Split Timing

Hey everybody! Hope you all are having an awesome ski season! I have a few results to share with you all...

Last week I competed in the Sun Cup held at Mt. Bachelor, OR. It was a speed series that included 2 Super G's and 2 Downhills. There was heavy snowfall for both the Super G's so running early was a pretty large disadvantage. I placed 5th in the first Super G and 1st in the second Super G! I was surprised by the win because I started second for that run, but I'll take it! The win scored me a USSA result of 62 points!! The downhill was very fun, and I placed 3rd and 5th, which lowered my points as well. I was second overall for the entire series (just barely out of first!).

In other news, I just got back from the Oregon State Championships for high school racing which ended yesterday. There were a lot of FIS/USSA racers there which made for some awesome competition! I was racing for my awesome high school of West Linn. I won both runs of the slalom which gave me the slalom victory. In GS, I was in 3rd after a very sloppy first run (0.5 seconds out of first) and on my second run I hooked my arm in gate and came to a complete stop. Unlucky, but I still managed to get 4th for GS! Pretty good for running 29th on very soft snow. Thanks to my large lead in slalom, I won state overall! My teammate McKenzie Burns won the overall for girls as well. West Linn Boys won the GS, SL, and Team overall, and West Linn got 3rd for the entire competition. Pretty awesome!!

I have Western Region Championships at Bogus Basin, ID on Tuesday the 8th, and I'm very excited to race there because the mountain is awesome!

Well that's all for now folks, hope you all are having as much fun this season as I am! See ya next time!

.)) Stephan Splitstosser

Pain in Panorama

A few weeks ago my team and I traveled to Panorama, Canada for some early season training! After enduring the painful 15hr drive through snow and ice (God bless our coaches for driving) we finally arrived in Panorama, greeting us with a chilly -20F degrees.

The training was amazing!! The only downside to the trip was that I got frostbite on the tip of my big toe. I had to take a day off skiing but it's all better now! Luckily it was not very severe.

I am very confident with my abilities going into this season and I've got a feeling it will be an awesome one in both competition results and ski conditions! Mt. Hood is actually getting snow this year! Hooray!

.)) Stephen Splitstosser

First SRD shirt in Panama?

Hey everyone! Hope you all have had an amazing summer! The subject of this blog may not be on the same page as skiing, or not even the same book, but it was still awesome!

My family and I traveled to Panama for about two weeks to visit a few of my aunts (Mom's side, born in Guatemala) and cousins. We stayed just outside of skyscraper-filled Panama City in a very nice home. While down there we went to a baptism for my new cousin (only three months old), went snorkeling in the Caribbean, visited the Panama Canal, bought some cheap Nike products at an insanely large mall, and messed around in the rain forest.

The definite highlight of the trip was when we stayed at Playa Blanca on the Pacific. It's an all-inclusive resort with huge pools, food and drinks on demand, pool-bars, and awesome music. Not only does this resort border the largest ocean in the world, it also has the largest pool in all of Latin America as well.

The best part was swimming on top of the huge waves in the ocean with my dad. Well that's my trip for ya! Now back to the prison of boredom known as "school" which begins on the 8th for me. See ya later!

.)) Stephan

Splits at the World Cup Dreams Event

(Here I am pictured with Andrew and holding up his medal, he spilled some water on himself shortly before this picture)

Hey everyone! Last week I was lucky enough to participate in the World Cup Dreams Foundation camp. It was a two day camp, barbecue, and auction/dinner at the Multnomah Athletic Club.

On Saturday, I skied slalom with 2010 US Olympian Jake Zamansky and did some GS turns with Kevin Francis. On Sunday, I jumped around skiing with Scott Macartney and 2010 Olympic Super G Bronze Medalist Andrew Weibrecht. I was lucky enough to wear his Olympic medal, and DANG that thing was heavy!

Other athletes who were there were Dane Spencer, Laurenne Ross, Keely Keleher, Leanne Smith, Alice McKennis, and Bryon Friedman (Didn't ski). The camp was a blast. I learned a lot just by watching these amazing skiiers do their thing, but I also learned through the tips and advice that they gave me. It was truly an awesome experience to get to know these guys and hear some of their stories growing up and while on the Team.

Willy Scroggins did an awesome job putting the event together and I hope to do this camp next summer!

Come visit Marc and I at the SRD Race Bus at Camp SRD in downtown Govy at Mt. Hood! Goodbye everyone!

.)) Stephan Splitstosser