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. 

Some Pictures From the Lauberhorn Downhill

Out of the start

 View from the first turn

Looking down on the Hundschopt

 Looking Up at the Hundschopt

 Looking up from S-Turn

 Top of S-Turn

Left footer of S-Turn 

 Right footer of S-Turn

 Little coffee shack with the Eiger in the background 

Right before the Start

I will take some more pictures tomorrow and post some video when the races are over. So much Fun!

Races Begin in Europe!

After 4 great days of training in Soelden, Austria, we arrived in Wengen, Switzerland yesterday; and  today, I had my first training run down the downhill track! I had a lot of mistakes, which left me way behind the pace, but nonetheless a great time! After Wengen European Cups, I will go back to Austria for a little more training, then its off to Trentino, Italy! In Trentino I will be doing 2 GS's at Madonna di Campiglio, and 1 GS at Fulgaria. I will then be going to Zell Am See, Austria for a European Cup GS. Then I will be making the trek to Val D'Isere, France for 2 SGs and maybe 1 DH (all European Cups)! I am excited for the busy schedule toward the end of the trip and I will keep you all posted. Looks like I will be clocking a few kilometers over the next couple weeks!

Euro Trip 2014 Begins

My last blog was almost 2 weeks ago. Since then I raced in the Vail Nor-Ams and spent some time training at the home hill, Wachusett.

Unfortunately, the Vail Nor-Ams did not go nearly as well as they did last season. On the first day of GS, I was fortunate enough to start in the first 15 and started 9. I had a good first run going, finishing 4^th and 5^th on the first two intervals. But some peely snow down bottom caused me some trouble and finished 55th. My goal for second run was to just have a solid run and ski into the top 30 to score some Nor-Am Cup points. Once again, I had trouble down bottom, which took me out of the course. For the second day, I was bumped out of the top seed, and started 26. It wasn’t a big deal, as the snow surface is usually pretty good in Vail. Once again, I started off well with 3^rd and 5^th on the first two intervals. Unfortunately, I hit a cross rut from the previous day and my skis slapped together. I had a pretty good fall and couldn’t finish the run. It was a crappy, and somewhat unlucky 2 days of ski racing, but as I have said before, that’s just how it is sometimes. At least I know I am skiing well, and the speed is there for the next race.

Over my Christmas break, I was able to get some quality rest, but I also got the chance to ski and train at Wachusett. I skied 2 days of slalom, mostly with the U18s and U16s. After training, I was able to hit the park with my little cousin Liam. I mean, what is a trip to Wachusett without some park laps!? It was a lot of fun skiing at the old hill, and hope to get back there a couple more times this season.

I am now in Solden, Austria training some GS and SG. Next on the race schedule is the Wengen, Switzerland European Cup Downhill!

Here is Bode's winning run from 2007, and the track I will be running next week!

Copper Speed Week

This past week was the Copper, Colorado Nor-Am Speed Week. Over the course of the week, I competed in 3 downhill races followed by 2 super-g races. By the end of my training camp here in November, I was finally starting to put down some fast times in the speed events, so I was excited to start the Nor-Am speed season! The first Downhill race was the US National Championship. Although the National Championship has no effect on Nor-Am points, everyone tries to send it as hard as possible because having the US Downhill Champion title to your name is pretty sweet. I started Bib 1, and had a clean run, and ran an aggressive line. My result wasn't quite what I expected, with a 30th place. My friend and teammate Bryce Bennet ended up taking the win. I wasn't totally sure what went wrong, and to be honest, I still don't know. But, that's how ski racing is sometimes and you just have to put it behind you, and that's exactly what I did, or tried to do. The next 2 downhills were Nor-Am races. I started 22nd in both of the Nor-Am downhills, and unfortunately, the later start number didn't help me score any top 30's. For the first time in over a year, I failed to score Nor-Am points in a Nor-Am cup speed event. I couldn't figure out what was going wrong. It was frustrating to me, my coaches, and my technician. Sometimes some people ski faster on certain types of snow/hills and this week was just not my week for downhill. I put it behind me, and moved onto the super-g's. 

Luckily, I got my slow ski racing out of the way in the downhills. I started both super-g Nor-Ams with bib 3. My goal was to finish top 15 to start racking up some Nor-Am points, and maybe even get some FIS points. I finished both super-g runs decently clean, with some aggressive tactics. When I got to the bottom of my first race, I was just hoping that it wasn't another clean and slow run... and it wasn't! I finished both super-g's in 8th place overall, and was the top Junior (under 21 years old) in each race as well! The first race was a career best 8th position as well as a career best super-g FIS score of 16. I was excited to see myself follow up some of the worst skiing I have done in a while, with career best races. I hope those downhill races were just a fluke, and I can get some good results over in Europe next month. But for now, I am gearing up for Vail, Colorado Nor-Am Tech series this coming week (2 SL, and 2 GS)!

Here is a picture of me on top of the junior podium. Teammate Brian McLaughlin in second, and Canadian ski team member Chris Steinke in third. 

Beaver Creek Downhill

For the past week I have been for running the Beaver Creek World Cup races! I was able to run the all new Raptor/Birds of Prey Downhill course 3 times, and then for ran the Super-G this Saturday. It was an incredible thrill, as it was the most gnarly DH I have run in my life. It was definitely a great warm-up/ prep for this coming week's Nor-Am Speed week in Copper, Colorado. It's kind of like how baseball players use weights on their bats while warming up to make the bat feel light when they get to the plate. Running the World Cup Downhill will make this week much easier with more confidence. Tomorrow is the first training run, followed by 2 Nor-Am Downhills, the Downhill National Championship, 2 Super-Gs, and a Super-Combined. Big week coming up with a lot of races!

On another note, here is my rally that I have started to raise money to fund my season. Huge thanks to everyone who has donated already! If you are not in a position to donate financially, I am asking if you could share my rally through email or social media to help spread the word. Thank you!

https://www.rallyme.com/rallies/362/nicks-olympic-dream