Westendorf

Last night the annual FIS slalom was held in the little town of Westendorf, just 15 minutes down the road from Kitzbühel.

It's amazing how the race has grown since the first time I was there almost 10 years ago. While it has always been an event that the top racers use as a tune-up for the real deal on Sunday, it has really taken off since they turned it into a night race roughly 5 years ago.

Now there are about 2,500 spectators, sponsor tents surrounding the finish, and an animated, knowledgeable announcer. It has become an event, a party even, with kids and ski racing fans lining the fences all the way up the hill. In fact, some even hike all the way to the start to see where the action all begins!

The field in this year's race was especially packed, with half of the top-30 in the world there, including Ted Ligety, Rainer Shoenfelder, Mario Matt, and Kalle Palander. The courses were set very fast so there was plenty of high speed action, most notably in the second run when a number of guys failed to finish.

Akira Sasaki of Japan was the eventual winner and I ended up finishing 11th, despite some big mistakes, but was really pleased with the way my brand new skis felt. Fischer just made a prototype in the last few days, which seems to be bending up and accelerating from turn to turn really well.

It's too early to say for sure, and I'm looking to get some good training on them tomorrow, but I hope it continues to work well for the upcoming races!