Ryan Welch one of my favorite coaches at New Hampton School.

Franconia, New Hampshire – It was 8:20 AM two weeks ago, I was standing in the swaying tram – one of two on the east coast  – with a rat pack of young rippers.  Catching the first tram is a rite of passage at Cannon Mountain and it’s filled with diehards.  Franconia Ski Club (“FSC” if you’re part of the in crowd) doesn’t start until 8:30 AM so the most motivated kids can catch the first tram before training commences.  I’m with 15 or so of those kids.  The guy next to me with his fat boards (wide powder skis) – one’s that are only worth skiing on a couple times a year on the east coast – explains, “Yeah, I spent the night in parking lot.  I’m so psyched to rip this!”  From the look of him, I wouldn’t put it past this guy with a scruffy face, an old North Face jacket, and a couple crooked teeth that made up his happy go lucky smile.   For a brief second, it felt like we were on the Snowbird tram going up for some fresh powder, but no we’re at Cannon Mountian.  I love skiing in New Hampshire, not just because I’m from here, but because there are so many people just fired up to ski on that morning’s dust on crust.  It snowed a whooping 4 inches a little more than 24 hours before and people were still fired up to find good snow.  The tram reached maximum capacity of 70 + 1 (the operator) as the 15 or so kids from FSC and I were chomping at the bit arguing over whether to dominate Upper Ravine or Profile.  Ski racing is an individual sport, but skiing definitely is not.  The intensity of charging the mountain is a function of who you’re skiing with.  When it’s a collection of competitive good skiers the fun level only increases.

As the tram came to a snail’s pace and smashed the left side of the landed platform it was time to turn down the suck.  The tram entrance opens and it was a fury of young and old running, boxing out, and slipping by to get to the snow first.   We all hustled to the top of Ravine, quickly buckled our boots.  Some of the kids had done that in the gondola and got fired up for a Chinese downhill.  Those of you that don’t know a Chinese Downhill is like skier cross down an open trail.  It’s a race to the bottom and the only rule is there are no rules.  Upper Ravine is a really turny trail that swings like a natural GS course – it’s perfect for a Chinese downhill.  We all picked up our poles on a count of three and got into our tucks and sent it down Upper Ravine.    My Head skis were running a bit more than anyone else’s and I took the lead and was able to cut the line off pretty much all the way to the bottom.  Passing in those situations is super fun, but a little sketchy.  When you’re in pole position it’s just really nice when it’s the first turns of the day haha.  That was these little rippers warm up before training and I have to say, I was totally pumped to be part of it!!  Not to mention, we did that and what is called a “jail break” – that is pretty much the same thing as a Chinese downhill, but it’s more about 50 little racers all going down the mountain at the same time.  And yes, it is a bit sketchy, but that is inherently what skiing is all about.

My weekend at Cannon was a ton of fun.  I still love you Gunstock, but the terrain up there is the best in New Hampshire.  Over two days as you can see I felt a bit like a puppy dog, but getting more attention than it deserved.  I skied with nearly every group over the two days and it was tons of fun. 

Rollin with the J6s after some serious one ski drills.

That’s right.  There is a Jamician Ski Team member up there.  Errol, everyone still loves your gear.

Yeah… more pictures haha

Cannon J3 Team and where I learned the term, “Jail Break!”  When you hear that go first or last.

Proper J6 team photo!  The team with 3 rules: have fun, be smart, get better.

Cannon J5 Team – this group sent it off the jumps in the terrain park like no other!  I was impressed!

Cannon J4 Team and my old pimping coach Ryan Welch.  What a pleasure.

