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.

Mt. Hood, Oregon

I guess it is time to revamp this blog, because I am finally skiing again! After a looooong hiatus from the ski racing world, Nick Krause is back in the game. Since my last post, I have been putting in an absurd amount of hours in the gym, and fine tuning some small things with physical therapy. A couple weeks ago, I finished my first full camp with the US Ski Team in over a year. Words cannot express how excited I am to have skied seven pain free days in arguably the most challenging snow of the off season--Mt. Hood, Oregon!

When we got to Hood, the plan was to ski 4 days of Slalom and 3 days of GS with a focus on fundamentals. After the first day, we realized skiing GS or Slalom gates was going to be quite difficult with the crazy high temperatures and mushy soft snow. So, we decided to ski 7 straight days of Paneled Slalom! Now we have a little over two weeks working hard in the gym, and then we are hopping on a plane to New Zealand! Here is a little clip from our camp in Mt. Hood, Oregon.

Meniscus Surgery

It has been a while since I have posted here. My apologies. I said I was going to start posting every week, but since that post, my season really took a U-Turn. Along with my bone bruise, they found a tear in my lateral meniscus.  The doctor told me that if I could deal with the pain, I could ski for the rest of the season without any risk of injuring it further. I would then have to get a surgery to fix it in the spring.

I tried to ski on the torn meniscus for about a week, and realized that I would not be able to go on with the pain I was having. So, I decided to get the surgery as soon as possible. I got the surgery done this past Tuesday by Dr. Cooley in Park City, Utah.  All they had to do was go in with a scope to see if there was any more damage than they thought, then smooth out the damaged meniscus. Fortunately, they couldn't find any further damage. The standard recovery for this surgery is 4-6 weeks. It was definitely my easiest surgery to date, as I walked out of the hospital just an hour after I woke up from anesthesia.

I hope this surgery will solve all of my pain issues to be back on snow in 4-6 weeks! I will post some pictures when I take the bandages off!

Continued Therapy and Fundraising

For the past 2 weeks, I have been going to physical therapy 3x/week and working hard, trying to get stronger. A bone bruise is a tough injury to handle. At this point in my recovery, I feel like I should lift as hard as I possibly can, because my body feels like it is physically capable. But, if I do this, I run the risk of re-injuring the bone. So, slow and steady it is. Hopefully I will be back on snow within a week or two!

In the mean time, I have just kicked off fundraising for my 2015 training/competition season. Unfortunately, ski racing is an expensive sport, and I rely heavily on fundraising to support my Olympic dream. If you are in a position to donate, please follow my link below to contribute. If you are not able to help out financially, please share my link through email or social media to get the word around!

2015 Fundraising

Some Nagging Injuries

Hey guys, now that finals are over and winter is in full swing, this blog is about to get ramped back up! Expect a post at least once a week from now until April.

A little update on my injuries: I got back into GS gates at the beginning of December and the knee felt great. I then upped my training volume and started some full length GS just a few days after that. One day after training I felt a little pain in my knee, so I decided to take a couple days off. When I returned to skiing after a break, my knee still hurt quite a bit, so I took another day off. When that didn’t help my pain, I decided to go to Park City to get it checked out. After an MRI and a couple visits with Dr. Cooley at Park City hospital, I found out that I have a decently bad bone bruise. Treatment for this injury is pretty simple- rest, spinning on the stationary bike, and icing the knee quite a bit. Unfortunately it’s a slow healing process (3-4 weeks), but I should be ready to go to Europe on Jan. 1!

I am planning on taking my training a bit slow right now to prevent any further injuries.  For now, it’s a lot of training and a lot of gym time, trying to get strong! I don’t plan on racing until I am fully up to speed. I will keep you posted.

ITS THAT TIME!

You know its time to start slicing some turns when you scroll through your instagram feed and see 9/10 of the most recent posts are of people shredding in Colorado. Last week I had physical testing in Park City, UT. Before I can go skiing, sports science wants to make sure the injured leg is within 92% strength of the non-injured leg. Problem is, I injured both legs… so I guess I am pretty damn even! Nonetheless, I am the strongest I have ever been, and I was cleared to go skiing. I spent 4 days in Copper Mountain, Colorado free skiing with coach Ian Lochhead, just going through the movements. I am now finishing up my fall term at Dartmouth and will be heading back out to Colorado on the 22^nd to start my winter!

