The Granddaddy of Them All

I'm not sure another ski trip is ever going to compare to the slingshot tour I took last spring to race the World Cup in Kranjska Gora, but this journey across the pond was one I'll never forget.

Like most things, it was people that made this trip such a great experience. Even before I left the States, I found myself sitting on the airplane from IAD-MUC next to long-time ski racer badass Resi Stiegler, on her own European trip to race the World Cup in Maribor that weekend. Hearing about her season, sharing ski stories from the past, and watching bad airplane movies (Taken 2 is borderline unwatchable) was a great way to kick things off. Our crew, a three-man team including my brother and a former Williams teammate, Alex Reeves, all shook off the jet lag and first stopped in Salzburg to grab lunch and pay an impromptu visit to my host family from my time abroad at Salzburg College. I didn't tell them I was coming, I simply knocked on the door and scared the hell out of them when I came in for the bear hug (it's been a few years). Nothing like operating on no sleep to make snap decisions! That night, Nicholas got his first taste of ski racing, Austria style, at the night slalom in Westendorf. I think he had more fun than all of us combined.

Baby bro at Westendorf. The USST jacket still gets VIP parking, so shameless and so awesome!

Westendorf

Basing out of Kirchberg, a racing and training hotspot located about 4 minutes from Kitzbuhel, turned out to be a great idea. On top of the apartment being a fantastic deal, it allowed us to escape from the madness of Kitzbuhel when we wanted to, and also meant we could meet with Kieffer and other racers outside of a pure competition environment. Our housing location got even better when I got a call from a good great Austrian friend, Julian Schrieb. He housed Adam Cole and myself more than a couple of times during our trips over to Europe, and I was planning to meet up with him sometime during the weekend to say hi and thanks for his generosity over the years.

As it turns out, Jules now works with Red Bull and was helping with one of the many pre-Hahnenkamm functions that surrounds the event. This one happened to be a dune buggy snow race, featuring various Red Bull athletes like 3-time Hahnenkamm champion Luc Alphand, Daron Rhalves, Mr. Stratos Felix Baumgartner, and a whole bunch of rally car champions. Daron was actually forerunning the downhill the next day, and confided that he only decided to jump back on the race skis a week ago. He casually mentioned that he hadn't touched his downhill skis since retiring 7 years ago. Considering that the Hahnenkamm is one of the most dangerous races in the world, this is quite unbelievable; Daron is not only crazy, he really is the man. Nicholas is a complete motorhead so he was in heaven, and I couldn't stop thinking about the completely ridiculous situation that we were in for no good reason. It was only appropriate that I was once again in debt to Julian.

I really, really wanted to ride in one of these

Mr. Stratos

A Patrick Willis jersey for Julian as a small thank you, and just in time for the Super Bowl!!

The day of the Hahnenkamm Downhill had bluebird weather, and made for great viewing. Kitzbuhel is rare in that it's a big-time event which actually lives up to its billing. Scotty Veenis, another former racer, hilarious friend, and now a USST coach, got us credentials to watch the course from a great spot. Along with 70,000 other fans, Nicholas, Alex, former Burkie Kerstin Graham, and I watched about a half-dozen racers came off the Hausberg jump and onto the famous final traverse within a one-tenth of a second of the lead, making it all the more dramatic when a 23-year old Italian pulled the upset to take the W. The day was capped off with a fantastic dinner with Kipp Nelson, a USSA Board of Directors Trustee, where I got the chance to learn more about my new USSA position and what to expect as Athlete Rep. It was nice of Kipp to take time from his own vacation to reach out to speak with me, and I found it very helpful to hear what he had to say. I hope to work with him in the future on various projects.

 A great day

The trip was a success, and it was all because of the generosity and close-knit culture that the ski community provides. I didn't sleep very much, but that was to be expected. Nicholas called me today and asked me if there were any other big ski races this year that maybe we should go to. I couldn't help but laugh, he's totally hooked!