals will be held in Sugarloaf, ME!

For the last races of the year, we went back over to Aspen. Every day it was sunny and 50 degrees, a spring skier’s dream. 3 of the 4 races did not go very well. But in the last GS race of the year, I had 2 solid runs with a field full of US Ski Team athletes and college racers, and ended up winning! My last race of the year, I scored a career best 10-point result! It was an amazing year coming back from 2 years of injury, and it felt amazing to end it with the best race of my career.

Before I sign off for a couple months, I want to say thank you to Wachusett and everyone who donated to World Cup Dreams or Rally Me. I also want to thank my coaches Ian Lochhead and Brad Saxe, lifting coach Michael Bingaman, Technician Toyo, and physical therapist Sarah Gillespie. You all have truly kept my dreams of making the Olympics alive, and I can’t wait to keep working toward that dream next winter! Couldn’t do it without you! Now, I am at Dartmouth for my second term as a college student!

Here is my Super-G run from US Nationals. 

February

Hey guys! Its been a while since I posted last. After my January Europe trip, I went to Mont Saint Anne to race in 2 Noram GS’s. We got to freeski the hill the day before the race, and we were stoked to see some east coast ice! Though a bit inconsistent, the surface was solid. I ended up finishing 12^th in the first race and 9^th in the second. On the second day I was winning after the split on both runs; but I totally blew both runs with big mistakes near the finish. Unfortunately the series didn’t go as well as I had wanted it to, but I did end up walking away with some Nor-Am points.

The next series was Whiteface Norams for 1 GS race and 2 Super-G races. The GS and the first Super-G definitely did not go as planned, as both resulted in crashes. The second Super-G however went fairly well. I had a minor mistake coming down the first pitch but then sent it the rest of the way. I finished in 6^th place, which was ok, but finished just .19 behind the winner. So, I scored my 2^nd best Super-G ever, a 14!

After this series we got a 7-day break, so I went to Bozeman, Montana to visit my girlfriend, Taly. It was a super relaxing week with some free-skiing at Bridger Bowl and Big Sky. We also got to celebrate Taly’s 21^st birthday!

After 7 days off, it was back to Europe to get some training in before my first ever World Cup at the Hinterstoder Super-G. The nerves were definitely going crazy the day of the race, so my plan was to just go out and ski like I have been all year. I know I couldn’t have crazy expectations for my first World Cup, but I definitely wanted to ski the best I could! During inspection, it was clear how much more demanding World Cup hills are than Nor-Am and FIS race courses.

I took this picture during inspection. You can see how steep the slope is, but the picture does not show how icy the surface really is. IT WAS AN ICE RINK! Just before my run, I became pretty nervous. They had a TV at the start playing the entire run, and we could see there was a jump that was causing a bunch of people trouble. Some people were even crashing pretty hard in it. When I was in the start, they had a course hold because the kid right in front of me crashed on the jump and went into the net! I tried to stay calm, but when the clock started beeping for the 10 second count down my heart started racing. 5…4…3…2…1 boom, I was on course in my first World Cup, and all the nerves went away. Once I was on course I felt like I knew exactly what to do. I charged the top of the course and was only 1.7 off the pace when I made a huge mistake that probably should have ended my run; however, I fought to stay in the course because I really wanted to ski through the finish of my first World Cup… and there was a pretty fun jump at the bottom of the course. HA! I obviously didn’t do as well as I had hoped, but I learned so much from just one day on the World Cup. Now I want to do more! Here is a video of my run. I know it's super janky quality, but they give a shoutout to Wachusett! YA!

Europe!

When I got to Europe last week, I went straight to Austria to race in 2 Europa Cup Super-G’s. They were supposed to take place in Radstadt, but due to lack of snow, they were moved next door to Reiteralm. The last time I skied at Reiteralm was when I did a mini Euro trip during my senior year at Stratton Mountain School. Cool to be back! For the first race I really had no expectations, because I had never done a Europa Cup Super-G before, and it was only my 4^th Europa Cup ever. I started bib 42. I knew it would be a little bumpy, but the snow was holding up pretty well. When I skied through the finish I knew I had a solid run, but I was shocked when I turned around and saw that I had skied into 6^th place! I was beyond stoked with this result. I had never even come close to scoring Europa Cup points, and in 1 day I scored 40 of ‘em. The next day I was able to start in the first seed, wearing bib 14. I knew the snow would be better, so my plan was to tighten up the line in some places and go after it a little more. I ended up finishing the day in 7^th place. Though I didn’t place as well the second day, my time was closer to the winner; so I scored a career best result of 12! After competing in just 2 of the 4 Europa Cup Super-G’s, I now sit in 12^th place in the standings.

