We’ve been in Austria nearly a week and we’ve already fulfill the main goal of this camp: get new skis and start dialing them in. After arriving last Wednesday – both Sam and I arrived on time with our baggage in tow – we met up with Jake Zamansky at the Munich Airport and drove to Innsbruck. Upon arrival to Patsch, which feel more like our European home than anything else, we called Bode’s GS and SL service man, Tschunti, to see if we could pick up some new skis for the season (I put in an order with Tschunti a few weeks earlier). He made a few calls for us and before we knew it the next morning Sam and I were driving to Kennelbach to pick up some skis at the Head Factory.

It was a pleasant two and a half hour drive– we only made one wrong turn – upon arrival we were immediately greeted with shot of espresso and sat down to talked with Rainer, the boss about skis and our plan for the season. We loading our van up with 10 pairs of fully prepped skis, 2 downhill, 2 super g, 3 giant, and 3 pairs of slalom skis. Tschunti is totally the man!!! He must have spent a couple days getting them ready, which is a huge help for us.

In Kennelbach, we walked around the relatively small factory mainly unsupervised. Although, a guided tour certainly would have been more informational, it was nice to check it out on our own. After picking up the skis, we met up with a Michela, one of the boot guys, and got a pair of boots made, picked up a few skis bags, some tennis rackets for Tschunti, and a bunch of stuff for Bode. After nearly a full day at the factory – including a free lunch – Sam and I drove away with our hands in the air completely psyched about our victorious trip. Christmas certainly came early in Austria. Now we just have to ski them in, dial in our set up and get them all home.

We’ve been getting some decent training at Stubia glacer, only a thirty-five minute drive from the apartments in Patsch, but the weather has been a little too warm during the day and night so the snow isn’t setting up too well, which means we’re skiing on spring snow rather than ice.

We pulled the plug on today and hopefully it will get a bit colder during the next few days.

Hope all is well back, w