I was cleaning out my carry-on bag – which only happens a couple times a year – and I find all sorts of random/exciting things like:

The main compartment…

One of the front pockets…

• Lots of Headbands
• Maui Jim and Dicks Cottons Sunglasses
• Extra Todi shoes
• Booster Strap
• X Games Credential
• Various medicine Volaren Gel (I this is yours, Jon), Brufen, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, Celebrex, Ambien (for international flights), Biofreeze, Arnica, Vitamin C, Fish Oil, Adrenal Supplements, Sunblock, and Superglue.
• Wires
• Extra pair of Todi Shoes
• Soxs
• Chargers
• Soap
• Hans Olsson‘s iphone – i think i owe you 80 euros for that one haha
• A couple To Do lists
• Tons of random coins
• Car Keys – not yours Charles – I wish I had some good news for you!
• A parking ticket

One thing about Charles is that he always fits everything in – every race, training, class – you name it and he makes it happen.   I am genuinely  impressed that Charles was able to get a parking ticket in Breckenridge, Colorado when he were traveling around Europe.  This globetrotter brings everything to new levels – you’re killing it, buddy.

Looks like you can’t park in Lot F at night.

Here are some instruction.   My favorite is the “pay within 10 days!”  You really should have gotten on that one.  So if you get a boot on your tire or if you car is towed in Breck you’ll know why.

I still don’t understand why it was in my carry-on.  Any thoughts??

I was trying to figure out what I was doing on the night of January 15, 2011.  I might have been visiting a couple friends at a bachelorette party… in Breck.   haha  love ya buddy!

Welcome home from Bulgaria!!

Vail, CO – Cody Marshall is a great friend and a phenomenal skier.  I was lucky enough to be his coach as he foreran the Men’s and Women’s slaloms at the MacDermid Nor-Am races in Vail, Colorado.

Cody and I have a long history of racing together, rooming together, and sometimes even hating each other after really long Europe trips.   But more than anything else, just being good friends.  Two years ago at Eastern Cup Finals in Killington – near Cody’s home of Pittsfield, VT – Cody came up on the hill for two miserably, rainy days to coach me.  After first run, I think I was in 8^th, he proceeded to completely rip me apart and the rest of the field for sucking sooo hard.  He had been on snow a handful of times, but wasn’t ready to train or race yet.  Literally he spent 5 minutes tearing me apart for not dropping my knees in hard enough and skiing like an 8 year old.  To say he was disappointed would be a massive understatement.  I looked at him and couldn’t really believe what he was saying.  I hadn’t put on a pair of slalom skis in months and was just up there having fun; but after embracing his fury, I realized he was totally right.  I sucked and the field wasn’t  killing it as I wasn’t all that far off.  With his inspiration, I won second run moved up to third and was happy to thank him at the end of the day.  We were both pretty psyched.

The reason Cody isn’t racing now is because two and a half years ago he fell about 30 feet on to his head from a hand railing.  “He was in the hospital for seven weeks after sustaining a traumatic brain injury on July 15 2009.  A subdural hematoma, fractured skull, brain surgery, a coma, seizures, seven fractured ribs, a splenectomy, and blood clots are a list of some of the more serious problems he had while in the hospital. Cody had to learn how to breathe, talk, walk, and swallow all over again. It was two weeks after he awoke from my coma  before he learned that I wasn’t in a “hotel in Canada.” – From the homepage of his website.

Cody and I have always had a way of firing each other up when one of us  is too hurt to race, we focus all our energy on energizing the other one.  After first run in San Candido, Italy, I blew out and Cody was in second.  The rest of the Europa Cup Team left Europe so it was just the two of us racing for the ski team.  I blew out and was in the finish second run.  There was a decent pitch on the bottom and I could see everything that really mattered in the course from the my vantage point.  I jumped on the radio a few before he went to explain, “The course has a solid grove, the snow is a little soft,  it’s really important to work that groove, set up one turn on the pitch coming into the first hairpin and everything was totally money.  You got this.  You’re going to crush it!!”  Cody came over the roll ripping, nailed the hairpin, and won the race by over a second.

When Cody decided to come to Vail to forerun for two days, I was overjoyed to be his coach.  The ski team coaches totally support him and want the best for him.  However, their legal/medical team thinks he is too much of a liability so they refuse to clear him to ski, which means he can’t train, be coached, or race for the ski team.  It’s classic ski team administrative bullshit.  Even though he passed the ski team impact test and his doctors – that have worked with him throughout the last two years – cleared him to train and race over a year ago.

