The first race of my 2005/2006 season happened today, a Nor-Am GS in Keystone, CO. It felt awesome to have a bib on again, and to be a part of all the excitement and energy that goes along with it. Today was especially cool because a bunch of the top Euros showed up to hone their skills before the weekend's World Cup action.

The hill had a long flat section at the top and through the middle of the course, which required a soft touch and an aerodynamic tuck, before opening up onto a wide, even pitch for the last 30 seconds. And running for roughly 70 seconds at over 10,000 feet, it was a real good test of physical conditioning.

Kalle Palander skied two really nice runs to win the race handily. He appears to be back on top of his game in GS again. Erik Schlopy also had two great runs, and ended up in 2nd place. Freddy Nyberg won the 2nd run and moved up from 8th to 3rd. Jimmy Cochran also had a very fast 2nd run to wind up in 4th.

I ended up in 11th place. My first run put me in 6th, which I was happy with, but I was hoping for a little cleaner second run to try to mix it up with the big guns. Instead I slid back a few places after scrubbing my speed in the last few turns before the finish. All in all though, I was content to have had a solid GS finish against some tough competition to open the season.

Full results can be found here.

It's been heavily flurrying here in Beaver Creek since we arrived, and cold too. We woke up early and trained GS on Centennial for a couple of hours, mostly just some mileage runs because the new snow had accumulated a bit and we were getting back on our skis after the break. Tomorrow we'll all be in Keystone for the Nor-Am GS, using it as a tune-up for the World Cup and also as a time trial for the last open starting spot.

The speed guys are all up in Lake Louise for the opening World Cup DH and SG this weekend. It's been hard to figure out what exactly has been happening up there, especially with Bode finishing off the pace. From the best we can figure out, the light was flat and the conditions were a bit variable. That's certainly not to take anything away from Steve Nyman, who scored an awesome 14th place in the DH on Saturday. It was his first time scoring points in that event, but surely not his last! Daron also had a great result with his 3rd place in the SG today.

Just arrived in Beaver Creek today for the beginning of the racing season!
There will be 2 slalom and 2 gs races in Keystone, and then the 4 World Cup events at Beaver Creek Thursday through Sunday. We had a short three-day break at home for Thanksgiving after our Colorado training camp, and it feels great to have caught up on my sleep and to be fully rested again.