Katya Crema

The X Games adventure continues...

2012-01-28T18:07:00.001+01:00

The past three days have been a blast! (Do people still use that word...?)

After my first training day on the X Games ski cross track, all I wanted to do was ski it again and again! The feeling is kind of like riding on a rollercoaster that you're terrified of, but as soon as it's over you want to do it again straight away! Only one small problem, my legs couldn't really permit that! After three full length runs of training on day two, my legs were done for the day and ready for a spin and ice bath. Skiing such a demanding course at 3,000m, muscular fatigue really gets to you, so recovery is extremely important.

This video is from Day 2 of training at X Games. Marielle Thompson of Canada and I take on the course with a little more confidence! Check out Mar's recovery off the last jump. Close one!

Yesterday was qualifications. The fresh 4 inches of snow from the night before as well as a drop in air temperature meant that the course was running much slower than on the training days. I would say a good 10-15 seconds slower over the entire course, which is a major difference in speed. Features that we were easily doubling yesterday were now a 'press-press' because we didn't have enough speed to clear the landing. The gap jump and butter box were a worry, because if you didn't clear the distance, the consequences would have been huge. On my first run I popped as hard as I could off the gap jump, and just cleared it. Close call!

For the qualification run, the track was running a little faster, but still nothing like yesterday. I skied a clean run, no major mistakes, but feel I probably could have pushed it a little harder and taken a few more risks. I finished in 9th spot, so I'm through to the finals for Sunday. It will be interesting skiing the course with another 5 girls besides me. On World Cup we only ski 4 at a time, so 6 might feel crowded but it will definitely make it interesting!

(Numbered up for qualifications)

Men's and Women's ski cross finals will be shown 2pm (US Mountain Time) on ESPN. However, you can stream it live at 12pm on...

Winter X Games- Mens and Womens Ski Cross - Live Streaming Online ESPN

Good luck to Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin, who is competing in the Men's border cross finals today at 2pm. I'll be watching!

(Rivals in the start gate, but always friends off the hill!)

(The Norwegians always know how to have fun)

Day 1 at Winter X Games, Aspen

2012-01-26T16:52:00.002+01:00

So I have survived my first day on the Winter X Games ski cross track!

Yesterday would have to be up there as one of the best days skiing of mylife. Big call, I know! It wasn’t because of freshly groomed crisp corduroyruns on a bluebird day, or waist deep powder (which usually takes the cake!) Itwas simply because I skied the most well built, fast, scary, adrenaline pumpingand rewarding ski cross track of my life. Plus I got to ski it with the bestski cross athletes in the world.

When I headed up for our first inspection at 11:30am, I’m not going tolie, I was very nervous! The kind of nerves that make your stomach churn andbutterflies fly. After a good look at the course, I decided the best thing todo was to section the course, and gradually build it up until I skied it fulllength. Unlike most world cup courses which last from 50 seconds to 1 minute10, this course is about 1 min 40 seconds. A real leg and lung burner! Pluswe’re up at 3,000m, so that adds to the fatigue. By the end of the day I washappy with my training runs, and looking forward to skiing it again the nextday!

(Karolina of Poland and I excited to ski the course)

(The Swiss girls, Sanna and Katrin, and I)

The atmosphere here in Aspen is incredible. There’s such a positive buzzin the air. Everyone’s excited to be here, and looking forward to having funcompeting on the course.

I am extremely happy that I ballsed up and made the decision to come andcompete at X Games. The easier and safer option would have been to stay withthe Australian team and train in Europe, but I figured that this is anopportunity that doesn’t come around often, and it has been a goal of minesince I made the switch to ski cross in 2009. So I am here totally solo. Ijumped on a plane, rented a car, booked accommodation and I am a party of one!Great thing is I know every ski cross athlete here, plus a few other Aussies indifferent events, so I don’t feel alone at all.

Here is a sneaky peak into the 2012 Winter X Games ski cross course. Thesun was out for our first day of training, and snow conditions couldn't havebeen any better! In this head cam video, you will see Marielle Thompson ofCanada and myself take on the track, enjoying every second of it!

Qualifications are on Friday to determinethe ranking of the top 12 girls. We are then split into two heats of six, wherewe will fight it out for the X Games title at 12pm on Sunday (US Mountain Time).Catch all the action on ESPN, either on TV or live on the internet.

Now for a few pictures of the course....

(The 12ft ledge drop start)

(A bordercross rider takes on the gap jump)

(A view of the gap jump in inspection)

(The butter box)

(You wouldn't want to be going to slow over this thing!)

