Morse Code: Racin'

I recently had the opportunity to race in the Eastern Cups at Whiteface, NY. It was a battle from the back each day, first runs were always super rough because holes just appeared everywhere. It was classical Whiteface weather with a rainy foggy drizzly but pretty warm out which was the only nice part of the weather.

There were two gs's and two sl's. I started in the 120's every day, I scored under a hundred but it wasn't about the points, it was more about the experience of skiing with the big boys. I got 2 silvers and a gold for J2's that week.

Then I came home to some awesome Super-G Eastern Cup races at the Loaf. I started 101 and 103 and scored a 93 and 83, giving me 88 Super-G fis points after TWO races! I think it was the new S.R.D. socks which I have been wearing which are just killer, you would be amazed how many compliments I get in the lodge from my bright colored colored S.R.D. ski socks.

With my 88 Super-G points I am 15th in the US for J2's and 9th in the world for my age (96').

I head off tomorrow morning for two FIS Devo gs races at Sugarbush in VT, wish me luck! Ski wicked fast to all those racing!

.)) Sam Morse

Somewhere, over tha Atlantic...

Hey everyone, it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged, but I’ve also been on the road, with lots of great stories!

As I’m writing this, I’m on the plane coming home from a 17 day trip in Europe with the Western Region. It was such a great experience! 7 girls were invited based on results from the NorAms in Panorama, Canada. The girls were me, Emma Naatz, Courtney Altringer, Haley Hanseler, Jackie Wiles, Morganne Murphy and Lena Andrews. Overall it was a great group to go with because we all got along great, which made the trip pain-free with no “girl-drama”.

I learned a lot about my skiing in Europe, and got to take a step back and redefine my approach to this crazy sport. The trip started off with a training day in Soelden, Austria; which was supposed to be a two day training block, but because of heavy snow and canceled races, we decided to drive 7 hours to Morzine, France where there were 2 GS races and a SL. In the SL, I finished 21st, moving up 8 places which I thought was a good result off of only 4 days of SL training this year! The GS races got canceled, so we packed up, and moved to Temu, Italy for a couple of days. In Temu there were 2 GS races. The first day, I did not finish, and the next day I backed it up with some not-so-great skiing.

After Temu, we got back on the road and headed to Folgaria, Italy where we skied 1 GS race where I had a killer first run, followed by a did not finish for 2nd run, but I was happy with my skiing. After that GS, we once again packed our bags and headed to Abetone for 1 SL and 1 GS. Both days, I wasn’t focused, as well as out of energy resulting from all the traveling, and didn’t do too great.

After Abetone, we got to take a day off and drove to Paganella, Italy where we walked around and shopped. That night we drove to Zillertal, Austria where we stayed in an actual farm house with cows! That night it snowed a bunch, and in the morning we had to put on chains just to get out of the driveway. The girls watched as me and my two coaches figured out how to put the chains on in less than 10 minutes to get to inspection!

The SL at Zillertall was probably the hardest race I will see all year. Girls from the World Cup showed up, and we got to see Hailey Duke! Because of all the snow, the conditions of the SL were extreme. The ruts were about waist-high by the time the 30th skier went, and I got to run 66th! Luckily I am from the northwest and I know how to survive. I skied from 66th to 48th, and then from 48th to around 35th after second run! Lots of girls DNFed, but it was so cool to see those World Cup girls tough out the waist-high holes at about every gate.

That day we decided to ditch the SL the next day, and that night we drove to Val Di Fassa, Italy for 2 final GS races where we got to race with the D Team! It was a great hill that reminded me a lot of home (flats, with one mild pitch). After a couple sour GS races, I turned my anger to fuel and pulled off some good runs! Both days, my first runs went great, followed by mild mistakes in the 2nd runs, but at the end of the trip I look back and see how much I learned and improved on this project. I want to thank Karin Harjo for all the hard work she did, and how great she was at putting up with all of us!

For about 5-7 nights in a row, we would usually be at one resort, pack up and move to another in under an hour and have to race the next day! The trip was all about the attitude of “wingin’ it” -consisting of waxing/scraping on the side of buildings, staying with cows, and getting lost too many times to count!

The next three weeks, I will be at home training and going to school. My next race will be Hampton Cup at Mission Ridge, and the Snow King at the end of Febuary! I haven’t gone to school in 29 days, so tomorrow will be very interesting!

P.S. Good job Alex Leaver at the Youth Olympic Games at Innsbruck for his top 10! Way to rep SRD!

.)) Anna Mounsey

Leave it to Leever: Youth Olympic Games!

Two races down, two to go. I have been so busy as of late that I have had literally no time to do anything at all.

Saturday and Sunday were the super g and the super combined respectively, and both were a blast. I have raced super g four or five times in the past few years so I really haven’t had much experience with the skills required for it. I was bib 17 for the day, a better bib than I would have expected for having 95 super g points. I felt like I had a decent run, I made a pretty big mistake in this middle crazy section of the course but I skied really well above and below that. When I got down I was a little disappointed with my time but I had a great split so I knew that I was flying. I was only 0.3 out after almost 40 seconds so I knew that without that mistake I could have been in contention for a podium spot. The middle part of the course was absolutely crazy and bizarre. You come over a left-footer roll, go through two big gs-like turns, a right-footer delay to a left-footer delay that was about a 90 degree turn. The next gate after the 2nd delay was a chicane gate that went straight into a 3-gate left-footed corridor for about 100+ meters on the flats. You finished the 3-gate corridor over a knoll into another 90 degree right-footer off the jump. Needless to say, it was pretty confusing and only 2 of the first 7 made it through there.

The super combined, one run of super g and one run of slalom combined together, was one of the most fun days racing I have ever had. They redressed the super g from the day before, so there was no major changes. I knew what I had to do to improve on the day before so I was confident in my abilities. I was bib 25 for the race because I had no super combined points, only about 20 people had points for the race which made the penalty at the end a remarkable 90. I skied the whole run really well and I felt great about the run when I went through the finish. A lot more guys finished that run than the day before so I wasn’t too surprised to see myself a little back. I thought I improved on my second time down, but so did everyone else. I was 2.6 out after the super g and slid back from 16th when I came through the finish line to 25th after everyone came down.

However, this actually worked to my advantage because I was still the same amount of time away from the leader while all these people who were finishing in front of me were just giving me a better start position for the slalom portion (after the super g, the top 30 are reversed for the second run). I got to go 6th out of the gate for the slalom, and the course was perfect. I was a little unsure of myself for a while before the start but Peter got me back into the right mindset. I really attribute so much of my success to him, he has a way of making you believe that you are one of the best skiers out there and that if you ski well you will be happy with the results. I had been doubting myself because of the points that the top guys had, but Peter fixed me right before my run. Thank you Peter!!!

I watched the guy who went right before me and knew that I could crush this race. I went down the course and went almost as hard as I can and when I got to the finish I knew that it was a really good run. I looked up on the scoreboard and saw my name there and just fist pumped in the air. I had to go to equipment control right after and it took me about the time of three or four people for me to finish; I kept peeking my head out of the tent as the guys came down to see if I was still in the lead. I kept the lead for a while, then one guy knocked me down, then I held that position, then another knocked me down, and then I fell off the board. I knew I didn’t have a real chance for the podium after my first run but I still hoped and it was a little disappointing seeing my name fall off the leader board. I finished the race in 10th place overall, a great position after my first run. I was 4th on the run (.23 out of the fastest) so that gives me a lot of confidence for the slalom on Saturday.

A lot of my family and my girlfriend will be there for that race so I’m exited to try and make them proud in the slalom and GS.

.)) Alex Leever