Super G Race.. And Im Alive!

Me and Mau on the Kimberley podium with my Bronse medal.
Canada, Nederland, and USA (me) on the podium
Very sleepy with my birthday crutch.....
Mau and Sue chillin on a ski rack... odd but comfy..
Im Alive!
I wasnt going as fast as i could have been going... and thank god. I was on a slower part of the hill when something went wrong and i hit the ground. Hard enough, though, to rip my goggles off my head and pretty much impail myself with the bar of my outrigger. I was taken down the mountian in a taboggan and then into an ambulance... To make a long story short, i walked away with a soar wrist, which we thought was fractured, a very tight and bruised chest, where they thought i ruptured my spleen ( i dont have all my ribs on my left side so where my outrigger got me worried the doc.) and a very soar neck, back, and knee. Waking up did not feel good. But.. i did anyway and raced the Super G race that was held today. I was only able to finish one race run because when i got to the bottom i could barely breath, because it hurt to inhail. My run wasn't anything i was proud of...at that moment... Later on me and Mau went to the award ceramony and i was standing in the crowed when they were calling off the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of the womens stand up. And i got 3rd! i didnt know that out of the 6 women who raced in that catagory, only 3 made it down the course. I was one of them. I was in complete shock when they said my name. That medal was one of my most acheived. I went threw alot to get it, and i was proud of myself :) Deffinatly a great way to end an amazing trip!

Kimberley DH

In the start gate...

Warming hut at the start gate..

Teddy woof and Golby came with us...

1st ever downhill race was a big step forward for me. I needed good points for this race to make it to next years World Cups in Europe. And so far with my point average, from this race, i'll make it. I was able to train for 2 days on the same hill and same coarse which helped alot in helping me understand the rules and technique. Racing down hill is a little different then tech events like Slalom and GS. Its alot longer turns.. and fewer turns. you need to be relaxed and dynamic to finish it. There are two runs but each run is a seperate race. So u can average those two runs and get a final race result. Usually you have two runs but you combine the times and its one race result. But since down hill is a tough race to compete in and to prep for, they make it all in one day. My first race run was the best i had all week. But the second...... At one point seeing red blurs representing gates fly by me at about 45 miles an hour...then the next seeing white... and trouble breathing........ To be continued...

2nd Downhill Training

The gate in DH are very far apart...

My teddy woof... Love you Aaron!

Okay... Big difference between todays and yesterdays training. Today, unlike yesterday, i was able to test around with my line and technique. I wasn't as terrified of the speed and coarse like i was yesterday. It only took about 2 runs to get over the fear of speed. Now it was just fun! You go so fast that you jump over the rolls of the hill. Well really, you have no choice. You more or less get launched off of them. Then when you land you just better be ready to turn to make the next gate. All in all, down hill can be pretty fun, once you stop thinking about what your actually doing. If you keep the thought in your head that you are flying down a mountian on flat pieces of wood around gates that arent very forgiving, with some people going 101 km an hour.... you can really enjoy it. :) Cant wait for the race tomarrow!

My First DownHill!!!

My ski is much longer than me... It even looks taller than the mountains!

Early morning chairlift ride...
1st pitch on the downhill course... its so steep you cant even see most of the ground after the drop off.... Inspecting with Rip from Park City Team.
Fancy little stool..
The French Have Arrived! My first downhill run... Today was my first down hill training. I either wanted to cry, or just get it over with, I wasn't quite sure. Getting a quick look at the course from inspection, i got the butterflies beyond belief. But its really neat to be at the top of the course and see the peaks of the mountains above the clouds, then when your at the bottom you see only the bottom half of the mountains under the clouds. And its not even that long of a run... which just goes to show how steep it is. I was working on keeping a tight line, the shortest line threw the gates, and positioning myself into a good tuck to cut off some extra time. I used to find myself gazing off when i'm supposed to be listening but when your coaches tell you to make "no sudden movements" then you ask why and they say "because it could kill you"..... you tend to pay attention a little more closely. Although a scary, but exciting experience, i learned a lot and i cant wait for tomarrow. Downhill might just be my new favorite event.. :)

Day Off In Kimberley

Thats the view from my balcony.....

Bootleg Sled Dog Races being held soon!

Handy-dandy pully carts!!!
A great day off in downtown... or whats said to be down town.... Kimberley. Me and Mau went down to a Chinese Resturant for lunch then went walking around to find a wild deer. Sounds funny but in this little town there are tons of deer that will walk right up to you for food and stick there heads inside of doors. They look fuzzy and cute.... but the 8 point antlers dont look to welcoming. We also went to the gym to practice tuck positioning to go faster while in a course. Tomarrow i will start my Downhill training for the race this weekend.

SG Training Day 2 at Kimberley

13 different countries will be here to race this Saturday and Sunday. As of right now I met the Swiss, or Suisse, also Canada, British, and Nederland. The last picture is of me and mau at the top of the race hill. Kimberley is definatly one beautifull place. Full of nice people and amazing sights. I cant wait to see what is coming next. :)

SG Training Day 1 at Kimberley

1st day on speed skis!!! They are 201s. That means they are skis that are 2 feet taller than me.... yeah... But I did my first Super Giant Slalom race training today on them and i have never went faster in my life on a course. I have alot to improve on and hopefully one day in the near future i can catch up to every body else.. :)

On My Way To Kimberley Canada!

Mini Airplane...
Seat 6A is a window seat... and seat 6B is a window seat....
Mini Airplane seats....

Getting to mingal with Canada..... interesting trip getting here. Thats for sure. It took 4 plane rides to get to Kimberley and pretty much the whole day. Alot of things are written in French first then english under it. Its neat going out away from home. You learn many things that you didnt even know were there to learn about. It makes great experiences and memories to last a life time.

PA Camp at Camelback Diana Golden Race

Me, Kelly, and Robin making the podium !
Mike Rosto was there to support me in my race. THANK YOU MIKE!

This is the camp where my ski racing career started. It's so nice to spend time with my ski buddies!!! We stopped by at Danko's to talk about the training plan with Ernie.