(The intimidating in-run into the final jump)

(If I'm 174cm tall, how big is this thing?!?)

PS- A big thank you to Kyle and the team at Surefoot, Aspen for helping me out with boot work last minute! And to Andrea for so generously putting me up in her condo in Snowmass. Appreciate the support from everyone!

Next stop... X Games!

2012-01-22T18:14:00.000+01:00

So tomorrow the much anticipated X Games journey begins.

I am flying solo from Munich to Aspen, where I will spend the next week having the experience of a lifetime. I have been dreaming about competing in X Games pretty much since I switched to the sport. It is basically the epitome of racing ski cross, or any extreme winter sport for that matter. It's something I am doing totally on my own, and I'm feeling confident and ready for a bit of an adventure!

The ski cross finals will be held on Sunday 29th, at 12pm (US Mountain Time Zone). Catch all the action on Eurosport or ESPN.

7th in Les Contamines World Cup

2012-01-16T18:45:00.000+01:00

I can finally stop to take a breath after the past 11 daysof non-stop action. This time of the season for the World Cup ski cross athletes isjam packed with racing and travel. Three World Cups back-to-back in 11 days, aswell as over 15 hours of driving is a massive feat!

After my somewhat ‘unlucky’ world cup race in St. Johann, wedrove over 10 hours from what felt like one side of Europe to the other(Austria, through Switzerland, to France). The next World Cup was in AlpesD’Huez. This track is renowned for being a ‘gliders’ course. Mellow terrain, notultra technical, with some big floaty jumps… definitely a fun course to ski! It almost feels like a roller coaster ride on skis. After training on the course inbeautiful bluebird conditions, I was pumped and ready to go for qualifications.Half way down my quali run, out came the dreaded yellow flag, meaning coursehold. The racer before me, Sasa Faric from Slovenia, had a massive crash offthe final jump, and was in no condition to move herself off the course. I got askidoo to the top and had a re-run. I skied well, however being a waxrace (and my skis were basically skied out after the one run), I just didn’tcarry the same speed as I did in the first run. Looking at my split timesafterwards, my first run was fast and would have qualified me for finals had Inot made any mistakes in the last 20 seconds of the course. Pretty frustrating,but hey, that’s life! Luck just didn’t seem to be going my way at all this season!

(Sunrise in Alpes D'Huez)

(Above the clouds)

Turning a negative into a positive, I made the most of thesunny bluebird weather on finals day, and went free skiing before the race. Notsomething we actually get to do all that often whilst we’re racing.

(Enjoying the sun in Alpes D'Huez)

(The diet of athletes whilst in France....)

Next stop, Les Contamines, France (where it happened to be "crochet-week"). This was my fifth yearhere (how times flies!), and was actually where I competed in my first ever skicross World Cup in 2008. This year the course was water injected, makingit unbelievably icy and technical; something I thought I could use to myadvantage given my alpine background. I skied very well in training, anddespite making some mistakes in the qualification run, finished in 15th position. Finally, a spot in finals!

(Crochet week in Les Contamines! My Oma would love this...)

(Excited to qualify for finals)

(Official bib draw in the town centre)

(The Aussie team with our stylin' Les Contamines freebee hats)

In my quarterfinal heat, I was up againsttwo Frenchies and a Polish. Because I was the slowest qualifier of the heat, Ihad no choice in start gate. I fired out of the start fighting for mylife, and jumped straight into second position behind Alizee Baron of France. Ifought the entire way down to finish in second place. Little did I know that theother two girls had a collision higher in the course and weren’t even behind meat all. In the semi finals, I didn’t have a great start and was in third place,until a silly mistake put me back in fourth. Unfortunately not fast enough tomake the big final, but I still had a chance to fight for a place between 5th - 8th in the small final. In the small final I got caught up with Marte Hoie Gjefsenof Norway out of the start. I managed to get passed her and jump into secondplace behind Hedda Berntsen of Norway. Half way down I slipped on the ice andlost my momentum, giving Marte the chance to pass me. I finished the race in third,placing me 7th overall.

(Quarterfinals. I'm in the blue helmet / green pants)

(Through to the semi-finals)

(7th place finish)

I’m very excited to have my first top-8 world cup result. Iknew it was there somewhere; I just had to drag out the animal in me! Given the result, I have been invited to compete at the WinterX Games, which are in Aspen, Colorado in late January. This has always been agoal of mine, and something I’ve very excited to be apart of. It is like the WinterOlympics of extreme sports. I leave for Aspen on January 23rd, andwill be there for 6 days before I head to Blue Mountain, Canada, for the nextWorld Cup.

