As I sit here in Calgary waiting for my flight home, I realize we had a successful week, maybe not with FIS points or Nor-Am points, but we experienced good skiing and fun times.

The flat conditions were difficult, but the course crew injected the snow with water making it more like ice skating and less like skiing, which actually played to my advantage on the steep sections with a high bib number. But the day ended with some pitiful skiing on the flats- it was sissy skiing that ruled the flats rather than the proverbial hammer that we're always striving for. I was pivoting in blind gate sections when I should have been pointing my skis down the fall line, looking for speed, and worrying less about my personal well being. Either way, I crossed the finish line to finished in 6th place and was early 2 seconds off the pace.

However, it wasn't all bad. I did accumulate enough Nor-Am point to have a better bib pick for the second day as I started 2nd. I decided to ski on a different, newer pair of skis because it was time to give the new Fisch sticks a chance. My plan was to pin-off each section and I did; unfortunately, with a full pin mentality there are often mistakes that litter the run. The mistakes were not calculated, but I was skiing far better than the day before. I ended up finishing in 6th again, but was a lot closer to the pace and without a few mishaps we would have been on the podium, but that's ski racing.

We're about to catch a flight back home to Boston and it's well past check out time so take care and hopefully your week is off to a good start.

w

Just a warning this one is going to be a bit short as I'm currently sitting outside of a nearby condo stealing wireless Internet. Either way, I'm up here in Canada prepping for some Nor-Am Super G's.

Tomorrow is the start of two days of SG racing in Panorama. The hill looks a bit flat which is ominous considering my gliding abilities, or lack there of, but there's a lot of terrain which will hopefully help my cause.

It's time to see if we can still turn our 210 cm skis and giv'er from the start position of 22.

Take care and it's awful cold outside so I'm out,

w

Although it wasn't a triumphant day, it still felt like one.

To give you all an idea of what transpired on the Beaver Creek slalom course during my 1:07:87 seconds run- it went a little something like this…

I jumped out of the gate with the all or nothing attitude realizing I didn't have anything to lose. The course was choppy and rutty after
68 damn good skiers took a shot at her before it was my turn. I went out of the gate pinning it as hard as I could, which is never a good idea on such an icy, steep, and rutty course, but I didn't care. The rhythm was quick and after five gates of generating speed on the pitch I jetted out of a right footed turn losing valuable time. The course report (the coaches on the hill radio a course report up to us before we start to give us an idea of what to expect) was to finish and stay in it at all costs so I did. The next two sections I dropped the hammer and skied really well trying to make up time from my mistake at the top, but I pushed too hard. Coming out of a combination on a roll at the end of the course I tried to cut off the line and ended up leaning in on my hip and slid past the next gate. At that moment I realized it was the end and all I could do was give the college try (hike and smile the rest of the way down). So I finished way off the pace, but it didn't matter.

It was not a glorious day, but it certainly was a moral victory. The
experience alone was priceless and it's given me a new respect for the sport.

Not to mention all of the extra perks I picked up over the last few days (new skis, helmets, goggles, GS suits, among other things).

I'm home for a few days to rest, do some dryland, and wax my Super G skis for two Nor- Am SGs at Panorama which is just outside of Calgary.

Take care and it's nice to be home. w

Well, I wanted to send you all a line and let you know tomorrow is the big day, our World Cup debut. The last couple days I've experienced a sensory overload with Fischer press conferences, all sorts of new gear, a professional tuner, victory parties for Bode and Daron, and much much more. It's been a taste of the good life- the life of the World Cup.

Tomorrow my start number is 69 which means I have to absolutely kill it to receive a second run (only the top 30 qualify). But all and all, it doesn't really matter because I never even expected to be here so soon. Thus, there are no expectations or pressures, just some fast skis and a lot of hope.

Tomorrow is another day of all or nothing; it's a chance to see where we stand against the best in our home turf. It game time.

Keep smilin, w

P.S. If you're infinitely bored tomorrow I think you can get live timing updates for the Beaver Creek Slalom at http://www.fisski.com or at www.eurosport.com. First run starts at 9:45 Rocky time.

P.P.S. Thanks to Anne LaVin our website (you're reading it now!) is up and running. Thanks Anne!