When you ask Cody about his future ski racing, he’s not really sure what he wants to do.  Money is tight, he’s doing some coaching, and he’s not sure he has what it takes to be a competitive World Cupers.  When he first saw the extremely high level of skiing at the MacDermid Nor Am Cup races here, he didn’t even see how skiing at that level was even possible again, which is understanding.  The level is so high right now.  It was great to see a bunch of friends and young guns absolutely killing it at Vail.  It’s been almost three years since he scored World Cup points in Slalom, but he was back in the gate and everyone was psyched to see it.  I was in the finish talking to Canadian Olympian Trevor White and he kindly said, “I was on the lift and immediately recognized Cody forerunning.  It’s great to see his distinct style back in the gate.  He was dropping his inside shoulder a little, but it’s just great to see him here.”  That was the sentiment from coaches, athletes, and the rest.  It’s great to see Cody back in the gate.

Chelsea, me, Tucker, and Cody Marshall.  An epic family shot!  Too bad I’m in it haha.

Megan and Cody… so cute.

The first day of forerunning, Cody made some strides.  It’s was great to see, but the second day I came down on him.  He was definitely sucking for a World Cup slalom skier.  He was killing it for someone that sustained an injury as serious as he did.  It’s amazing that he’s back on his skis; but let’s be serious, Cody wants more than just being able to get around a couple gates.  At this point, he had completed 6 of the total 8 runs of forerunning (in two days) and the top of his turn was just too damn soft.  He wasn’t committing to his ski the way he used to, he wasn’t bringing confident intensity to the front of his boot that immediately transfers to the tip of his skis, which creates – the one thing that matters in the sport – raw speed.  When he was over his skis and committed it was good, but not great.  He was missing the snap out of his skis.

I told him about the soft top of the turn and then told him it was time to get fired up!  I told him I was going to be at the start to fire him up and I’d do whatever it takes to get him going.  “I can’t wait to start punching you up there!” I said not unkindly.  He immediately said that’s not what he wanted.  He needed more miles and I completely disagreed.  He needed some intensity.

Before his next run, he admitted I was right.  He needed some fire.  We started doing a punching sequence.  Where I was the trainer and he was the boxer.  Jab, jab, cross, upercut.  Jab, jab, cross, uppercut.  He was starting to get fired up.  I was psyched.  I told him, “I’d be overjoyed if he brought intensity to 5 turns and blewout of the course.”  We all wanted to see him snap off some nasty turn.  He went out of the gate with good intensity and had it for a few gates.  I was overjoyed.  On the lower section he broke a couple gates and then cruised to the finish.  He was ready.

Us at the start!!

There was one final run left.  It had been two long days, but he was fired up.  We went back to the old jab, jab, cross, uppercut again and again.  He said with a smile, “It’s a lot easier to not feel like a piece of shit, when you don’t ski like a piece of shit the whole way down.”   I had to write this one down on the spot because it was just too damn funny.  With both of us laughing we were psyched.  I once again explained how he should arc and hammer as hard as he can.  Who cares if he blows out after a couple gates.  Demo, an ex-ski team service man, clipped him into his skis and it was game time!  I slid down to watch and the old Cody Marshall exploded out of the gate.  He snapped of 5 nasty turns and was going far faster than he had in years.  He was bringing all of his intensity into the front of his boot.  He got a bit late and his intensity was still at an all time high, but wasn’t quite as good.  Who cares?  I was overjoyed to see him make a few turns that were at the same level as some of the top skiers in the world.  Cody was racing again!

I don’t know where his professional ski racing future is headed – it is still a long road – but I do know this is exactly what he needs right now.  He needs to know for himself that he can compete at a high level again.  Much like the Ah Hah moment Dane Spencer had three years after his serious injury when Dane won the second run of a Europa Cup GS by over a second in Meribel, France he knew he was back in the game.  After that season, he moved on to coaching, but it was so impressive and inspirational to watch and see Dane prove he had it.