Will keep you posted. The next few weeks are going to bebig!

Ski Cross Action on Eurosport

2012-01-15T19:22:00.000+01:00

A great result today in Les Contamines, 3rd in the small finals, 7th overall!

For those who are in Australia, check out all the action from today's Ski Cross World Cup in Les Contamines, France, on Eurosport at 6:30pm (Monday 16 Jan)

http://tv.au.eurosport.com/consumers.shtml

2 spots from qualifying in St. Johann

2012-01-08T19:23:00.000+01:00

After six days of GS training in and around the Schladmingarea of Austria, I was feeling ready to take on the hectic piste of St. Johann.I was also looking forward to a change in scene, and getting back into racing!Unfortunately the Australian contingent is now one member short, with ScottyKneller returning home to Australia with a broken hand after a GS crash duringtraining. Hopefully he’ll have a hasty recovery, and be back by the end of theseason to compete in the last few World Cups.

This year (unlike the past two years), the ski cross trackwasn’t the usual ice block it is renowned for. Fresh snow all week meant thatsnow conditions were soft and difficult, however probably more suitable for skicross racing than double-injected ice. On the training day, I was confident andskiing well. The split times from training showed that I was laying down some fasttimes amongst the women; a positive sign coming into qualifications. On qualinight, the women ran after the men at 7:30pm, so we had a bumpy track to contendwith. It was, however, an incredible atmosphere competing under the lights.

For the top 16 women, the weather held off and the snowconditions were consistent. Unfortunately by bib 16, it started puking downwith snow; heavy, wet snowflakes literally the size of golf balls. Each run wasvisibly getting slower and slower, and by the time I went down with bib 20,only one minute after bib 19, I couldn’t see any tracks in front of me. I feltthat I skied the pitch really well, but as soon as I hit the flat it was allover. I couldn’t carry my speed on the fresh snow, and it was a desperate fightto the finish. I finished in 18th place, 0.2 of a second fromqualifying. I big improvement from 28th and 22nd in SanCandido, but still frustrating to be outside of the top 16.

I guess this is all apart of the sport. You can’t controlthe weather! Rather than remaining annoyed and frustrated with something thatis out of my control, one positive I could take out of not qualifying was anepic powder day in Kitzbühel on the day of finals. If I wasn’t racing, I figured I mayas well enjoy the freshies that had fallen the night before. These powder daysare few and far between, and I made the most of it! True to form, finals was agreat spectator event, with thousands of fans lining the course to watch theshow.

(Deep freshies through the trees)

(Liam getting comfy in the snow)

After a long 10 hours in the car, we have made it to AlpeD’Huez for the next Ski Cross World Cup. Qualifications are on the 10thand finals on the 11th. Keep you posted!

Christmas the Sicilian way

2011-12-25T21:45:00.001+01:00

Unfortunately the opening World Cup’s of the season in SanCandido didn’t quite go to plan. I skied well in training, however didn’tmanage to lay down extremely fast runs in qualifications. The level and depth ofcompetition in the women’s has really stepped up this year, which is great tosee. There were 42 girls in the start, and only the top 16 qualified forfinals. I finished 28th on the first day, and 22nd on thesecond day.

(Jen, Sami and I on race day)

(The Germans and the Aussies watching training from the side)

(What's not more Aussie than a kick of the footy in the backstreets of San Candido)

I have just spent five days in Palermo, Sicily, with mysister and Italian relatives. I have had a great time; a true to Italian-styleChristmas. It was quite a “family” event, with plenty of great food and wine.

(La famiglia!)

(View of Palermo from a rooftop)

(My sister Giulia and I happy to be spending Christmas together)

(La Pandorra.... Italian Christmas cake. So good!)

Yesterday I met the team back in Austria, where we willspend the next week training for the St. Johann World Cup event, which is onthe 6th and 7th of January. I’m looking forward to thisevent. It’s the biggest and most renowned on the circuit, and usually attractsthousands of fans to the ‘night’ race under lights. Will keep you updated with results!

Back to San Can for the season opener

2011-12-15T18:30:00.001+01:00

After 3 weather days in Saas Fee, where the risk of avalanche meant the top lifts were closed, we finally managed to get a great day of training on the ski cross track with the Swedish and Swiss National Ski Cross Teams. Although the track was short, it was great to hit some jumps, and get back into some head-to-head competition.

(Anton and I at the base of the gondi in Saas Fee)

(The sun is finally shining after 3 days of snow and fog)

(High winds at the peak)

On Saturday we had an early start (4am), and drove for 10 hours back to Stubai, and then to Leogang, Austria. A long day! We has a quick pit-stop at the Innsbruck Christmas markets, which is one of my all-time favourites in Europe. We spent the next two days training with the Aussie Development Ski Cross Team, pulling starts out of a brand new start gate.