Here is a little throwback to the first NorAm of the season last year, where I went from 23^rd after the first run to 11^th overall and a 4^th place on the second run, competing against multiple top 30 World Cup racers. 

Here is me doing the infamous 30-30-30 last week. The test consists of 30 jumps as high as you possibly can, followed by 30 seconds of rest, and then 30 more jumps as high as you can. The line that attaches to the harness around my waist runs into the ceiling to measure how high each jump is. First 30 jumps are easy… second 30 is stump city. Also, Simon Dumont comes into screen halfway through the video to scope out my hops. Pretty chill.  

August Therapy

Last time I posted in here I was just 4 weeks out of hip surgery. After 6 weeks of intense physical therapy and fitness training, I am on my way back to the east coast 10 weeks out of hip surgery and over 5 months out of knee surgery. After a great training block here at the Center of Excellence in Park City, UT, my strength and fitness is getting very close to where I was before my surgeries. I am thrilled with my progress, and excited for where I am heading. I have a little over 2 months of training before I get back on snow, and I am confident now that I will be the strongest I have ever been before winter comes. I will be starting school this fall at Dartmouth College, and will continue my rehab there. I will be able to fit in a semester of school, and be done by mid November to start training and racing with the US Ski Team- Europa Cup Tech Team.

Over the past 6 months, I have gone through a whole lot of ups and downs. As I was sitting in the gym the other day watching my teammates get heated in a game of basketball, I realized that with these injuries, I have been secluded from any type of competitive environment. It’s a weird thought, because ever since I can remember, I have been involved competitively in one way or another. Whether it’s checking your time against someone else’s time at the bottom of the course, trying to beat someone up the mountain in the last 10 minutes of a bike ride, or stacking 10 more pounds on the barbell just so you can say you did more weight than the guy next to you, I haven’t been able to participate in any of it. It’s funny, because growing up, everyone (parents, coaches, teachers) tells you to do the best YOU can do, and not to worry about anyone else. As any athlete at any level can attest to, this is nearly impossible. These injuries sure have pushed my mental strength to its capacity. Everyday, I go to physical therapy, do my modified workouts separate from my team, and sit on the stationary bike for hours because I am not allowed to mountain bike yet. There is nothing in my training right now that I am able to compare to anyone else. I am flat out, just trying to get MYSELF stronger, so I can have the best winter I can possibly have. Though it’s easy to just wish I were down in New Zealand or Chile skiing with my teammates, I have to find ways to get motivated to hit the gym everyday by myself. I can tell you that I have been more focused and more in tune with my body in the past 6 months than I ever have been. The people I will be competing against this coming winter have pretty much finished their dry land training blocks, and are already training on snow somewhere in the world. I am ok with that. Physical therapy is what I need to be doing to get back on track to becoming the best skier I can be. No doubt, when I get back on snow I will be a bit behind the pace, but I can assure you, and myself, that I will be making progress with each turn I make come November. As my friends and I always say “you do you!”

Here are a couple pictures of me taking the US Ski Team 'bike test'. Just 2 months out of hip surgery, I tied my best test ever. Now it's time to get my strength and explosiveness back up!

Rehab

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I have posted in here, and a lot has happened. Since my crash in the World Junior Downhill in Slovakia, I have had two surgeries. The first one was to get the ACL in my left knee fixed, from Dr. Boynton in Rutland Vermont. After this surgery, I was only on crutches for about 5 days, which seemed incredibly short to me, but the Doc assured me that my knee would be stable enough to walk. So, I started physical therapy on my knee just 10 days after my surgery, and could actually perform body weight squats at 4 weeks out. I then headed out to Utah to ramp up my physical training at the USSA Center of Excellence. I had a nice 6 week block from May into June strengthening my left leg, dong exercises such as: Leg press, single leg squats, overhead squats, front squats, and single leg biking.

In mid June, I flew back east to search for a hip surgeon to fix my hip impingement and labrum tear. The first doctor I saw was Dr. Van Flandern at the New England Baptist surgery center, in Massachusetts. He was a super nice guy, and got right to the point with me. He basically said ‘you’ve got an impingement, and a labrum tear. You won’t be able to ski with it like this. Come in next week and let’s fix it.’ I didn’t want to waste any more time, and I couldn’t have been happier with how quick Dr. Van Flandern was able to get me in for surgery. So, I just bit the bullet, didn’t meet with any other doctors, and went with him as my surgeon. It was a great choice. I am just 3 weeks out of my surgery, and I can barely feel anything in my hip. They told me it could be painful for as long as a month, but I stopped having any kind of nerve pain in just 7 days. I am now sitting on a plane, heading back out to Utah to getting my physical training started once again.

