Super G

Bode Miller Falling In Super G Curtesy of Deadspin 

Super G is huge turns that don't require much swing to them. You are mainly just going straight down the hill but don't get me wrong Downhill is way more intense and requires way less of a turn but way more guts. In Super G there is often a jump in the course. Most people wouldn't consider it a jump the would consider it a roller which it basically is but when you have really high speeds it's really easy to catch air off of the roller so we consider it a jump. Super G requires a lot more gut than G.S. does because some of the really fast kids will reach speeds of sixty miles an hour in the course. Imagine going sixty miles an hour on two skinny skies and no way to quickly stop; one wrong move and you could be tumbling down doing summersaults. There are people who will go timid which actually is dangerous because the long skies pull your body every where and you can't control it that well and than there are the kids who go all in and don't even care if they fall on their head all they want is the speed and the adrenaline it gives them when they are skiing. The people who really want the speed can be insane at times because you will see them go over those "rollers" and catch a few feet of air, then you won't consider it a roller but a jump. The skies for Super G are really long and so it's hard to manipulate the ski like you can on a slalom ski because the ski is just so long and stiff and not to mention but the radius is huge so most people wonder how you even create a turn on the skis. The people who win in Super G are usually a lot stronger and their legs are like tree trunks because the muscle is huge. Some of the falls in Super G are gnarly, a lot of people sitting at the finish will gasp because they think or sometimes even know that the person is seriously injured. The scariest is when you see someone fall right on their back because they could possibly be severely injured. The best falls are the ones where people have a crash that looks super bad but they just get up and ski off without a problem because then you get to see the epic crash but no one is hurt in the end and so it turns into a good memory. The coolest was when Bode Miller would crash because he skied so hard that he was either going to crash or he was going to win the race and all of his falls he got up from or made a recovery and went back to skiing but sadly this year he stopped ski racing but it's still cool to watch the old videos of him crashing.

Snowbasin

Snowbasin ski resort is a really fun resort for outside skiers because the terrain can be anything from slow easy groomers to backcountry with mountains of snowfall on it. This weekend I had a race in Snowbasin, two G.S. and one slalom race. Friday was G.S. and I finished both races pretty consistently but not great but I was okay with it. Saturday was also G.S. and the course was set very hard; twenty five out of the one hundred girls fell on the first course. Twenty five percent of the girls at the Snowbasin race on Saturday fell and same with the guys because they had to ski the same course as us; I was pretty mad about that. The turn that made everyone ski out was right after a delay (a delay is where you go around the first gate and in the same turn you go around the second gate and on the other side of you is another gate so you go in betwe

en the two gates.) there was a gate that was very offset and really rutted because most of the girls that made it had a really bad line which created a huge bad rut. I was one of the twenty five girls that didn't finish so I was pretty annoyed. On Sunday I raced Slalom and that was not the greatest day ever because my first run I straddled a gate and had to stop and hike up to finish the course so I got a minute four seconds which is unbelievably slow considering the girl in first got forty two seconds on her first run. Keep in mind that winning by a second is really fast in ski racing and all the times are super close, a lot of people will be within hundredths of a second between each other so thirty two seconds slower is really slow. The girl in first used to be on the University of Utah Ski Team and she was really good, She was trying to give away points because she had sixteen in G.S. and thirty eight in slalom which is really low so she wasn't trying to get first and on her run she backed off a lot but she still accidentally got first in slalom which is crazy. Her name is Kristina Rove. My second run I got to the top and had to wait because there was the biggest course hold. I got in the gate with a mindset of this run doesn't matter at all because if I fail than it doesn't matter because I already failed the first run and I was running eighty seventh so I knew that the course was going to be in terrible condition but I went down and it felt horrible like the worst run ever but it actually was pretty good so I was super surprised about that especially because there was no fixing the course because it was bad. The Snowbasin qualifier wasn't my race but I will always have another race until I stop racing so I'll do better next time.

Kristina Rove

Slalom

Today at SnowKing I skied G.S. but I know the title says Slalom but I skied G.S.  Wall I was skiing the other course that was set up was slalom and it had some really good skiers there. Slalom is fast turns that aren't spread out across the hill as far and are shorter radius. Montana State University Ski Team, the Canadian Ski Team, the German Ski Team, and some of the Dartmouth Ski Team there as well. The German Ski Team was really good and had a skier with six points which is really good because it's like golf where you want the least amount of points you can possibly achieve. The guys name was Stefan Luitz, he's really good because the fastest guy in the world is the only person at zero so he has to be beat to have his zero points go up. Ted Ligety is the fastest guy in the world right now and currently has zero points. Stefan is so good that he had two pairs of skis for one run, he would wear his training gates skis and then go down the gate course and then he would have another guy come down with his skis and he would take off the skis that he wore for the course and then ski his free skiing trainer skis which were the exact same length as his training gates skis. Stefan also has another pair of skis just for race day and skis those only on race day, and he has all three pairs for all four events even though he really only does slalom. Stefan has a ski tuner which every professional ski racer has that will tune and wax and scrape and brush them every single day and a lot of the time they will do it multiple times a day, for race day or even for high intensity training days.