(The Australian Ski Cross Team in Zettersfeld, Austria)

(Showing off our new race uniform... yes, we look like zee Germans)

(The ultimate afternoon training snack... peanut butter and banana on toast, and a Milo. Reminds me of home!)

(A beautiful old building in Innsbruck old town)

(Anton rocking a pretty sweet mo)

Yesterday we arrived in San Candido, Italy, where the first Ski Cross World Cup of the season is held every season. After months and months of training, I'm excited to get back into racing again. Today we maximized our day off by checking out some prospective Sochi 2014 uniforms for Australia. I think we found a winner...

(How convenient! The All-In-One... jacket, hood, face mask AND goggles)

We also dropped by my all-time favourite pizzeria, Il Teatro, for a 'Buon Gustaio'. I've been hanging out for that delicious pizza since we were here last year!

Tomorrow we have qualifications, and then finals on Saturday. There's a big field of athletes here, with 42 girls and 75 boys. Should be a great race! Until next time...

Back in Europe and praying for snow

2011-12-05T18:47:00.001+01:00

After loading up my ski bag with boxes and boxes of Carmen’smuesli bars, Milo, and some Cadbury hazelnut chocolate (the good stuff…), I amall set for the four-month winter season ahead.

Last Tuesday I left Melbourne at a sunny 35 degrees, andarrived in Munich where it was just below zero. A bit of a shock to the body atfirst, but it’s not particularly cold for Europe at this time of year. In factthere’s not much snow at all. It doesn’t look like it’s snowed once since weleft Europe back in October.

(Something cute I saw in Austria during my travels...)

(Marcos and the van)

(It's times like these when I wish I did beach volleyball. All I'd need is a couple pairs of bathers instead of all of this!)

Luckily, there’s still snow sitting up on the glaciers above3,200m. We went back to Stubai glacier for a few days of training, and nowwe’re in Saas Fee, Switzerland. I’ve skied a few glaciers over the past fewyears… Stubai, Hintertux, Molltaller, Blackcomb, just to name a few, but I’venever experienced anything like Saas Fee. The sheer size of this glacier isspectacular. Blue ice walls that extend for hundreds of metres above sheer rockcliffs looks like something out of an Everest movie. It’s almost like a surreallunar experience, being up on the glacier with hardly anyone around and anendless expanse of snow, rock shelves and ice.

(Sass Fee, Switzerland)

(Check out the ice wall behind the t-bar station)

(Not a bad view when you're in the start gate)

(The clouds creeping up)

(Sami, Nick and Anton crammed into the electric car 'commuter' in Saas Fee)

We’re here training on a ski cross track with the Swiss andSwedish National Teams, in preparation for the first world cup of the seasonwhich is in just under two weeks away now.

Fingers crossed Europe gets some more snow before then,otherwise it could be an interesting race!

World Cup Schedule

2011-11-29T03:08:00.000+01:00

So I'm off to Europe in about 2 hours. I am looking forward to this season a lot!

This is what the World Cup schedule is looking like for 2011/11...

17 & 18 December - San Candido, Italy

7 January - St. Johann, Austria

11 January - Alpes D'Huez, France

15 January - Les Contamines, France

28 January - Winter X Games

3 February - Blue Mountain, Canada

25 February - Bischofswiesen / Goetschen, Germany

3 March - Branas, Sweden

10 & 11 March - Grindelwald, Switzerland

Most World Cups should be shown on Eurosport or Eurosport 2. I'll keep you updated on when they'll be broadcasted throughout the season!

VIS Athlete and Career Education Award

2011-11-25T07:52:00.000+01:00

Last night I was awarded the 2011 William Angliss Athlete and Career Education Award at the VIS Awards Night. It was one of five major awards presented last night, including the Award of Excellence which went to Cadel Evans for his outstanding Tour de France win.

I was also awarded the 2011 AIS Tertiary Education Award, which was presented a few weeks ago. This is the second consecutive year I have won this award.

After having completed my university degree this week (Bachelor of Environments, major in Architecture), I am very happy to have been able to juggle both skiing and university. I am planning on starting a Masters of Architecture in the next year, and will continue to train for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

I leave for Europe in three days, and have a great feeling about this season. Hopefully I reach the high goals I have set for myself. Will keep you posted! A big thank you again to everyone who reads this blog and has continued to support me over the years.

