Hey Tree Huggers! I'm just headed home from Jackson Hole! It's been an interesting weekend with some good runs and sections, but nothing to be too excited about. It's time to focus on tactics...let's just say mine are SLOW. In racing the slower you are the worse you are. The past week I've been trying out some new boots which might end up working, but it's midseason equipment issues. Some people might not agree with that choice but it's been fine.
The GS race was on Saturday and had a 9:30 Start. I ran bib 38 and ended up 34th which wasn't good at all for me. During races you can check the results in LIVE TIME online, it's really cool and how family can keep up with all the results! I was happy to finish but I didn't score any points except for JO points. So, JOs isn't going to happen because I just have made too many mistakes in races this year. I have had many other success points and huge improvements have been made. It is really exciting to think how far I've come! There isn't really words to describe it. Today I raced Slalom and skied with too much shape first run, but coming into second run I had a better idea but ended up hiking about 2/3 of the way down the course. Which I have done plenty of times this season.
It has been a mentally tough series for me and many of my competitors, but not all. Some of my teammates have had their position in JO's from the beginning and they're just having fun. Meanwhile, some of us are nervous, but I was excited to be there racing. There was a time when I wasn't sure about racing and if I wanted to continue, but now I have that back. My eyes were opened to what other people had been feeling as well. Alike how I was feeling and it was interesting for me to here their mindset. I learned I have come a long ways since rockbottom this season. That was right before bogus in a crash at the utah olympic park where I sustained a shin and head injury. I still have a ways to go, but looking forward to having a while before the next series.
Hello Tree Huggers! This past weekend I spent racing in the beautiful Bogus Basin. It is about an hour away from Boise, Idaho (not really worth the trip.) Lets just say they don't get much snow, at least every year I've been there. I've always like the sign at the bottom near their snow pond that says "No lifeguard on duty, swim at your own risk." So that about sums up the sopping clothing and delaminating goggles (rain causes this.) Luckily, I happened to bring some of my rain resistance clothing. I guess the weather man is correct once in a while. Any way, last year Bogus somehow got two four day races...uggghhh but only one this year!!
So, this is Bogus's View on a Beautiful Day...
Last year, we met our Sun Valley besties at Bogus in that mile away lodge. We met them during the Super-G's and one GS race. The GS race was moved from Sun Valley because the lift burnt down. Anyway, Super-G was banned because of an injury for me last year. So, I only came for the tech events. If I remember correctly I fell in the GS, but skied okay in the rest. I might as well have gone swimming in the snow pond because I wouldn't have been any drier.
This year Sun Valley stayed with us at the Riverside Hotel; it's just down the street from a strip club...we thought it was a restaurant...oops. Maybe not one of our smarter moments. The Riverside hotel is one of the nicer ones we stay at. The trip began with a training run which was my very first time ever running that course and hill. Not to mention I was running practically last because of the injury penalty. So, I will give you a run down of the hill. A small flat section into rock shoot then the pitch. At the bottom of the pitch the first jump Waterfall followed by long flats and Bru 1. Then a small pitch into Bru 2 another jump and continue on the pitch. You then go up the compression jump Haystack and flat to the finish. Lets just say I went the wrong way off Waterfall and missed a gate completely. The rest of the series was rough with a couple of crashes. Super-G's just not my thing so we don't need to talk about that. I won't have to race it again until Last Chance in April!!!
Hello Tree Huggers! I have been quite busy lately keeping up with mid-season skiing and school. It has been a long rocky road in skiing but it is starting to come along. This season I have finished one of our 4 qualifiers so far....oops. That is not going to help my chances at making JO's. It has been frustrating, but I did have one of my best finishes ever. My points are still coming down (that's good, the lower the better.) This past weekend I just took an unfortunately too direct line straddling, look below. Yeah, so, that happened and it's not the first time, but oh well.
Upcoming we have the Bogus Basin Super-G's. It'll be really fun and challenging. I found this video of the course online last year before I injured my femur, but anyway it's pretty accurate. The video is from a while ago, but it is the same hills and jumps. I wasn't able to race Bogus last year, but watching was good for this year. I'm pretty fearless with the jumps and the speed, but hopefully I will be able to keep it together for one run. I mean it is only a one run race.
Injuries seem to always find their way back to me. Currently, I am waiting the season out before I have major wrist surgery in about a month or two. I completely tore the Scapho-Lunate ligament along with some others in that surrounding area. That is not holding me back coming into this next series and training blocks. When the time comes I will rehab back and become injury free. Lets hope to stay out of the netting and hospitals for the rest of the season. Get well soon to all my injured teammates.
This year, JO's are in Mt. Bachelor, OR and will be really fun! Since we have never raced there, or even really skied in their race arena it will be a new adventure, something I am always up for. Mt. Bachelor has training for racers in the summer, we spend some time their every summer. I don't remember the resort very clearly, but there is a lot of terrain. This upcoming summer, I am hoping on going to Mammoth and Chile for training. Maybe I will even be an athlete coach for some younger athletes for a week. That's something that would be a great experience to understand more about the sport.
