We flew back out to Austria on the 28^th for some training before the race season kicked off again. We had a couple of great days skiing GS at Hinterreit with good conditions and I was making some good technical improvements.

Then it happened. On New Year’s eve, I came into a turn and dropped into the rut and was spat out, I slid into the slalom course next door and slid into one of the gates. My ski hit the unmoving base of the gate and flexed my ankle brutally. Ouch. I got up and skied off to the side, scooping snow out my goggles and helmet. My leg wasn’t feeling good.

I skied down slowly and went inside to take my boot off. When the pain was only getting worse throughout the afternoon we went to the hospital in Zell am See. It wasn’t the most friendly service but it certainly was fast! Within half an hour I had been X-rayed, examined (very briefly), put in plaster and sent home. I was told I had ruptured the ligaments in my ankle so I would be in plaster for 6 weeks then in a walking plaster for another 4. I was gutted.

How I spent New Years

The training runs went pretty well with some great sections including several top 30 split times, but also some mistakes. I was really up for the race day, if I could keep the mistakes at bay then I felt I could get a really good result.

The first race was super-g though and it is often a good race for young guys starting late, and so it proved again this year. Some of the guys starting just in front of me managed to get right in amongst the top guys. The excitement was building at the top. Maybe too much for me, I made a silly line error on the first steep section costing me valuable speed on the flat. I was nearly last at the first split! However the second split time I was 18th quickest, despite having less speed coming in. I was skiing well. It wasn’t to be though as I made another mistake over a piece of terrain and couldn’t finish the race.

The downhill was up next and my confidence was up despite my near crash the day before. However, I didn’t get my chance as the race was cancelled for  safety reasons due to high winds on the jumps.

We then headed off to Paganella for some training days. Training was tough to find as there was so little snow across Europe that there were very few pistes available. Paganella was great though! We got a few quality days of GS in and I got a chance to test my new boots. They were great! Straight away I was making some sweet turns in them. I headed home for Christmas full of optimism for the rest of the season.

The piste looked so easy compared to Beaver Creek and I felt like it should be a good chance to get a good result and improve my points before Christmas. I felt great in warm up the first day but as soon as I pushed out the start gate I didn’t feel right at all. I blew out half way down, falling inside on some bumps. I was so angry and disappointed as well as being pretty shaken. To have felt so good in the start and skied so badly was infuriating and hit my confidence hard. I seriously considered pulling out from the next days race but luckily Bud persuaded me to stick it out as I had been skiing well and it turns out my top split was right in there despite not feeling good.

The next day I managed to shake off my doubts and skied really well! I made a big mistake at the 3rd last gate though which was a big disappointment. I still made a good FIS point result! It could have been an amazing result but turned out only to be a good result. My confidence was back though!

This year we decided to travel only a few days before the first training runs and many thanks to Canadian Affair for the help with the flights! After a few days training at Nakiska near Calgary we headed up to the Chateau at Lake Louise.

The first race is always fun as its the first time you see many of the other racers since the previous season, or in my case 2 seasons! It was great to meet up with everyone again and join up with the American team again who we work with at the races. Frustratingly it started dumping snow as we arrived causing the first training run to be cancelled. The next two training runs went ahead. I found it difficult to find my groove at the high speeds and was a bit disappointed with the training runs. When race day came I skied much better on the top section before making a huge mistake on the ‘fall away’ turn causing me to run very late and carry hardly any speed onto the bottom flats and leaving me well off the pace.

With very little time to think about the races we jumped on a flight down to Colorado for Beaver Creek. I forgot just how steep and gnarly the track is there! Wow! It is really spectacular! After a 30 second flat section (with enormous terrain to work) the hill drops away at what they call ‘the brink’ and from there on it is non stop action!

Again the first training run was cancelled, this time due to some issues with the track and safety concerns. Very disappointing when we really wanted as much time on the track as possible to get to grips with it. My first training run was far too cautious but I overcame my nerves in the second one to charge at it but made some mistakes. Sadly I didn’t get to race the downhill as TJ did.