For the amount of crap I have had to deal with this off-season, I am thrilled with how smooth my surgeries have gone, and I fully intend to be back on snow in November, working harder, and skiing faster than ever!

World Junior Championships

Hello everyone! I apologize for not updating the blog in a while. I guess a lot has happened in the past 3 weeks. At the end of February, I flew over to Jasna, Slovakia for the Junior World Championships. We had a couple days of freeskiing and training before the races began. We started off with the Super-G and the Super-Combined. Although the track was a bit mellow, the trail turned quite a bit and there were a few jumps to keep it exciting. After a great top split, I made a minor mistake which caused me to scrub most of the speed I had carried from the top steeps. The hiccup toward the end caused me to finish outside the top 10, to place 22^nd. I had a great start to the Super-Combined but unfortunately I skied out, gunning for a top 10. It was an incredibly tight race, as I was only 0.40 seconds out of the top 10. Next was 2 Downhill training run days followed by 1 race day. After the first training run, our team was off to a great start as Sam Dupratt finished 2^nd, I finished 9^th, and Tanner Farrow finished 12^th. The second training run was cancelled do to weather; which didn’t bother us too much because of our training run success. Unfortunately it turned into a not so great day.

As a whole, we had great bib draws and we were excited for a sweet day of downhill. I ran 22^nd . Once again, I had a fast first split, carrying my speed from the pitch to the flats, where I found some trouble. Halfway down the course, I took off a little jump, which I landed fine. I then began to pressure my ski to make a left foot turn across the hill. Unfortunately, I started the turn a little early and was heading straight at the gate. I then had to let off the ski a bit and then pressure hard again under the gate, where I hit a bump.  That is when I felt my knee go from under me and started tomahawking down the hill. I had excruciating pain in my left knee and was pretty positive I messed something up down there. I was taken down in a sled and taken to the hospital in a sketchy ambulance. I later found out I tore my ACL. It’s unfortunate to end a season on an injury 2 years in a row, but I was pushing as hard as I could. Though it would be nice to be healthy, I know I would have been just as bummed out if I made it to the bottom safely and saw a 20^th place rank next to my name. This kind of thing happens when you push your limits, but that’s what makes ski racing so damn fun.

This past week, I have been doing some physical therapy, getting my knee ready for surgery. I will be going under the knife this coming Wednesday and I will let you all know how it goes!

Mount St. Anne Speed Series

Last week was the Mount St. Anne Nor-Am speed series in Quebec. Out of the 6 days we were there, we had 5 days of sunshine with no clouds. Quebec gets a really bad rep in the ski racing world because they never seem to have good weather, and are never able to get races off. This year was great! The downhill a little bit tricky. The trail was very narrow, therefore difficult to set big sweeping downhill turns. It ended up being more like a super-g, but nonetheless we got going pretty fast. I never really had a good run out of the two race days, with a best finish of 20th. It was a bit disappointing to not get as many Nor-Am points as last year in DH, but I do have a few downhills left this season to turn it around. I was excited for the two super-g's that followed the downhills, as super-g has been my best event this season. The first day I got bib 5, and was ready to send it. I skied extremely well on the top 2/3 of of the course, but I lost a few tenths down on the bottom flats with a mistake on a roll. I ended up 14th, which wasn't great, but not terrible. The next day I got bib 2, but unfortunately, the Quebec weather rolled in and the race got cancelled. It was unfortunate the race got cancelled, but with it being cancelled, I had the super-g spot for World Juniors locked up. 

This year World Junior Championships will be in Jasna, Slovakia. Iv'e never been to Slovakia, so I hope it brings some new adventures! I will be racing in all 5 events (SL, GS, SG, DH, and Super-Combined), and hopefully the team event too (which is 2 guys and 2 girls). My goal is to get a podium in any event, but if I walk away with a top 10 I won't be disappointed at all! 