The ultimate team challenge

2011-11-22T15:07:00.001+01:00

As our final team training camp before we head off overseasfor the 2011/12 World Cup season, the Australian Ski Cross Team spent three adventurousdays at Mount Buller; my home mountain in Victoria. The camp kicked off inMelbourne with an ice hockey training session at the Ice House. Being padded upfrom head to toe in protective gear is always a bit of fun… if only we worethat kind of protection in ski cross! This was followed by a strength testingsession at the VIS.

When we arrived at Buller on Friday evening, we were told topack a backpack with enough food and clothes for three days. That was literallyabout it. We had no clue what was to lie ahead, except that it was undoubtedly goingto be a tough two days. Little did we know how tough it would actually be!

When I was woken up the next morning, I checked my phone forthe time. 3:13am. Hardly awake, the team met outside within 10 minutes. Betweenthe four of us, we were given two small headlights, a carabineer each, and arope to latch ourselves onto. The next two hours would involve us hiking to thesummit attached together, working as a team. We had no idea of our finaldestination; when we reached a checkpoint, we were given another location totravel to. And to make things interesting, about an hour into the hike itstarted to pour with rain. After 4 hours of hard hiking and running with 10kgpacks on our backs, we reached Howqua Gap at 7:30am where we were met by our mountainbikes. The next challenged involved us riding to the top of Mt. Stirling, asolid 7km climb up hill on a rough stone track. We were given a map of thebushland area with directions as to where to go from there. The pouring raindidn’t help our situation, and when we got lost about four hours into the ride,things weren’t looking great. We lost about two hours backtracking what we hadalready ridden. Finally, with Anton’s knowledge of the area, we made it back toMirrimbah at about 4:30pm; tired, cold, wet and starving. We had been going for13 hours by this stage, and all I could think about was a hot shower and anendless supply of food.

(Still in high spirits at the summit at 4am. The first checkpoint)

The next morning, we were woken up at 5am (almost a sleep incompared to Saturday!) and we drove to a reservoir past Whittfield, about 90kmout of Mansfield. Our next challenge was to build a raft that was able totravel down ‘class 10’ (advanced) rapids. With the limited materials provided,as a team we worked together to come up with a reasonably functioning raft. Idoubt how well it would have travelled down advanced rapids, but I think we dida great job considering the lack of directions we had.

(Our creation)

By 10:30am, we were on our road bikes. We rode 20km toWhitfield, and then continued on from Whitfield to Mansfield. The first 30km werebasically all up hill. By the time we arrived in Mansfield, we had ridden atotal of 85km. I thought surely the ride would stop there, but that wasdefinitely not the case. After refuelling with anything I could get my hands onat the Mansfield bakery, including sandwiches, chocolate milk, cake, chocolate,protein bars, nuts and an energy gel, we jumped back on our bikes. Next stopwas Mirrimbah, the base of Mt Buller. Once in Mirrimbah, we had totalled 115kmon the bike. Before I could even consider the day to be over, next I knew wewere riding Danish cargo bikes up Mt Buller, carrying each other up the hill. Bythis stage it was 5:30pm, and given the task ahead of it the day seemed as ifit would never end! At about the half way point up Mount Buller (8km of steepincline), I hit the wall. I have never been so depleted of energy in my life. Icould hardly walk or talk, my lungs were exploding; and I could hardly move. Irode 125km in total. Not a bad effort I thought, particularly given theexhausting day before. The boys jumped on their road bikes and finished off thelast 8km of Mt Buller, almost collapsing at the top. The final challenge wasone last hike to the summit. By the time we reached the top it was 8pm and wewere all just about ready to roll back down the hill.

(The team after 85km in Mansfield)

(Me looking a little nervous of the task ahead...)

(About 3km into the Buller hill climb)

(No time for stopping at the gnome house!)

(Pushing Sami up the hill)

All in all, an extremely tough (both mentally andphysically) training camp, but enjoyable none the less. The team workedextremely well together, and it was a good ‘test’ leading up to the longfour-month season ahead.

(Sunset at the Summit: Matt, myself, Sami, Anton, Scotty and John)

VIS Ambassador Program

2011-11-18T05:17:00.001+01:00

This week I joined the VIS Athlete Ambassadors Program. It is a government initiative run by the Victorian Institute of Sport, designed to inspire young children by sending elite athletes to schools all around Victoria.

This week, along with Olympic snowboarder Stephanie Hickey and archer Christian Williams, we visited Broadford Secondary College as well as Woodend Primary. I spoke about my experiences as an elite athlete, in particular what it was like to compete for Australia at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. We also talked about goal setting, nutrition, and the ins-and-outs of life as an elite athlete.