I raced the super-g and skied well in places but made one big error in the middle so ended up with a disappointing 55th place.

It was however dumping snow and very, very windy meaning the top gondola couldn’t open the first day leaving us free skiing on the lower lifts. The next few days got progressively better with the snow firming up and us getting some fantastic super-g and downhill training. With there being very few teams there we were able to get a super-g or downhill course to the two of us! Not often you get that kind of training!

We are back to Pitztal for a few more days training next week before we head to Canada for the world cups. Already lots of snow over there! Can’t wait!

Looking up to the training hill from the top of the train. The shadow never really disappears
on the bottom steep because it really is super steep!

Slightly sketchy squat rack!

We trained 5 days of GS on good solid snow on a steady,  not too steep slope. It was great training, ideal for making good technical changes and progress.

The training hill.

One of the many Moelltall lakes.

The new ski room in Zell, loaded up!

First day we had GS and it was baking hot, meaning the snow had melted a lot, then frozen solid and it was seriously bumpy! It was totally different conditions to what we had in Chile and it gave me a shock as I rattled my way down the first day! It was one of those days when its probably advisable not to watch video!

So imagine my confidence when told that TJ and I would be skiing super-g the following day with the Austrian world cup team…

Our head coach Mike assured us it was probably the best speed training in the world! A big call! But it turned out to be great! I started to ski more like I can and find my guts and go for it down the steep icy hill.

We managed to get four days of good but difficult training in the first week before the weather came in and dumped snow. It started pouring rain down in the valley and hammering the hill with much needed snow.

With conditions awful on the hill I decided to go to the head factory and get some new boots made. What a place! It really is impressive with countless technicians working away on the skis and a ridiculous number of race skis!

The second week of the camp was very different conditions, the resort had gone from one piste being open to the whole lot in a matter of days. It had gone from summer to winter in 4 days!

We skied a lot of GS in soft bumpy conditions and finished off with a day of slalom! My first in a while! It was a lot of fun and much neater and faster than I expected!

About to go surfing on the first day…I say surfing but for meit was mostly taking a beating from thewaves, turns out 9 foot swell is quite big!

Taking a break during one of bike rides along the coast.

Cooking up a storm next to our massive tent!

Hiking along the cliff tops in our new mizuno kit.

The last week we were there we had 3 races, two downhills and a super-g. I hadn’t planned to do the races as I didn’t expect to be in good enough form but in the end I decided I would. I’m glad I did as I made a FIS point result in my first race back in 18 months improving my world ranking! The second race was a big disappointment as the condition didn’t really allow a fair race with the first few guys down the course winning by a long way. The super-g race was a long frustrating day as there were course holds almost every racer. When I eventually got my shot I blew it! I made 3 silly mistakes and finished down the field despite skiing some great sections.

Overall the camp and the races were really positive as I feel my skiing is going in the right direction and the race results were reasonable and could have been so much better if I can cut out key mistakes.

I started skiing sections of GS gates on a pretty easy piste on Sunday and was pleasantly surprised how well I coped. The next day I skied the whole course with no trouble and was making some good technical changes and progress. I feel like I know what I need to work on and have a clear plan how to improve.

The last two days I have skied super-g, starting with sections yesterday and skiing the whole course, including a decent jump, today! It feels so good to be back on the long skis and skiing fast! The feeling hitting the jump first run was amazing, a cocktail of nerves, excitement and adrenaline, such a buzz!

Tomorrow I am skiing downhill! It has been a long time but I feel totally comfortable on the skis already and am excited to get out and train every day.

I have uploaded a video to my facebook page as I haven’t been able to upload to my website very easily. I will try to keep posting videos and pictures over the next few weeks.

Here’s a pic of TJ Baldwin dropping into the powder after the snow storm!