Breezy's Blog - Whistler Cup!

SRD places 4 athletes at the 2011 Whistler Cup! Serina Kidd, Sam Morse, Andrew Hancock and Breezy Johnson.

Every year the world comes together for eight K1 and K2 “children’s” races (J3 and J4). Out of these, the U.S. competes in two. In the past it has been Whistler Cup and Topolino but this year the United States attended the Pokal Loka in Slovenia rather than Topolino. This was the third time that I had attended Whistler Cup (the first was when I was a first year J4) and this would be the last.

Though I have competed three times at Whistler, I have never seen a US team bond together as we did this year. Even before the racing started, we formed a rambunctious -- if slightly annoying -- group, generating energy that would continue through the races, allowing us to do our very best. Unlike the boring Europeans, we were quite loud at the start, cheering each other on, which brought us odd looks from our competitors and their coaches.

I firmly believe that it was not any special ability of our racers this year that allowed us to do well. We all worked together in great camaraderie, to make sure that any and all of us were capable of anything. The seven medals from the U.S. team were spread among six athletes from different start positions and all three regions. We took team spirit to a whole new level on the hill and in the village. This ‘anything is possible especially if it’s crazy’ attitude that we developed and shared led to our great results.

I hope that this is something that will continue in the future, for future Whistler athletes and those of us who are moving up to FIS age next year. I know that it takes a lot for these young racers on a new stage to believe in themselves. But as we learned this year with a crazy mindset and some yelling it is possible to win the K2 (J3) overall and place second in the team standings, even without a K1 (J4) team.

.)) Breezy Johnson

Burcin's Blog: Seasons End

Hey Guys,

It has been a really fun season, which I wish was still going on but sadly I had my last race about 2 weeks ago at the Sugar Slalom which is a really fun 2 day event with over 600 total racers. The age groups go from J5’s to Masters and everything in between for both guys and girls. The first day is a normal slalom but with all the J1/J2 guys they had to separate us into 2 different races. The second day is a dual panel slalom, which is just an awesome race and day as a whole. The first day I came in 3rd overall and 1st for J2 for the race I was in and the second day I fell the first run and by the time I ran second run over 600 kids had run the course. The ruts were insane and it was nice to just make it down.

Also at the end of the season was Nationals at Sugarloaf. I didn’t ski my best but it was really fun, and a great learning experience for next year. In the GS, I was having a pretty good run until I had a big mistake right before the last little pitch. Second run, I did about the same thing. It was disappointing that I couldn’t put down a clean run but I learned a lot about the hill for next time I go to Sugarloaf. In the Slalom, I was having a really good run until I went a little straight into a hairpin at the bottom of the course and straddled a gate after. Finally, in the Super-G I came in 29th, which I was fairly happy with because I am more a tech skier then a speed skier. The last day was canceled due to bad weather, which isn’t surprising at Sugarloaf. Overall, I took it as a learning experience and can’t wait to go back next year and go fast.

After Nationals, I had a FIS series at Stratton with 2 slaloms and 2 GS’s. I scored a 64 the second slalom race, which was my lowest FIS score. In the GS’s I had two top 10 finishes but missed scoring but a couple points both days. I ended my season with 69 slalom points and 70 GS points. Overall, I was pretty happy with my FIS season as a whole and I can’t wait to lower my points next season.

After Stratton I went to a couple USSA races in New York. It was really fun and we brought some good points to the races to help our second year J3’s score some points. In the GS races, I came in 3rd in both and in the slalom’s I won the first race, scoring a 52, my lowest USSA score and DNFed the second.

Overall, it was a fun season with a great ending. Thankfully, I don’t have to wait too long to ski again. I am going with KMS to Mammoth, California for a training camp at the end of June. Then we are going to Chile at the end of July. Before that, I am going to take advantage of the time off to get in the gym and get stronger. Hope everyone had a good season and thanks SRD for all the support.

.)) Kyle Burcin

Morse Code: Success at Whistler

This past week I returned from a trip of a lifetime to British Columbia, Canada. I qualified for the Whistler Cup back in March at the Eastern Regional Marriot Championships. The Whistler Cup is an international race with the best 11-14 year olds in the world. There were 18 American 13-14 (J3) competitors at this event, four of them were SRD Team members; Andrew Hancock, Breezy Johnson, Serina Kidd, and myself. Also on this trip was a fellow C.V.A. (Carrabassett Valley Academy) student Czari Cochrane who had won the GS at the Eastern Championships to qualify and had met her goals at the Whistler cup of a top 20 finish with a 20th in Super G, and a 16th in GS. It was a great US team at Whistler this year and I really look forward to getting to race with these athletes in the future.

My main goal for this season was to make it to Whistler; I was really surprised that I not only won one event at the Eastern Championships but that I won two, the GS and Super G. These two victories led me to Whistler. Having already met my goals I felt no pressure going into the Whistler Cup. The US team flew out to Whistler a couple of days earlier than everyone else so we could do our team time trials to see the seed order we would run in the race. Over these few days of time trials we saw every type of weather: rain, snow, sleet, and even a little sun at the end. I was third both days in SL, and GS which put me into the second place in team USA 1. The first day of racing began with the Super G, the American boys cleaned up by taking 7 out of the top 15 with 3 of the top 5 spots. I came in 5th that day and had surpassed my goals of a top ten finish at the Whistler Cup. The next day was the SL, first run was a really challenging course set in which you had to hold back the horsepower and take it easy in order to finish; I was in fourth after the first run. After the second run I stood in third on the podium at the Whistler Cup-it truly was an amazing experience. In the SL the US team took only five out of the top 15. The last day was the GS, this race was my last race as a J3, I finished 14th after first run and end up 12th overall after second run. Again the US took 5 out of the top 15 and even had two on the podium, Colby Lane taking third, and Ryan Mooney winning it! Congratulations to Ryan!; Also, on the women's side an American took the first position in the Super G-Dani Brownell-Patty!!! I also later figured out with world cup points that Ryan Mooney would have come in first overall and I would have come in 3rd for the whole Whistler Cup race series. At this race series the American Team took home the first place victory of being the best J3 (k2) nation at the Whistler Cup.

The trip was not over at this point though, my dad and I stayed two days after the event had ended and we got the experience of a lifetime to free ski Whistler Blackcomb with a foot and a half of powder-it was awesome!!! In conclusion, I would like to thank those who supported me and made this event possible: the terrific coaching staff that traveled with the US team to Whistler, the Sugarloaf Ski Club, and my awesome coach Chip Cochrane!

.)) Sam Morse