In the finish Cody explained, “That was the first time I was looking for speed since I got hurt.  I just need to remember to bring that kind of intensity everyday I ski.”  The smile on his face and twinkle in his eye made it clear Cody’s desire to be competitive is still strong.

Oh and by the way, Cody won the women’s race the first day!  Booyeah!

Here are some shots of him and us along the way.

Vail, Colorado – Bob Goddard, one of my favorite fellow rehabbers, was in dire need of a coach so I jumped at the opportunity.  Bob – at the tender age of 57 – is battling serious nerve damage to his hips due originally to a mountaineering accident 18 months ago.  Since his accident, he has undergone surgery on bi-lateral sports hernias and bi-lateral labral tears.   Since October and his first labral surgery, he has seen huge improvements.  Only 5 months ago, one of his doctor told him he needed to completely limit his walking to only exercise in a pool.  After hearing that in Atlanta, Georgia, he uprooted his life as a real estate executive to completely focus all of his effort on recovering in Vail, Colorado at Howard Head.  Bob needed a coach/secretary for his interval spin workout so I was psyched to give this sarcastic, kind, and gentle friend a little beat down.  Bob is pretty awesome.   It’s not just his endless generosity, smile, or classic entertaining banter so visible on the surface; it’s his observant, perceptive competitiveness that fires us up.

Mike getting Bob ready for me.

There are a number of people at Howard Head with similar stories of uprooting their lives to make sure their rehab is most effective.  After spending a couple days here, it is clear Howard Head is not your average physical therapy center where you’re given a few exercises, pushed out the back door, with regular work hours.   Howard Head is open 12 hours a day everyday.  Bob and I are among the luckiest ones to have Mike Wahoff as our peerless lead therapist.  Mike like almost everyone at Howard Head is pretty kickass.  He’s constantly seeing as many patients as possible and completely willing to help and educate anyone with a keen eye.  I owe much of my rehab success to Mike and so does Bob.  But it is Mike that has created a unique social support team for fellow rehabbers to unite, persevere, and conquer.  It’s his unwavering commitment that makes all of us work together to help each other persevere our former glory.  I have to say it’s a lot easier to be battling along side comrades as the rehabilitation road is often fraught with unexpected obstacles.  A support team is crucial to success.

Mike and his sidekick Topper Hagerman, who owns Howard Head, weren’t able to administer Bob’s grueling 34 minute workout so – like any proper teammate – I jumped at the opportunity to help my fellow comrade rather than just hammering through my workout.

Game Time!

It was 10:20 AM and game time for Bob.  He just finished stretching and confidently strolled to his stationary bike, set the seat height, and slowly tossed his right leg over the seat – something he could barely accomplish 3 months ago.  It was time for battle and his eyes filled with determination demonstrating how prepared he was for this fray.  Bob started with a slow warm up, before I took over as his coach to tell him exactly how long to spin at a certain level and RPM.  During first two sets he was struggling a little from an ongoing cold that plagued him – one that is circulating the Vail Valley and especially Howard Head – but he soon hit his stride.

Time to turn down the suck and turn up the good!

In the end – during his final push – Bob went for 2 full minutes at level 7, at 120-130 RPM before his heart rate peaked at 173 beats per minutes (at age 57 an average max heart rate is 163).  It was an impressive final push.  For many of you that haven’t had nerve damage it’s hard to comprehend the magnitude of this accomplishment.  It is a very painful, slow process that takes a small step back before each step forward.  I felt the glory of his victory as his competitive nature and commitment to getting back on the mountain are as strong as ever.   Bob, your charge to fight back is starting to show your deserved rewards.

Spinning it out.

Bob’s interval summary.

Bob’s excitement is obvious.  Too bad our overly paid photographer can’t get a focused shot.  Good times at Howard Head.