2 years ago, I was able to get experience on World Cup speed venues, racing in Wengen Europa Cup, and forerunning Beaver Creek World Cup. Earlier this winter I was able to race on the Lake Loiuse Downhill track in a Nor-Am. This past week I got to experience what it is like to race on the most demanding track of the GS World Cup Circuit—Val D’Isere. During inspection, I knew it was going to take some of my best skiing to make the flip in a Europa Cup GS, or to even make it down the hill at all! Unfortunately, I skied out of the course on both first runs. It was difficult starting with bib 67. I haven’t started that far back all season, so the bumpy course was definitely a surprise. Luckily, this was my last race with 19 GS points (in a few days they will go down to 13). I am still very happy with the way I am skiing and am stoked for some more races! Next I have 2 European Cup GS’s in Zuos, Switzerland, then it’s back to Canada for some Nor-Ams. 

Here are my 2 race runs from the Reiteralm Europa Cup Super-G's.

Park City and Big Sky FIS Races

Over the past week I have competed in four GS races. Two of the races took place in Park City, Utah and the other two were in Big Sky, Montana- all four being University races. A few of the western college racers are ex/current world cup racers, and most of them are podium contenders on the Nor-Am circuit. Also, about 20 of the top 30 college racers are international (a lot of Canadians and Europeans). I was definitely impressed with how low the points were when I saw the first start sheet.

The first two races at Park City were seeded off of FIS GS points, so I was able to just barely squeak into the first seed. The snow was not the best, so it definitely helped to start earlier. After the first run of the first race, I was in first! I was super pumped, because I knew I had been training fast the whole week leading up to the races, but was definitely surprised to be leading the entire field by .45 of a second. I was pretty nervous heading into the second run, because I don’t think I have ever won the first run of a GS in my FIS career. I tried to stay calm and ski the same as I did first run. Unfortunately, I nearly did the splits about 8 gates from the finish and had to ski out. On one hand I was overly excited with how fast I was skiing, but the other hand was slapping my forehead over and over because I thought I could have won! I did my best to forget about what happened and move onto the next day.

The first run of the second race went exactly as it did the first day! I was in the lead again. I knew I just had to have a solid run without any huge mistakes and would have a good shot at winning… I did just that and not only won my first FIS GS race ever, but took the win on both runs! I was extremely excited with my best GS result of the season, scoring a 16.

On my way to placing 1st in the Park City FIS GS

Next was Big Sky, Montana. I have spent quite a bit of time over the past couple summers hiking, biking, and fishing all around the Big Sky area, but had never skied it! So I was ready to take my fast skiing from Park City over to Montana. These races were no longer seeded off of FIS points, but rather college circuit points from last year (which I had zero). So I started 34^th. At first I was a bit disappointed with my bib number, but when I saw how solid the snow was during inspection I knew it wouldn’t be a problem. I kicked out of the start with even more confidence than I had in Park City, and absolutely sent it. Once again, I came down into the lead. From bib 34! So, I got ready for my third race in a row where I was starting 30^th in the second run. I tried to stay calm for the couple hours leading into second run, but it’s much more difficult than I thought! I attacked the second run with the same intensity that I had first run… I ended up winning the run, and the race just in front of my teammate Kipling! It definitely felt good to win my second race in a row, but even more fun to share the podium with my good friend and teammate. I got even better news later that night when the final results came out, and I saw that I scored the best race of my career—an 11!

