Thursday, December 10, 2009

Good wine...


"Downhill racers are like good wine; they have to age to reach their prime." Cory Murdock, ex US Ski Team downhiller and pro skier. So we're learning... Scott is skiing well, but his unfamiliarity with this track is showing when competing against an older field who has raced here many times before. He just finished his second NORAM level downhill today. We switch to Super G tomorrow.
This has been a great learning experience for Scott. He is getting to run the World Cup track from the men's start, a two minute race and a real thigh burner. He also is learning just how important timing and the affects of micro-terrain can be to outcomes. Each day he's run here (four) he's fixed one problem and found a new one. There's still one critical turn he has yet to master. Notwithstanding, he posted very respectable results of 36th and 37th overall in the two races. He handily topped his age division every day and beat a number of US Ski Team members. Although disappointed that he didn't improve his FIS points, Scott is pleased with the outcome relative to the field and the challenging hill.
Tomorrow will be one of those long days to which ski racers become accustomed. We get up early and finish packing the car, check out of our rooms, follow a similar race schedule extending from 7AM to 3PM, then we go back up the hill to help take down all of the protective netting on the 2 miles course for about three hours. After that we'll hop in the car and try to knock off six hours of the trip to Jackson Hole, WY, where Scott has a slalom race on Sunday.
So, having reread the preceding paragraph, I'm heading to bed!

2 comments: