I'm home again after 6+ long weeks on the road, and boy does it feel good! The last week of racing in Japan sapped some of my energy and resolve; I hooked my tip 6 gates from the finish in the first slalom and then finished 31st the next day - only 5 hundredths from starting first in spring conditions on the second run. It was an especially disappointing end to the World Cup season because I had been on pace to achieve my criteria of finishing the season ranked in the top-30 in the world just a few weeks beforehand.

Last week I flew myself out to the Nor-Am finals in Panorama, BC for two slalom races. I had been home briefly following Japan, but after thinking for a few days, I decided it would be good to go out there and compete for the love of it. It had been tough to swallow my sour finishes in Japan, and I wanted to put a fresh feeling in my mind of why I love to ski race.

The trip was just what I needed, not because of any results, but because I had a chance to travel out to the Canadian Rockies, one of the most beautiful places in the world, and compete on the most basic level without any real concern for the outcome. I don't know what will happen in the future, but I do know that I love to ski race and I still enjoy it tremendously.

On another note, I took some pictures while we were in Japan, especially of a monkey farm we visited one afternoon. The species is called Japanese Macaque and you can find my photo gallery here.