I had a great day chatting with the young kids, and look forward to doing another school visit sometime in the near future.

(VIS athletes Steph, Christian and myself at Broadford Secondary College)

(Local Broadford Paper)

Goodbye Austria, hello Summer!

2011-10-20T10:53:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was our last day skiing on Hintertux Glacier for our October training camp. We seemed to time things pretty well, as the weather came in fast yesterday afternoon once we'd finished training, bringing a lot of new snow last night.

We made the most of the sunny afternoon in the valley by joining the Norwegian Ski Cross Team for a game of beach volleyball. Bizarre... to think of skiing in the morning and playing beach volleyball in the afternoon... We had a lot of fun, and ended the friendly match with pizza and beers in town.

(The new Aussie beach volleyball team in action...)

(Thanks Julie Jensen for the photos!)

All in all, the training camp has been a success. We've trained with numerous National Ski Cross Teams, including the Norwegians, Swedish and Czech teams. Tomorrow we will fly back to Australia where I will spend the next six weeks studying for my final University exams (my last semester then I get my degree... yay!), training in the gym and soaking up the rays before the long European winter ahead.

Hintertux Glacier

2011-10-15T18:36:00.000+02:00

After a week of intense training at Stubai Glacier, we are now at Hintertux Glacier. Yesterday was our first day here, and my god it was busy! There seem to be thousands of racers here, ranging from World Cup National Teams, right down to tiny kids in race suits from the age of about five. They definitely start them early in Europe!

This morning, being a Saturday and perfect weather, was absolute mayhem at the gondola. Thinking we were pretty smart by getting to the base of the lift 30 minutes before it opened, little did we know we would pretty much be at the back of the line! Once the lift finally opens, it seems to be everyone for themselves... a true stampede of humans!

(The mad rush of Euro's in the morning)

The training here in Austria has been great so far. We've spent long days on snow (from 8:30am - 3:30pm), so as you can imagine, up at 3200m in the glacier it's pretty exhausting! Good thing we've done all the training back at home to allow us to ski at this kind of altitude and at a high intensity all day. We have six more days on snow, then we head back to Australia.

(Cute little Harry Potter-esque bridge in town)

(The beautiful flower boxes of Austria in autumn)

(Hintertux Glacier)

Winter has come early

2011-10-09T08:49:00.001+02:00

There has been quite a change in scenery in less than 24 hours here in Austria! Only a couple of days ago it was sunny and 25 degrees here in the valley, with grass greener than anything I've seen in Australia. It has now dropped to sub zero temperatures, (-15 degrees up on the mountain) and a blanket of snow covers the ground here in town. Up at Stubai Glacier, they have received almost half a meter of fresh snow in two days.

Looks like the flower boxes might struggle to survive this week.... :(

(View from my window in Neustift this morning)

More ISFT photos...

2011-10-05T21:07:00.000+02:00

Charlie Payne has kindly sent me a few more ISFT photos from our 'ambassadors' shoot last year...

Michael Rishworth, myself and Dan Portelli

Back in Austria

2011-10-05T21:02:00.002+02:00

Yesterday we arrived in Austria where we will be spending the next three weeks training.
We're currently at Stubai Glacier, and next week we'll be at Hintertux.

Like this time last year, the sun is shining and the temperatures are warm. Today was a comfortable 25 degrees in the valley, and a minimum of 5 degrees up on the hill. Better weather than Australia at the moment!

(Hanging out with the friendly cows next door...)

Will keep you posted with how it's going!

Super Hero Shots

2011-09-14T14:15:00.002+02:00

I recently did a photoshoot with sports massage therapist and photographer Arnaud Domange from the Victorian Institute of Sport. With his incredible photographic skills and creativity, he is putting together a Super Hero / Villain themed comic-book, featuring numerous elite athletes from the VIS.

Here are a couple of the shots....

Highlights video blog from Aus / NZ winter season...

2011-09-05T13:17:00.002+02:00

The Australian winter season has prematurely come to an end, with the warmest winter ever on record. Last week we had our final week of training in Perisher. Despite a lack of snow in the last few months, we still managed to get some great training done in preparation for the coming World Cup season. It doesn't take much for the Aussies to get some quality training done with limited snow. All it takes is a start gate, a few big jumps in a terrain park, and a bit of creativity...

Below is a short highlights video blog from the Aussie / NZ winter season.

Enjoy!

Highlights from the Australian Ski Season- 2011 from Katya Crema on Vimeo.

Spring Training

2011-09-03T08:09:00.000+02:00

This week kicked off with the Australian University Games in Thredbo, NSW. I competed in the slalom, GS, super G and ski cross events, taking home three golds and one second. I also won the Overall Woman's Alpine title. The super G was a lot of fun. We raced a full length course down Super Trail at Thredbo, starting at 7am. It meant a ridiculous 4:45am wake-up in Jindabyne.. but definitely worth it for the mountain sunrise!

(Pulling out the old slalom skis from the shed for Uni Games slalom)

Later in the week we had a ski cross camp; our last training camp in Australia for the season. We were lucky to have beautiful sunny weather and blue skies. It must have been about 15 degrees up on the hill.... hot enough to be training without tops in the start gate.

(All smiles....)

(Now it's getting serious...)

(Good to see the boys finally doing some work)

I'm now heading back to Melbourne for a few weeks where I will juggle uni with training. The team then heads to the glaciers in Austria in October for a three week training camp, which I'm very excited about. It means the World Cup season is not too far away!

Highlights from Ski Cross National Champs and NZ Winter Games

2011-09-01T08:55:00.005+02:00

<p>&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCpttCh80lI&amp;amp;amp;amp;feature=youtu.be"&amp;amp;gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCpttCh80lI&amp;amp;amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;</p>

Another great result...and bungy jump...to tick off the checklist!

2011-08-27T08:17:00.000+02:00

After a busy weekend of racing in Mt Hotham, the Australian National Ski Cross Team flew out to Queenstown, New Zealand, the very morning after the race.

Every two years the New Zealand Winter Games are held in Queenstown. The recently established global event takes place every two years, and attracts a large number of competitors from around the world in all winter sports. Unfortunately the ski cross was cancelled two years ago due to poor weather, so this was the very first year ski cross was held.

The ski cross was held at Cardrona, with training on Thursday and qualifications and finals both on Friday.

In the qualifications, I layed down the fastest time of the day by almost half a second, in front of World Cup racers Fanny Smith from Switzerland and Michelle Greig from New Zealand. A great start to the race and a definite boost to my confidence! I won my semi final heat, and went straight to the big final, where I was up against Smith, Greig and another young Australian girl. The start was neck and neck between Fanny and I, however she managed to just get in front of me coming into the first turn. From then I stuck on her tails the whole way down the one-minute track, however couldn’t manage to make a successful pass. Although I had to settle for the silver medal, I was very happy with my performance that day.

(The World Cup SX girls; myself, Fanny Smith and Michelle Greig at Cardrona)

(The Aussie girls before qualifications)

(Michelle Greig, Fanny Smith and myself at the awards ceremony in Wanaka)

(New young gun SX racer Leigh Gardener and myself after Friday's race)

To end what was a short yet successful 4-day trip to New Zealand, I managed to persuade one of the American Ski Cross racers to come and bungy jump with me on our way to the airport this morning. After all, you only live once! A quick bungy jump only seemed like a logical and necessary stop on the way to Queenstown. We jumped off the Kawarau Bridge in Kawarau canyon, a 43-metre fall to the turquoise flowing river below. Being my fourth bungy jump, I am actually starting to feel reasonably comfortable with launching myself off huge things! The adrenaline rush was amazing… a similar feeling to what I get racing ski cross.

(US ski racer Joe Svenson and I getting ready to bungy)

(Bungy site at Kawarau Bridge)

For those who enjoy watching my video blogs, I’ve got a short highlights video on its way from the past few weeks of training, racing, travelling and bungying…

Enjoy!

Big Win at the Australian National SX Championships

2011-08-23T09:58:00.000+02:00

The Australian National Championships / Australia New Zealand Cup Ski Cross event was held at Mt Hotham last weekend. Like in the past, the event attracted a number of international competitors to Australia for the race. Included in the field this year were athletes from Japan, America, Switzerland, Finland, New Zealand, and of course Australia.

My major competitor this year was World Cup racer Fanny Smith from Switzerland, who had a World Cup victory last season and is currently ranked number three in the world.

A few days before the race we battled extreme weather conditions, with torrential rain almost wiping out the entire course before the races even started. Fog and high wind also prevented us from training on the course, so instead we just trained in the start gate. Luckily by Saturday the storm had passed and we finally saw the sun, giving Hotham a chance to build what turned out to be a fast and technical race course with plenty of big rollers, jumps and banked turns.

Being the first race of the southern winter season and the only ski cross event in Australia, I was very excited to be racing again on home turf. It’s always great to come home from a 4-month World Cup season in Europe / North America, and test out your skills on Australian snow.