Just before my great buddy and roommate Charles Christianson left for Europe he said, “I’m putting my keys right here, if you need to use my car” with a look in his eyes that said please don’t destroy my car.   Over the last two weeks, I have certainly used his car.  Just so you know, Charles,  there are an extra 1200 miles on your rig.  Thanks.  I really don’t remember driving it that much, but the odometer doesn’t lie.

When I first started driving his 2003 Passat Wagon, I felt like it was on the verge of a serious, catastrophic disaster.  The exhaust was quite loud and the car just wasn’t running all that well.  Every time I turned it on, I was pretty bummed I was driving it, but as time when on, I just kept doing it.  It felt like I was a smoker knowing it was a terrible habit, but I just keep doing because it’s so easy.  I was taking great care of the car.  I cleaned it out, washed it, and was driving like granny.

However, the damn car just kept getting louder.   Charles arrives back here on Saturday and I offered to pick him up at DIA; but instead, I’ll be in Aspen cheering on some friends at X Games so I had to get his car to Denver.  Telling him to take a shuttle service was out of the question so I planned an easy round trip to drop it off and pick up a rental car for my last two weeks in Colorado.  At 4:00 PM, Roger, Ian’s dog, and I took off to Denver and she was running really poorly.  But Roger was pretty satisfied laying on my arm.  His head is really heavy. 

That all changed as we were driving over Vail Pass.   It went from loud to ridiculously, painfully loud.  Literally, I cranked Leif’s hot Euro beats CD to 100 percent volume, but it still sounded like I was sitting inside one of the cylinders.  I needed to find someone to fix this ASAP.  There was no way I could give Charles his car back in this condition.  At 4:45 PM I approached Idaho Springs and thought there must be a welder around here somewhere so I pulled in.   I found two welding shops.

And both of them were about to close.  Bummed with two ears ready to explode I drove on.  I really wanted to find a podunk auto or welding shop that could help me without totally sticking it to me.  A few exits later, after driving up a hill and the piercing cacophony was at an all time high, I swerved toward the exit, at the end of the off ramp I turned right, and realized there weren’t any shops in this town so blew through a stop sign because a damn tourist was going so slow I couldn’t handle it.   I quickly was mirroring I-70 looking for a place to get back on.  Roger wouldn’t sit still anymore.   He was just standing up then sitting down again and again.  My head was pounding and I was really hungry as I missed lunch – not the best combination for good decision making.

Seeing a No Outlet sign was pretty dreadful since there was a hill and I couldn’t stand stepping on the gas because the car was so loud.  I could take it, but Roger was pretty bummed out.

Turns out when I blew through that stop sign and saw the I-70 sign it also said, NO ACCESS.   Maybe I should have been paying a little more attention haha.

At this point, I was demoralized as my ears were ringing.  I felt pretty bad for Roger and just wanted to get out of the car.  It was 5:30 PM and right as we got off our exit in Denver, I saw a Midas and drove in.  They seemed pretty nice and said they were open at 7 AM the next morning and could check out the exhaust leak so at least I had one place willing to help.  I had a nice dinner with Dave Dodge, the founder and lead engineer for Dodge Boots, at the SIA show in Denver and went to bed exhausted.   I got up bright and earlier to rip over to Midas as their doors opened.  They put Charles rig up on the lift and we saw this:

Which I saw and was back to being demoralized.   Matt the welder also explained how once one flex pipe goes, there is a lot of pressure on the other one.   Either way, we had a serious issue.  2 flex pipes were rusted out and the whole assembly was four catalytic converters one on either side of each flex pipe.  Damn it.  They priced out a full fix of around 1400 dollars.  Matt, super welder, figured he could cut off the welds of the flex pipes, order 2 new ones and weld it all back together, hopefully without taking the entire thing apart.  I assured him he could definitely do it (I just read Steve Jobs by Walter Issacsson and Jobs would always say things like that to motivate his employees) so I felt pretty confident.

8:30 AM the 2 flex pipes arrived and Matt started welding.  After three hours of labor, he finally finished it and she sounded like a dream.

Here’s Matt pretty pumped to be done.

