<< News Home

on my way home...
Monday, August 31, 2009

I’m in Christchurch, NZ ready to fly home via ZQN, CHC, AKL, LAX, SFO, LAX, ORD, and then finally MHT on Tuesday. Hopefully someone will realize flying from L.A. to San Fran and back isn’t all that logical, but when it’s the cheapest flight it’s the cheapest fight.

The last 24 hours has been pretty hectic with Frencie, short for Francesco the other athlete I’m traveling with, coming over a blind roll free skiing GS and hit a snowboarder who was bent over fixing her binding. It looks like he tore his PCL and MCL in one leg and possibly a partial tear to his PCL in his other leg along with some serious bruising to his tib fib. He had an X-ray yesterday and luckily he didn’t break any bones. Since it’s so difficult to get an MRI down under, he’s going to wait until he flys home in two days. I took him to therapy today and it's already starting to come along. With both legs banged up he has a constant struggle walking even with crutches, which is pretty entertaining to watch and he’s in good spirits about it. The US Team doctor checked him out and said he was really lucky and could be up and running again in 6-8 weeks. In most cases, the PCL and MCL repair themselves without surgery.

The lady he hit had to get air lifted out because she was loosing blood pressure after the collision and potentially damaged her kidney. I didn't see accident, but I guess he hit her really hard. In the first aid head quarters she was fully coherent and even laughing with her friends.

After that, we – not so much Frenchie – did the annual New Zealand car rally. Last week, a waitress at a restaurant in Wanaka told us that if we could start her car we could have it. So we drove two hours to where she left “Sweet Caroline” and with only a pair of jumper cables she was back from the dead. So most of the ski team guys and a few locals hit a pretty impressive kicker that Jimmy Cochran built. It was a nice end to a long camp of tough weather and a rugged day on the hill.

Now that the camp is over, I’m really excited to get home and dial in a few things before my next time on snow in Chile with Stratton Mountain School. I want to flatten out my boots a little bit – right now they’re a little warped – and I’d like to grind down my boot board and try using some medium/hard foam to ease into the turn more smoothly. I’ve been talking to Dane about it quite a bit and I’m psyched to dial it in. Before he and Schlopy used soft foam to initiate turns on their down hill ski, but we’d like to make it so they work for the inside ski as well.

All and all, working with Thomas Erhard and Apex was a great opportunity and I definitely got a ton out of our 15 days on snow in New Zealand. I’m getting faster and with another two weeks on snow in Chile I will be ready.

Hope all is well, w

posted by Warner at 8/31/2009 02:25:00 AM (permanent link to this post) 0 comments


NZ Winter Games GS
Thursday, August 27, 2009

So the last couple days have been pretty miserable as far as weather goes, but the organizers have done a killer making it happen.

Today I decided to run on my old race GS skis from last year and my old boots. First run, I had a decent run and moved from 25th to 4th behind three Swedes. It was all about attrition as there were various periods of heavy snow, wind, and fog. No one feels good when you can’t see.

The second run, I hammered out of the start, lost some grip one the third gate, stuck my hand inside the panel, lost my pole, and proceeded to drag my hand and sometimes my whole arm on nearly every right footer until the flats. By the end, my arm felt like a rudder to a lost sailboat in heavy seas. It certainly could have been better, but I was happy to battle all the way to the finish line. I finished somewhere around 10th.

I can’t believe that our New Zealand camp is almost over. The weather has been challenging, but we’ve had some great training and I’m skiing fast GS.

Hope you’re all doing well, w

posted by Warner at 8/27/2009 12:17:00 AM (permanent link to this post) 0 comments


nzed winter games
Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Hello all,

So last week I ended up skiing well in the race, but I just wasn’t all that fast. The last few days I got some great training and today we raced a SG. I skied pretty well on the pitch and pushed the line a little too hard over the one jump on the course to find myself in the air flying the wrong way. When I landed I had no chance of making the next game. Zamansky ended up winning, which was good for him.

