We’re back in Europe!!!

After arriving in Munich on Wednesday, Guy and I drove to Hinterstoder for two Europa Cup races vis a vis Salzburg for Guy to experience some of the best schnitzel in Austria.

The first race at Hinterstoder was a SG. I did it basically to check out the hill for the GS the following day. As it turns out, the Hinterstoder race hill is pretty gnarly, it’s a whole lot impressive than the hill I raced a World Cup GS on last December (the race was held up top because of limited snow conditions)

Anyway, I finished the SG, but that’s about all I can say. I had absolutely no grip, my edges just weren’t getting the job done, but luckily I was able to stand up and cross the finish line to finish 48th (I started 76 because my SG points aren’t too good). I should probably talk to my technician about that… oh wait, that’s me.

The next day we raced the GS and first run I put together a solid performance. I had a bit of trouble up top, but was able to put together some good turns on the lower rolls. It was a painfully long 1 minutes and 20 second of GS on rock hard snow so I was pretty tired when I crossed the line.

The second run, I started 9th and had an awful upper section, I got late and back three gates in and was just stuck in the back seat for the entire first pitch, bummer. On the lower rolls, I was able make up some time so I didn’t get slaughtered. I ended up finishing in 23rd so I accumulated some more coveted Europa Cup GS points. The two other American finishers, Jitloff and Zamansky, put together great second runs finishing 7th and 9th, respectively.

We planned to leave Hinterstoder and go to Munich for the night and then to Switzerland for two more Europa Cup GS races, but the first race was cancelled so I asked Coach Guy what he wanted to do. He quickly responded with, “Let’s go to Italy and see the Med.” We looked at the map and realized we could go south and hit Venice on our way to Switerland and it would only be a few extra hours of driving each day so I called up Carlo Salmini, the Slytech founder, and he set us up with a “rustic” place to stay right on the grand canal. This huge apartment is much more of a museum than anything else; it’s absolutely beautiful. Carlo thanks for the unbelievable place to stay and your bother Antonio, the best tour guide in the city. Venice is amazing.

Anyway, we ended up staying in the city an extra night because yesterday we received a call that all the races in Switzerland were cancelled, for an unknown reason. So we’re leaving this morning for Austria and three more GS races.

Hope all is well, w