Stowe Norams

After Europe, I got to go home and hangout for a few days in Massachusetts. A much needed break! Then it was right back to training up in Stratton, VT with my old team. It was great prep for the Stowe Norams, and I was ready to rip. The first day at Stowe I started bib 25. Start position didn't really matter here, as the snow was solid ice. I was having a good run, but unfortunately I caught an arm inside a panel and exploded. I was unable to finish. The second day I had the same bib and was ready to charge. I had a mistake in the first run to put me in 21st after first run. I was disappointed with the run because I thought I had ruined another great opportunity to score well in GS. My plan for second run was to just send it. I did just that and moved up to 12th place overall and ended 3rd on the run. It was the best finish I have ever had in a Noram GS run. Now I am up in Mount St. Anne, Quebec for some speed. I will fill you in when the series is over!

Wengen European Cup DH

Here is the race run from Wengen, Switzerland. A couple small mistakes caused me to finish outside the top thirty, but i'm happy I made it down in one piece! 

This is the training run from Wengen. There are a few more angles here. Speeds were a little slower on the training run day, but I hit the rolly section much smoother here. 

I started bib 64 and finished 45th. It was a great first experience at European Cup downhill, and I am already stoked to do it again next year!

Zell Am See European Cup GS

Here is a video of my first and second runs from Zell Am See, Austria. Snow was minimal there and it was pretty similar to spring skiing in Vermont. On top of the difficult snow conditions, if was one of the more challenging GS hills I have done this season. I went from Bib 65 to 45 and got my first ever second run in a European Cup! Enjoy.

Some more Europe

So, for the past 2 weeks I have been on a bit of a race grind. A lot of travel, little free time, and very little internet! In the Wengen Europa Cup Downhill, I placed 45^th, Which I was happy with! I had a decent run with a few mistakes, but more important, I started to nail the line better each run down the track. That was the goal.

After Wengen, we went to Folgaria, Italy for 2 GSs. In the first GS race I placed 10^th with a start number of 19. I was also pleased with this result, as moving up in any European FIS race is not an easy thing to do. I was the top Junior and almost scored FIS point result, but not quite. With my junior win, I won a bottle of wine, some cheese, a giant cookie, and a slab of meat (haha classic Italy). For the second day I had bib 17 and was planning on sending it a little harder. Unfortunately, the straight line eventually caught up to me and I had to ski out of the course. It was a cool little resort, with a somewhat gnarly race hill. After Folgaria, we moved down the road to Madonna di Campiglio, Italy.

I knew it was going to be quite the trip when we got to town and the snow banks were towering over the car. When we got up on the hill the first day for the race, there was about 18 inches of fresh snow ontop of a 4 foot base. I started bib 15, and had a good run, coming down in the lead by over 4 tenths of a second. But, since there was a lot of snow, they decided to send slip crews every 20 people. After these slips, the course would get a little faster, because they were getting rid of all the soft crappy snow. Therefore, a bunch of late bibs were able to throw it into the top 10. One of my teammates, Ronnie Berlack was able to take advantage and skied into 1 first place… from BIB 61!!! Impressive. I ended the first run in 5^th place. Second run did not go well, and I got bumped out of the top 10. But it wasn’t the worst of days, as we got to ski one of the coolest mountains I have ever been to with a foot and a half of new snow; and a few of my teammates snagged career best results to make things even a little better! The next day we woke up to another foot of fresh snow. The race got cancelled after inspection, and that meant powder skiing! We were able to get some really deep pow turns in before we hit the road again to Zell am See, Austria for a Europa Cup GS.

The snow conditions were a bit different in Austria, with a snow base of about 10 inches. The snow conditions made for an interesting, bumpy race. I started 65 and ended up 45^th after first run. I had a solid run, but mistakes were inevitable with how rough it was. I finished just .5 out of flip. It was close but I was happy to even get a second run, as they cut the second run to just 60 people for second run. Second run did not go as well, and I finished the race in 47^th. I look forward to my next Europa Cup GS, to make a running for the flip.

Today I raced a Super G in Radstadt, Austria. I was expecting it to be an easyish race with a few fast guys, but I guess that never happens in Austria. A few World Cup guys showed up and I started 16. I had a solid run, once again with a few minor mistakes, but nothing too bad. I finished 8^th, got second for Juniors, and even scored a little FIS point result. My Super G points will now go down to 19.

I now have 4 more days in Europe, then its home to Massachusetts and little Vermont thrown in there. Next up is the infamous Kirchburg GS in Austria. Right now, there isn’t good enough internet to post pictures or videos. When I get back to the US I will post a bunch of my race runs and pictures.