Tomorrow we’re back in the gate again in another GS on the same hill as last week. The weather is warm, but after some serious salting the last couple days it looks like the hill will be in good shape. I start 25.

It’s time to keep up the intensity.

Hope all is well up north, w

posted by Warner at 8/26/2009 04:38:00 AM (permanent link to this post) 0 comments


nzed
Wednesday, August 19, 2009

We’re back at it. After over a week down under the weather finally turned for the better. We were skiing in the rain and fog in soft snow ever since we arrived and the last two days have been blue bird days in hard snow.

After a few days of free skiing and training we jumped into the gate today for the first of two GS races down here. After a few months away from racing, it was great to get back into a racing situation with some good competition. The first run, I skied pretty well and did a good job nailing my line off the pitch and onto the flats. I ended up in second half a second behind Swedish skier, Andre Myhrer. Second run, I went with aggressive tactics trying to pin off the line on the upper section and rather than making up time, I pressured my skis too late in the turn, which is never fast. When you make crisp turns the bulk of the pressure is above the gate in the top of the turn. Instead the bulk of my pressure was below the gate that essentially is similar to hitting the breaks at the end of a turn.

I ended up moving back a bit to finish off the podium.

Another day, another lesson reiterated. Hope all is well where ever you are, w

posted by Warner at 8/19/2009 02:01:00 AM (permanent link to this post) 0 comments


Warner Nickerson Golf Classic
Friday, August 14, 2009

It's less than 6 months to the Opening Ceremony for the Vancouver Olympic Games. It all comes down to the next 5 months to completely make it happen. It's now or never.

Come play.

PLACE:
Indian Mound Golf Club, Center Ossipee, NH
DATE:
Thursday, September 17, 2009
TIME:
10:00 (shotgun start); 2:30ish BBQ
FORMAT:
Scramble
PRICE:
$100 per person or $400 per foursome, price includes greens fees, cart, Auction and BBQ Dinner.
If you are not playing in the tournament please join us for the BBQ at $20 per person.

Click here to download the sign up form:
2009-2010 WN Golf Classic Invitation.pdf

If you're interested in sponsoring the event drop me an email at: warner.nickerson@gmail.com

posted by Warner at 8/14/2009 02:59:00 PM (permanent link to this post) 0 comments


Cody and nzed
Sunday, August 09, 2009

First off, I think it’s important to talk about a buddy of mine, Cody Marshall. Two and a half weeks ago he was out at a local bar, Side Car, in Park City and went to slide down a railing, but ended up falling 20 feet onto his head. Since the accident, he has gone through a number of surgeries and completely come out of a coma. I called him a few days ago and it was so refreshing to hear his voice. For a while is was touch and go, but he’s made dramatic improvements. That being said he still has a long road ahead of him. On the phone, he was a pretty hazy and became a bit mixed up a couple times, but it was just great to hear his voice. His family has been posting multiple updates a day at www.thinkcody.com. For more info check it out.

As for me, the last couple weeks have been pretty hectic trying to dial everything in before New Zealand. Last week I was in Europe getting some new boots with a couple different cuffs to try and picked up 6 pairs of new skis so I’m ready for the next two camps (this one in New Zealand and one in Chile during late September). I am writing this on the endless flight from San Francisco to Auckland. I’m on an Air New Zealand flight on a relatively new plane that has on demand movies, which is a pleasant way to kill some of the 12 hour flight. This camp I will be working in with the Treble Cone Race Academy (the same place I’ve trained that last two years down here) and Apex Racing International (a small private team with only one athlete). I’ve always loved New Zealand so I’m psyched to get down there and get back on snow.

Unfortunately, the golf tourney will not be at the Owl’s Nest this year since they’re fully booked so we’ll be at Indian Mound. It’s mostly my fault for not getting on it early enough.

I’ll be in touch soon. w

posted by Warner at 8/09/2009 02:00:00 PM (permanent link to this post) 0 comments