Hi,
I am now back in Europe at our base in Lofer, Austria. Beaver Creek went quite well, it was amazing to ski that downhill course by far the most difficult course I have ever done, starting number 1 in the combined race was rather unexpected and a great boost. I felt my downhill performance was really respectable, there are clear areas where I can improve, but that is what I would expect at this stage of my development in downhill ski racing.
After my downhill, I was in 31st place which meant I missed staring number 1 in the slalom by only 0.05 sec, however I wasn't too bothered as I knew the slalom is my stronger event. Unfortunately, after such a long day the sun was going down and the light and visibility were deteriorating rapidly for the racers starting later. During the run I felt I skied ok but as I came over the last roll I misjudged the line and ran wide of a gate so I had to climb up around it and finish to claim some world cup points.
With my coaches we made the decision to miss the downhill proper and get ready for the slalom and giant slalom, we decided to go for giant slalom after my good showings in the previous FIS races in panorama.
In the giant slalom I made a similar error as I took a too direct line over the blind raise and skied past the wrong side of the next gate! The snow conditions were ideal with the course holding up perfectly for the later starters, however, so many people were pushing it too hard it seems as many of the races did not finish.
It was a similar story in the slalom with only 36 finishing from a field of around 75 racers. Unfortunately, again, I was one of those who didn't make it to the finish. In the middle of the course I had a fairly big crash landing heavy on my shoulder after losing a ski, my shoulder has been hurting a bit since then but I'm having physio treatment and it doesn’t seem to be anything serious. I'm sure I'll be fine for the re-scheduled race at Reiteralm in Austria (the race in Val d’Isere was cancelled due to lack of snow). In my opinion they should have put the race on over in North America as the early season conditions are much better than anywhere in Europe at the moment.
So that’s the latest from me. Good conditions all over the U.S and Canada and still waiting for any considerable snow in Europe.
Bye for now
Noel