I did my best to stay focused for one more day to try and match my 11-point result. I got to start in the first seed the next day with bib 7. For the fourth day in a row, I won the first run and had to start the second run 30^th. I thought I would start to get used to it, but my nerves were going crazy! At the top of the second run I had a bobble that dumped all of my speed for the flats and had to play catch up for the rest of the run. I did my best to charge the pitch harder than I had in the previous runs, but it wasn’t enough. I had a .4 second lead going into the second run but ended up 18^th on the second run, placing 4^th overall (scoring another 16-point result). Though I totally blew that second run, I couldn’t have been more stoked on how the week went. Between Park City and Big Sky, I ended up winning 6 of the 8 runs I took.

I am currently sitting on a plane heading over to Europe. I am about 1/3 of the way through the season, and I now have lower FIS points in GS, SG, and DH than I ever have. Now its time to put my speed into some European cups! Over the next three weeks I will have 4GS, 3 SG, and 2 DH starts on the European Cup. Time to turn it up!

December NorAms

Right after my last post, I raced in a couple warm-up Super G races in Copper, Colorado before heading to Lake Louise. They actually turned out to be challenging FIS races, with a few world cup guys tossed in there. The first race, I thought I skied pretty well, and ended up finishing in 3^rd place right behind my teammate Tanner Farrow. The second day I thought I skied decent, but was thoroughly surprised when I got to the finish and found out I had won! I ended up scoring the best Super G result of my life, and even finished .35 seconds in front of Austrian World Cup star, Klaus Kroell.

Right after the two Super G races in Copper, I hopped on a plane to Calgary, and competed in the Lake Louise Downhill races. These were my first Downhill races since I tore my ACL in the World Junior Championships 2 years ago. To be honest, I was pretty nervous and wasn’t expecting much. I finished out the series with an 18^th place and a 20^th place finish. I was happy with these results, but was more excited to head over to Panorama to compete in 2 GS races and a Super G. 

In the Super G, I had a handful of mistakes that added up to a 12^th place finish. In the first GS race, I finished first run in 6^th place, which set me up nicely for a shot at the podium. I knew I needed a solid second run to move up, so I took some risk and unfortunately, it didn’t work out. I made a few mistakes and ended up in 9^th place. In the second GS race, I once again finished the first run in 6^th place. I had the same mindset going into the second run, and again… it didn’t workout. I ended up having one big mistake that launched me out of the course. I then had to pull myself back into the gates. I knew I had blown my podium chances right when I got through the finish. I ended up 12^th overall. Unfortunately, I never put two runs together without mistakes, but I know I am skiing well and am definitely ready for some more races!

I had a very nice, relaxing break in Massachusetts with my family and now I am in Park City, Utah for 2 FIS GS races. Right after the second race I will be jumping on a plane to Munich, Germany to compete in my first European Cup races of the year!

Podium picture of me and my teammate, Tanner Farrow. Klaus Kroell didn't show up to awards. Ha!

First Norams of the Season

The prep period is finally over and the first NorAms of the season are in the books. After 4 prep camps (Mt, Hood, New Zealand, Chile, and Colorado) I was finally able to compete in my first races since February 2014, almost 2 years ago! Since then, I have had ACL Surgery, hip labrum surgery, and Meniscus surgery. My first races back were 2 GS NorAms on Monday and Tuesday at Copper Mountain. I couldn’t have been more stoked to be back on the race circuit. I was so happy I couldn’t get the smile off my face in the start gate! Sounds a little corny, but it is true!  I finished the first race in 28^th position, starting 53^rd and finished the second race in 16^th, starting 47^th. Really excited to be in the points for these first races, as they will give me a better start number at the Panorama NorAms in 2 weeks.

It has been one hell of a comeback, and I want to thank everyone who has been a part of this crazy ride! Next up is Lake Louise Downhill and Super G!

Here are my 2 race runs from my 16th place result on Tuesday. First run I finished 24th with a big mistake near the bottom of the course. On the second run, I was 10th fastest. 

Early Season Copper Training

We have finished our last fitness block and we are finally skiing in Colorado! Copper Mountain has provided us with full length GS runs for the past week, and the snow is only getting better. In the past few days, Colorado has gotten over 20 inches of fresh snow, and Copper still has the snow guns blowing to get the full US Ski Team Speed track open by early next week. So far, I have had 4 days of solid GS training, and tomorrow we finally get to run some Super-G! Check in for more video next week.