Jamie- European Christmas

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and that santa came through with some good presents!

I spent my Christmas in Leogang, Austria with Nick and some fellow Kiwis and Australians. It was a relaxing day with some ice/ drifting go-carting and a big turkey feast. 

My first 2 European SX races have been frustrating. My qualifying runs did not make the cut of top 32. I had some good feeling on the skis and thought I had performed well but have been way off on the clock. In SX there is a lot of flat ski running and the first two european races have been very flat and open courses, as a result I have learnt just how important having fast skis is but also having multiple prepared skis with different wax temperatures for the always changing variables of how the snow/ weather will end up. It is a challenge preparing my own skis when the majority of my competitors have a specific ski technician but I am up for the challenge. 

The last few days I have been able to train some very aggressive rollers. It is a line of 12 rollers in a row  with the goal being to absorb and create speed. I have made some remarkable improvements in one of the important aspect of SX.  

For now it is off to the gym, a few more days training and then to catch the train up to Berlin for New Years celebration with both my brothers and a large group of NZ friends. We are all really looking forward to it and will be a good break from my hectic schedule on the snow. 

Check out some of the photos below!

I have done a heap of driving the last few weeks- Hitting the Autobahn

Puked snow for 3 days in Val Thorens

Go-carting, ice drifting

Flumseburg, Switzerland Powder day

Not a bad view...

Ski Cross has sexy dancers!

Val Thorens Start feature

San Candido- Italy

Nick- Canada part 1

Well the racing is all wrapped up in Canada for now. Little disappointing, however there are still positives I can take onwards. I will be back for the Nakiska Nor-Am finals in March to get my revenge!

I will be flying out to Europe today with the team and will meet up with Jamie in Leogang, Austria for Christmas. Then the plan is for both of us to train up to Berlin for a New Years break where we will meet Sam for a brothers reunion.

So the past two weeks racing..

 I was pumped up for the Nor-Am GS's, I was skiing well and ready to race. I skied respectively the first day, a few mistakes here and there. The 2nd day I was having a good run, 21st on the halfway split but went down on my hip 3/4 of the way down. Promising.

The Super-G track at Panorama is awesome fun, I was happy with my results in both races considering my build up prep. A couple of not quite perfect turns cost me any chance of a result.

Moving onto the FIS races, my GS performances were disappointing. Hooking a gate with my hand first day ruined any chances of a podium and then the 2nd day I had a date with the B-net. No injuries so that is a positive.

In the Slalom's I managed to score a 43 point result. Feels good to be knocking my Slalom points down, but there is definitely more room for improvement there.

To summarise the series, I would say I was guilty of scrubbing speed on a track where you have to keep your speed going all the way down to be fast.

We will have 2 weeks training before our next race to work hard and smooth out the issues exposed from the series. I am hungry to get back out there, I don't like losing!

Merry Christmas!

Nick- Pre Race

Hi.

First off, results are out and another successful year of uni is ticked off. Grades were OK, but it makes it difficult when you only get to a couple of lectures in the 2nd semester!

My big news is, I have to been awarded an Inspire Foundation Grant. It is a real privilege to be involved with such a great foundation and I am looking forward to attending the awesome workshops they run when I get back to NZ. The opportunity to surround myself with other top athletes from Canterbury will be very beneficial.

On snow my skiing has been progressing really nicely. My GS is fast and even my Slalom is ripping! Super-G I have been struggling to find my platform at the top of the turn, but it is coming along.

The first races of the season will begin on Wednesday, here at Panorama. These races are a Nor-Am Cup with 2xSL, 2xGS and 2xSG. After that, we will have 2xGS and 2xSL FIS races, again at Panorama before flying out to Austria on the 23rd.

I am excited to get my race season under way. I have had great training over the last month which has set my base for the season, everything is going to plan. I feel good.

Dumping snow.

Jamie- World Cup SX Debut

I have just completed my first Ski Cross World Cup at Nakiska, Canada.
The race track was amazing with lots of different features over the 1.2km long course. I had a blast with the training runs and was ready to attack. Each skier of the 70 male athletes/ 19 countries has to qualify (individual time trial) in order to make it through to the final knockout rounds of the top 32 men.
In the qualifying run I skied aggressively attacking the line where I could and ended up sooooo close to making the cut, only a whisker 0.07sec short. There were a few jumps where I got more air than expected, costing valuable time. So it was a mixed bag of feelings, proud to have put down a competitive run and pleased to beat some skiers who have previously won SX World Cups but frustrated at being oh so close to that next stage.

This has left me even more hungry to put in the hard work and try and be more competitive in this sport. Unfortunately I am not able to make it the next WC race in Colorado, USA, however I fly to Europe tomorrow and will be getting some equipment sorted and prepared for the next Audi World Cup in Val Thorens, France on the 18th December, so stay tuned for updates and follow me on my journey around the circuit.

Hope you enjoy the photos/ video below.

Canadian Traffic

Ski Testing

My turn- Driving an Audi S4 2013 during the Audi Driving Experience  

Inspection with the Aussy's 

Mens Final

World Cup Debut

Snowmible jump beside the SX finish area

Upside down snowmobile 

Special thanks to internationalracer.com for letting me use their base in Canmore- Check out their website.

A few bumps and bruisers

(25th November)

Our first training block is almost over. Jamie will be heading to Canmore on Sunday, while Nick will be joined by Nils and the team in Panorama on Monday. For this last week, we have had a great block of GS, training with the Australian Ski X team and Quebec team.

The bad news... Jamie dislocated his hand on Monday and had to wait a long 4 hours before it was put back in place. This has resulted in torn ligaments around his thumb. He has been in a cast for the last 4 days and is hitching his way to Invermere today to get a better/smaller version made. He has managed to train (with a couple of socks over his hand) and hoping it will not cause him too many troubles pushing out of the start gate in Ski X.

Nick has had a few good crashes throughout the week leaving him with some decent bruises on his hips and legs. But pushing boundaries is all part of this learning phase.

The good news... Due to limited runs open at the moment, we have had high numbers of athletes training in our courses. This has meant the snow surface is just like it is in a race. Has been a huge benefit training in these conditions. Even though we have had our frustrating moments, we have progressed each day and have learnt a great deal.

It is now time for us to split up and continue on our own paths. We will keep you updated on what each of us are up to. Coming up we have; Jamie racing his first World Cup Ski X at Nakiska on the 7th December and Nick begins his racing season with the Nor-Ams at Panorama on the 14th December.

Hope you enjoy the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xZmU4LbOlA