IN THE ARENA WITH CHARLES: Training and a Little Racing in CO

I arrived in Colorado 10 days ago for my last training block before the NorAm season begins at the end of the month. Initially there wasn't any snow on the mountains except for on the training lanes. Winter felt pretty far away. However, all that has changed. Over the last 4 to 5 days it has been steadily snowing anywhere from 4 inches to over a foot each day, and with the ski areas set to open up to the public this Friday it appears the real ski season is finally here.

I have spent most of my time training at Vail with Randy Pelkey and the Development Team. Randy Pelkey, the head coach of the Development Team, was the Western Region head coach when I lived in Utah. While I was skiing in college and afterwards he has always been a supporter, someone in my corner, and it is great to work with him again. Randy has been super helpful by setting me up to train with his group most days. It works out well; I benefit from a well prepared course and I give his athletes some pace. It's not so easy to get lane space at Vail, let alone join other groups, so I am grateful to him and the other coaches and teams who have let me jump in with them. I can't begin to describe how much I am enjoying not dealing with the zoo atmosphere at "Copperopolis" or other areas that are open to race training and free skiing. The Vail training area is only open for racing making for a much more focussed and, in my opinion, productive training atmosphere.

On Monday the USST hosted a gs race at Vail for their athletes, Canadian Ski Team athletes, and anyone else with a world rank under 350. Initially I was told that this race would also be a time trial for the Beaver Creek World Cup race taking place in early December, and although I didn't put too much stock in my gs skiing I figured that I still had a shot. This rumor turned out to be just that, a rumor, but the race still went off with a great field of competitors gunning for their first victory of the season in North America. The heavy snowfall made the coaches work a lot harder to pull the race off , but they were able to push enough snow off the track to get down to the hard surface and make a solid race. Thank you course workers!

I started bib 10, and was happy to hear the announcer say that I was in second place when I came through the finish after the first run. This wouldn't last for long, I would eventually finish the first run tied for 4th position, but it was motivating to know that I had put together a decent run in a high quality race. A few days earlier a mock race was held with mostly the same field. I did not ski nearly as well, and since then focussed on making the necessary adjustments in my skiing for this race. On race day my timing of initiating the turn was much better on the flats and I was much more squared up at the gate on the steeps. I also got a lot more response or snap out of the ski at the end of each turn, making for a more consistent transition and a less tiring race run (at 8500 ft this can make a big difference). The second run was another solid performance. I actually skied better on the top flat and the middle steep section but got caught in the ruts on the bottom of the course (they didn't reset between runs) and gave a little time back. I ended the day in 4th position, 2nd for Americans.

Points-wise it wasn't the greatest race, but I am happy to have finished the first North American race of the year with a solid effort. I am looking forward to the next ten days or so of training before the NorAms start on the 27th, and excited to get back to focussing on slalom. Hopefully the weather holds up and the training opportunities continue to be as great as they have been.

Below are some pics from a day of training at Vail with GMVS, and also one that I had from New Zealand. In NZE I was on some borrowed equipment (thanks W!) for the day but it was still a cool photo to have.