Driving away, Charles, I have to say your car is running better than it ever has (at least since I started driving her in December).  It was a huge chore to go thru all this, but there was no way I was going to drop it off at the Holiday Inn Express sounding like a crapped out Harley.  So you’re welcome!

You only owe me $374.16.  No big deal, you can pay me in cash when you get back.

See ya soon buddy!

And by the way, I’m pretty sure there are some camera’s at red lights in Denver cause a couple went off when I drove through them on my way to Leif’s house after dinner the other night.  But, don’t worry I think we’ll be fine since I’m from New Hampshire and you’re from Alaska.

The skiing icon Sarah Burke died today after a dramatic crash just over a week ago.  Sarah’s publicists released this:

“Groundbreaking Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke passed away at 9:22AM January 19, 2012 at the University of Utah Hospital from injuries sustained in an accident on the Eagle Superpipe at Park City Mountain Resort on Tuesday, January 10, 2012. She was training for upcoming winter events.

As the result of Sarah’s fall, she suffered a ruptured vertebral artery, one of the four major arteries supplying blood to the brain. The rupture of this artery led to a severe intracranial hemorrhage, which caused Sarah to go into cardiac arrest on the scene. Emergency personnel responded and CPR was administered on the scene during which time she remained without a pulse or spontaneous breathing. Studies in the University of Utah Hospital Emergency Department indicated that she retained brainstem function. She was placed on life support and a protocol of therapeutic hypothermia was initiated to protect her brain. An angiogram indicated the site of arterial bleeding, and on Wednesday, January 11 the injured artery was successfully repaired.

After the operation, numerous neurological examinations, electrodiagnostic tests and imaging studies revealed that Sarah sustained severe irreversible damage to her brain due to lack of oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest, resulting in hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Sarah passed away peacefully surrounded by those she loved. In accordance with Sarah’s wishes, her organs and tissues were donated to save the lives of others.

While early reports in the media stated that Sarah’s injury was a traumatic brain injury, it is important to note that Sarah’s condition was the result of a lack of oxygen to the brain during cardiac arrest.

The family wishes to express their deep gratitude to Sarah’s dear friends for their love and support, and for traveling to Salt Lake City to comfort the family.

They would also like to thank the University of Utah Hospital and her physicians and care team in the Neuro Critical Care Unit for their incredible care and compassion.

The family was moved by the sincere and heartfelt sympathy expressed by people inspired by Sarah from all around the world. They have received a substantial number of inquiries from those who would like to make a contribution on behalf of Sarah. For more information, please go to www.giveforward.com/sarahburke.”

I’ve never met Sarah so I don’t have any good personal stories about how kickass she was, but it’s just so sad to see a rockstar of our sport go so early.  Here a little clip of her for you all:

On a lighter note, the ski racing community is losing Didier Cuche next year.   He’s probably throwing in the towel because he knows he’ll have to ski on 35 meter GS skis next season.   Here is a video showing how he crushed the Hahnenkamm last year.  He has had an incredible career and wish him the best in the future.

Best Wishes,

w

A friend of mine Kuske Fahlgen just put together a sick short of the epic year of 2011.   I first met Kuske before we boarded a helicopter for our 3 hour flight from Are, Sweden to Folgefonna, Norway where he was a bit hungover and a little nervous about the flight haha.

We made it without any issues and had 3 glorious weeks ripping up the mountain and being mighty bored on rainy days in Jondal, Norway.  Here is his epic edit:  Jon and I are in there a couple times haha!

Watching those sweet clips reminded me of our sick trip so here are some more sweet shots!!!  As you might imagine, this trip was pretty fun!!  Thanks Jon.  And thanks to the Vågen family for epic accommodations and hospitality.

Last place to refuel in Sweden.

Lost and running out of gas hahaa.

Folgefonna Glacier before they groomed it for us.

Walking to our new home.

Burrito time after some skiing.

Kuske himself getting some shots.

Off to get some therapy, but checking out those pics just totally made my day!!!

w