This Stefan Luitz skiing some G.S. courtesy of Weltcup

Points go down by beating skiers that have better points than you so they bring your points down so that you look faster and faster. Your points start at nine hundred ninety and go down from there and you can't go any hire than nine hundred ninety.

I thought it was really cool to be able to watch these really good skiers, even the ones that don't have only six points because they were all really fantastic skiers and I enjoyed and was intrigued watching them. I also really enjoy watching them ski because they all are fantastic skiers and in slalom it's really easy to point out the things that they do that makes them go so fast that you might also need to work on so they help you too see what is right and then your coaches help to feel how it is right.

SnowKing

For the past three days I was skiing in SnowKing and I still am. SnowKing is only open for alpine racers to race on because they use the lane space for gates to be set up. My camp is solely based on G.S. (Giant Slalom) but we skied some slalom free skiing a little just to get ready for G.S. 

SnowKing is a small resort and when I say small I mean small, there's only like four runs and two chairlifts. People mainly don't go there to ski if they don't do skiing or snowboarding competitively because Jackson Hole resort is pretty close to the town of Jackson Hole and it is a big resort with some amazing free skiing there like Corbits. SnowKing is awesome though because it is literally in town and in the middle of everything that it's super convenient. I also like SnowKing because of the runs there, there are two that are groomers that fairly steep but also has some terrain that doesn't make it completely a straight bomber hill. The Other two runs aren't groomed and has some pretty good moguls that are a good and fun size to ski on. One of the lifts in SnowKing takes you up half way and the other takes you up all the way and ski the nice moguls up top.

I enjoy SnowKing's terrain a lot because you can make some sweet big turns up top on the steeps and the it flattens out to give you more direct turns and then it turns into some more going down the hill to the end. On the mogul runs you can do some really good moguls that are like a perfect size, not too big, not too small. I also like the moguls because at Park City Mountain Resort it's really hard to find some good moguls that are a good shape and size because all of the moguls are man made and not very good skiers are making those moguls. SnowKing is never hit by the sun in the winter the because the sun stays behind the mountain the entire time and doesn't really come out so it usually is really cold there like today it was negative seven degrees and was freezing.SnowKing is just a really good race hill because of the terrain and nobody really skis there so if you ever want some good moguls or a good groomer then SnowKing is the place for you because you can do both of those things and they also let you hike up to the top in backcountry skis with some skins on the bottom.

SnowKing from the top

SNOW!!!

Because we have begun to see some snow outside our windows, I feel that it's only fitting to have a post about snow. Snow is that white stuff that builds up outside and is so beautiful. Every snowflake is unique, no two snowflakes are ever the same. Even when the snow builds up to form that powder that you just love to ski or snowboard on it have a glimmer from every single piece that came together to create that perfect run.  I know that it seems so weird to talk about snow because last year was one of the worst years for skiing in history.

Snow is the most amazing thing in the entire world. Whenever you see snow you know that you are going to do something fun like ski or sled or even snowboard. You look outside and start to feel your stomach jump with excitement. The best feeling is when you look outside and see the snow so you run and get your snow stuff and go sledding. As you walk outside you feel the cold breeze and your nose starts to turn pink from the chill. It's so cold that you can smell the cool wisp that is jumping off of the snow. With every step you take you can feel the snow softly move down by the weight. As you are having fun you know that you are cold but also know that you can go inside and have a warm hot chocolate whenever you would like to.

Picture courtesy of Mike Bomberg Mountain Guide

My most favorite feeling is getting ready to ski and seeing the snow fall down to the ground and wanting to rush to just get out and ski. As you step off onto the snow with your ski boots on you aren't slipping on that hard ice but gripping into the powder that will soon hold your skis and just let them glide over it with such ease. Again you feel your nose turn pink and are ready to get out and ski some of the best turns in your life. As you ski you can't help but have a smile that spreads across the entire continent on your face because you just love the feeling you get as the snow hits you in the face notifying that that turn was pretty awesome. The powder is so deep that the snow wants to go over top of your head but it doesn't except for the occasional that are super fast. As you reach the end of the run you come to a stop doing a "fairy" and flying through the fluffy powder.

Honestly, I am just so excited to go skiing and right now there really isn't anything else I want to do. Even if the only skiing I get to do is go down the bunny hill a whole bunch of time because I will just have as much fun as I can on that bunny hill. All I have to say is we have to continue praying to that snow gods and doing our snow dance crossing our fingers hoping for the best.

Fairy- When you stop, creating a puff of snow and jump through it like a fairy.