The 2006 race season is starting in Adelboden, Switzerland, with a GS tomorrow and a slalom on Sunday. Most of Europe was blanketed with snow over the holidays, so there is fresh whiteness everywhere. And what's more, they installed a new high-speed quad over the race hill here, which almost makes it seem like we're skiing in the new millenium - even though the race hill is actually just a groomed cow pasture!

In all seriousness though, we free-skied on the hill today and the surface felt quite good. It was injected recently, so it's hard and a bit bumpy for good measure. The most interesting aspect of the skiing this morning was that it took place from 9:00-9:45, while the race won't start until 10:30. As a result, the light was so flat that everyone was gettting compressed and then literally flying off of the natural terrain in the hill! Things should be different tomorrow, however, when the sun is up.