Thursday, November 26, 2009

The long and winding road...


We're finally home with the family for the Thanksgiving weekend. Scott's been training on snow six of the past eight weeks, and we're both ready for a little rest. The home mountain opens Friday and we're looking forward to visiting and skiing with our friends.


The final two weeks in Colorado were difficult for Scott. He was with a National Development project at Loveland Basin for Slalom and Giant Slalom training on injected (water added to create ice) snow. The camp started well, but by the third day the inflamation in Scott's leg returned and he finally stopped fighting it half-way through the project. The rattling on hard snow combined with the effort required to set an edge in the ice prevented him from getting the situation under control. So while I continued to work on the hill, Scott got ahead in school, iced his tendon, and rested. The project was still fun for us as he got to hang out with the guys and I worked with a great group of coaches.


Monday we load out again. This time we're headed to Panorama, BC for a final week of speed training before the opening NORAM downhills at Lake Louise. Joy will join us the second week (Hmm, I though mothers didn't watch downhills). Scott's knee is healed after a week off snow and he's anxious to get the show on the road. If it's anything like last year, he'll be at the final race in April before we know it!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Search for Speed


The second week here is always a lot of fun. Old friends start to show up... the friends we don't see all summer. Scott's run into a number of kids from our Division, plus a few friends from others. I likewise have seen several coaches I know from the circuit. The place gets crowded too. The only safe place is slipping a course or racing.

Today was a great one for Scott. We set Giant Slalom the full-length of the hill, connecting two training lanes. His focus today was to see how deep he could run the line without losing everything else. His first run was clean and fast, then he started running a little deeper (starting the turn lower relative to the gate) each run. By the fourth run he had shaved 2 seconds off a 61 second course -- significant. So tomorrow he'll continue to work on this and find the break point where aggression kills speed. I've attached a photo from today, plus posted some of todays film footage on YouTube. Check it out!

Friday, November 6, 2009

On the Road Again

Well, I'm a little late getting back on the blog; we've just finished the sixth day of training in Colorado. We are presently training with Michel Pratte and Matt Kerr, and will continue to do so next week. Then Scott joins the US Ski Team for two weeks of training at Loveland, Colorado. None of this could happen without the generousity and patience of our good friends JJ and Laura Johns, who host us while training here.

Scott had a great first week with sunshine and good, hard, snow. He continued the patterning from Zermatt, and put down the gas. Several special oportunities enhanced an already great situation. Matt got Scott included in a full-on Giant Slalom session with the Bristish Columbia Ski Team one morning. The combination of a 1 minute plus course, bibs and timing created intensity and brought out the best in everyone. Scott fared well against this elite group. Later in the week, US Ski Team member Colby Granstrom (an 18 point Slalom racer) joined us for a day of Slalom and two days of Giant Slalom. Miles Fink-Debray, a top Giant slalom racer, also joined us for the Giant Slalom days. Scott measured up well with the big guys and learned alot. There is a fun dartfish video of Scott and Colby at www.youtube.com Search with "Scott Snow ski Colorado Nov 2009"