This season has been riddled with injuries, and apparently March was no different. Last week at North American Cup Finals in Waterville Valley, NH, I fractured my clavicle in the second run of the slalom. About 8 gates from the bottom of the run I got a little behind and hammered on my downhill ski, causing the left tip to catch in soft snow and catapult me forward. I landed on my stomach, not really a normal ski fall, and rolled to a stop. Initially I didn’t think anything was wrong, and even joked with the coaches on the side of the hill that at my age I needed to make sure to do a full systems check after each crash to confirm that my body is still in tact. But when I pulled off my bib I heard a crunch in my chest and felt things shift around just below my neck on the left side; immediately my chest began to tighten. X-rays showed that it was a double break of the left clavicle.
To say that I am bummed out about this is an understatement. This season began with a lot of promise and an outside chance to qualify for the Olympics. Unfortunately, injuries have played a major role in what I have been able to do on the race course (when I am healthy enough to be in one) and I was not able to come close to reaching my potential this season. In the weeks leading up to my latest injury I had a great training session at Burke and was ready to capitalize my recent improvement and a hungry mental attitude. March is a time when some people are mentally checked out after such a long season, whereas I was chomping at the bit after so much time off throughout the season. Things were going to plan, my best races of the season in GS and SG took place during the three days prior to this event. It’s an unfortunate part of the sport that injuries occur so frequently, but not something that I can change if I intend to keep pushing the line and trying to land on the podium.
I spent the last week relaxing in Boston with my girlfriend while I healed up and figured out what to do with a cleared schedule for the next month. I was able to have a very productive meeting with Amory, the Director of ITA, and am currently working on expanding my role with ITA throughout the summer. Not exactly sure where I will be living/working, but if anyone has an opportunity that I need to hear about feel free to let me know!
