Racing, Forerunning, and Jumping!

Since my last blog, my skiing can be summed up in three words: racing, jumping and forerunning. Two weekends ago, I had my GS qualifier at Park City. Then I spent the week doing super G flight training and then I had a weekend of forerunning.

Going into the GS race, I did not have any GS qualification points for JOs and as it is a seeded race, I needed to finish both days. The sun was shining and, below a few inches of soft snow from a previous snowfall, there was a firm layer perfect for racing. On Saturday, with the finish line my only goal, I had a very conservative yet clean first run. On second run however, I hit an ice patch on the pitch and slid out. I tried to make a turn up hill and still make the gate, but instead got caught in the soft snow that had been slipped off the main track and ended up falling down even farther. Determined to finish, I made the mistake of hiking the steepest part of the hill. I later found out that by the time I had finally horseshoed the gate, the next racer was only two gates behind me. The turn was blind so neither of us had any way of knowing. Luckily, I skied the bottom section very well so by the time we finished, I was quite a few gates in front. I had lost the chance to place in the top seed, and if I did not finish Sunday, I would be starting in the 90s. With not an ounce of aggression, on Sunday I put together two solid runs that left me in third.

We spent the week after the GS race super G free skiing and jumping. The jumps in McCall are small and although a race is never won at a jump, it can certainly be lost there. Feeling comfortable in the air is necessary to being mentally prepared for race day. If you are skiing the entire course worrying about the jumps, chances are you are not skiing very well. I have never been an incredible jumper but I have never been too fearful of flight either. However, this year, something clicked in my fight training. In just a few jumps, I went from soaring through the air like a starfish to a confident jumper with incredible technique and timing. I have been taking a sports psychology class with my ski team. I have been trying various mental approaches to skiing and seeing how they turn out. One that has proven to work well is saying a mantra out loud while I ski or I am in the start gate. These can vary from ‘hips forward’ to ‘quick transitions’. Saying these words helps block out all other thoughts. If I just concentrate on one thing, muscle memory and my natural ability to ski take care of the rest. The game changer in my jumping skills was saying ‘stay tight’. If all I think about is staying compact in the air, everything else comes naturally. Having the confidence to get big air is definitely a skill that will come in handy.

I finished the week by forerunning for the South Series held at Park City. It felt so good to take a break from training and just have fun. There is no better way to spend a Saturday than to run a tight, 30-second slalom with 25mm gates and no nerves or other race day stress.

 .)) Molly Leavens

Burcin's Blog: Suicide Six!

Hey Guys, It’s that time of year where the schedule is packed with races. Since the last time I blogged a little less than two weeks ago, I have had 2 slalom races, 2 GS races, 2 downhill training runs, and 2 downhill races. It has been busy but it is my favorite time of the year because I get to do what I love, to race! Anyway here are some of the highlights from those races.

First, I raced a USSA slalom race at Suicide Six, Vermont as a little fun race before I went to speed week in Sugarloaf, Maine the next week. I had two solid runs and came in second overall, first for J-2’s. Then, I went to speed week in Sugarloaf for 5 days of speed.

The first day was a sort of warm up camp with 4 different speed “stations”. The first two stations were jumps, the third station was a wave track, and the final station was a glide course. It was a great way to get back on downhill skis since we rarely get on downhill skis in the east. The rest of the week, we got 2 training runs and 2 race runs. I was pretty consistent throughout the runs, coming in the mid-20’s almost all of the runs. I was pretty happy with that since I am more of a tech skier, however I love to run speed.

After speed week, I raced the fisk cup, the oldest FIS race in the US. It is slalom at Suicide Six, Vermont, which always has a stacked field. I didn’t have a great day but it was a really fun race and I got to see some really fast skiing. Most recently, I had two FIS GS races at Whiteface, New York. The first day, I had a little trouble my first run but made some of it back on my second run and finished in 14th. The second day, I tried to ski really aggressive and unfortunately couldn’t hang on and DNFed. Next, I am off to Stratton, Vermont for a 3-day series with 1 GS and 2 slalom races. I have had a few good days of training and I am really looking forward to going fast in these races!

Good luck to everyone the rest of the season!

 .)) Kyle Burcin

Just Kidding: First NorAm's!

HEY SRD! Wow my season started out to a bad start but it just keeps getting better and better and better! lately I was just in Winter Park for speed week. It was a really great experience and it boosted my confidence in speed some more! On the first day of the Downhill race I had a pretty good result with 2nd for j2's (and I don't remember overall), and on the second day I got 4th place overall and 1st for j2's!!! :) Later that week we had Super G, the first day of the Super G race got canceled because we had too much snow but we got in some sick powder skiing! The following day we raced both Super G's, in the first Super G race I finished 2nd for j2's, and in the second Super G race I finished 3rd for j2's.

Last week I went to my very first NorAm race! This was a news flash. Although the race was really fun! I started last and second to last every race although it really wasn't to bad because they kept the course in considerably really good shape! The first gs I did not finish but the second one I think I finished some where in the bottom 10 but top 5 for j2's.. and I only raced one day of sl but I scored NorAm points!!! WHOOO!
 
I have now qualified 3/7 of the automatics for j2 nationals! So I'm looking forward to going down to Mammoth, California in a few weeks!

.)) Serina Kidd