Tuckerman Ravine

Marina and I had a Tuckerman Ravine adventure yesterday. We woke up
early and drove over from Stowe, and were rewarded for our effort with a
beautiful blue-bird day. It was also a huge thrill to ski the steep
terrain after such a long hike with all of our equipment! You can see a
few pictures from the day by clicking here.

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.

Korea

We left Yong Pyong, Korea for Shiga Kogen, Japan early Monday morning.
It was a tremendously long bus/plane/bus trip, with the whole World Cup
traveling as one happy family. It wasn't the most efficient mode of
transport, but it was somewhat comforting to see the Austrians roughing
it with the rest of us!

While we were in Yong Pyong, we raced 2 GS's over the weekend and
witnessed Ted Ligety's first World Cup victory. It was astonishing that
he actually achieved the feat in GS before he did it in slalom, in light
of how strong he's performed all season in that event. The fact that
his success runs across events shows just how fast he is skiing this
year. It was also a funny story because the day before he had slept in
and missed the race entirely! The coaches noticed early on that he
wasn't at inspection, but they weren't able to get down to his room to
wake him up before the first run started. We all told him it was a good
thing because it left him very well rested, and able to win, on Sunday!

Erik Schlopy also had a good race, finishing 8th on Saturday, but his
weekend was overshadowed by another broken hand injury which he suffered
in Sunday's first run. The worst part was that the x-rays showed he
needed surgery, and he may miss the rest of the season as a result.

I myself had a frustrating two days, trying to finish in the top-30 from
the back of the pack. I felt like my body wasn't even attached to my
head the whole time we were there, skiing all gangly, awkward and out of
rhythm each time down the hill. It was hard to hide my disappointment
because I've felt so good in GS the last two months. About the only
consolation I could muster was that it just wasn't a great hill for me,
with it's sharp terrain on the upper flats and the relatively easy
pitch. Maybe I'm just making excuses though!

Since Monday night, we've been holed up in the Shiga Kogen Prince Hotel,
watching movies and reading a bunch. There is wireless internet in the
lobby, so all the athletes are hanging out down there trying to use
Skype to call home: a funny scene to say the least! We did some
training today, but the weather was warm and the snow was very wet. I
think everyone's hoping for a cold night so they can inject the race
hill well.