My skis arrived relatively quickly due to the constant help of Allison at Lufthansa baggage services. She totally killed it. They arrived at 5:15 AM last Sunday, just in time for me to prep them and be on the hill at Vail training two hours later. That was the only day of training Dane, Jon Olsson and I were able to muster up before the races. We trained next to the Austrians and the US Men (just Zamansky) with the Vail J2 girls. Our course mirrored theirs so that was nice. The next day we free skied at Copper with my mom and then rolled over to Aspen to check out the piste.

When we arrived it was clear that Aspen was indeed fully injected. Jon, Miles Fink Debray, and I went up to slip around, watch some ladies skiing, and get an idea of just how hard the snow was. I tuned my training skis inconstantly to get idea of what I might need for the races. Both my left edges were tuned with a 5 degree and both of my right edges with a 3 degree. I pretty much always use a 3 degree side bevel for my GS skis so I was interested to see just how much grip I had with the 5 degree. I opted for a 4 degree on all my edges for these races since the snow was really hard.


The competition in Aspen was some of the stiffest I’ve seen in Nor-Am competition.

Both of my first runs were quite good and very similar. I started 3rd both days and was able to attack a solid plan of giving myself an exceptional amount of room at the gate in a few section, which basically means I skied a round line. However, skiing this line gave myself a chance to arc a whole lot more turns and it was exceptionally fast in those sections. Not to mention, starting 3 means that the injection is not nearly as painful as starting later. Going early there is still a thin layer of snow on the track, which gives a whole lot more grip on the ice than starting in the late 20s. The first day I was in 4th after the first run and the second day I was in 3rd after first run. A top 3 either day would have secured a spot in the Beaver Creek GS on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the first day I didn’t have a great plan on the second run and I actually become quite tired halfway down which is always a terrible sign. Either way, I struggled in a few sections and finished in 8th. Tommy Ford was the top American who put together two great runs to finish 3rd behind Marcel Hirscher and JP Roy.

The second day, I had a killer plan and executed it perfectly up top. On the flats before the next big roll I had a perfect line and was is great shape. However, I completely lost my grip. I had no grip for the middle section of the course and frankly, I skied like a J5 for a few gates just barely staying in the course. I got to the bottom and moved back to 7th, but I was the top American. Dumbfounded with my lack of grip. I checked my skis, which were machined tuned in between runs. A section of my right skis was completely dull. I must have hit a rock or something; but either way, it was a disappointment.

Right now I’m in Aspen for the next couple days before I plan to forerun at Beaver Creek. There is still a discretionary spot up for grabs in the GS at Beaver. Rudi the head tech coach said he told Sasha that he thought I should have the spot, but ultimately it’s up to Sasha, not Rudi. Rudi told me Sasha was going to call me last night about his decision, but I still haven’t heard any news. I’ll keep you all in the loop.

Anyway, we had a great stay out here in Aspen at an amazing family friend’s house with my Mom, Dennis, Guy, Dane and Jasmine (Dane’s fiancé).

Take care and hope you’re all doing well, w