On day one I qualified in second position, two tenths of a second behind Smith. I made my way through the quarter and semi finals, finding myself in the final head-to-head with Smith, a Japanese competitor and another Aussie. With a fast start, I managed to take the lead at the top of the course and maintained it all the way to the finish line, feeling Smith on the tail of my skis the whole way down. I crossed the line in first, and as you can imagine, I was very excited to have beaten such a highly ranked world-class competitor. A very proud moment for me!

On day two, I had another great day of racing however couldn’t manage to beat Smith to the finish line in the final, and finished in second place.

Overall, a very successful and enjoyable weekend of racing in the sunshine. I finished with a first and a second at the Australian National Championships…not a bad start to the season! It feels great to take the National title again, making me Australian National SX Champion two years in a row.

I am now on my way to New Zealand where I will be competing in the New Zealand Winter Games. This event is held every two years, and attracts a large number of international competitors. The ski cross will be held in Cardrona, which is renowned for being a world cup standard course. Looking at the way the snow season is shaping up in NZ, I might even get a few powder runs in while I’m here!

Will keep you posted with the results after Friday.

Day 1- 1st place in the 2011 Australian National Championships / ANC Ski Cross, Mt Hotham

Celebrating the win with Michael Kennedy, CEO of Ski and Snowboard Australia

Fanny Smith and I enjoying the sun at the top of the race course

Support Josh and Carmen- WE CAN RUN

2011-08-13T10:45:00.000+02:00

Great friends of mine, Josh and Carmen, have set themselves an enourmous goal. They have decided to run the Melbourne Marathon in October this year. Not only will they have made a massive personal achievement, they are also running for a great cause; raising money for cancer research.

Being an ambassador for ISFT (I Ski For Tommy), a foundation aimed at raising awareness of skin melanoma, I am completely supportive of their cause.

To support Josh and Carmen, please donate at wecanrun2011.blogspot.com

They have also put together some hilarious video blog episodes that follow their training in the lead up to the marathon.

Watch episode 1 below....

Summer Training Video

2011-08-05T10:41:00.002+02:00

Its now August and we're well into the Australian winter training season.

I thought I'd put together a video blog which shows all the different ways we've been training over the "summer" (European / North American summer).
This season we're really trying to mix up the types of training we're doing. Hopefully this will give us an edge when coming into the 2011/12 World Cup Ski Cross season.
Training has consisted of short track speed skating, ice hockey, water jumping, backyard starts training, even cliff jumping.... (well that was for my own enjoyment....)!
Check out the video below!

Enjoy

Ski Cross Summer Training 2011- Katya Crema from Katya Crema on Vimeo.

A bit of inspiration....

2011-08-02T04:31:00.001+02:00

Check out this video of World Champion track cyclists Shane Perkins, whom I train beside at the VIS. An inspiring video. Best quote.... "I'm going to kick your arse, man."

Building the Perfect Athlete

Road trips!

2011-07-29T08:06:00.001+02:00

This week I feel like I’ve been all the way around Australia and back!

NSWIS induction was held in Jindabyne, where winter sports athletes were awarded with scholarships for 2011. Fortunately a few days earlier our brand new ski cross track was built up at Perisher. On Saturday, the National Ski Cross team had our first training session on the track. Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin, Border Cross World Champion, joined us for the session. Up in the trees and away from the public, we had the run to ourselves. We trained all morning on the start, working on the first five technical features. It was a great feeling being back in that competitive environment.

(Anton and I soaking up the sun)

(The boys racing, Anton and Scotty)

(Hair going crazy!)

(Early morning sunrise at Perisher)

On Sunday morning we drove to Canberra for a three-day physical training camp at the AIS. As usual, our days were filled with various sessions, ranging from strength and explosive sessions in the gym, wind gate testing on the bike in the lab, cross country running, training on the ‘dryland’ start gate, and many more! We also did group nutrition and sports psychology sessions, which were insightful.

(John Marsden and I experimenting with some pretty interesting equipment..)

Following the Canberra camp, I headed to Buller for the Victorian University Games. I took out the GS, dual slalom, Ski Cross and Overall female skier titles. Melbourne Uni also won the overall which was great. Over the weekend I also found time to pull some starts on the brand new ski cross start which Mt Buller Race Club purchased this season. It’s a great set up, and a valuable asset to the mountain and the club. Now hopefully this means we’ll do a little more training at my home mountain in the future!

On Saturday after the ski cross event, I spent the afternoon coaching Chicks with Stix with Zoe Jaboor and Katie Blamey. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we had a lot of fun cruising the mountain. About 20 girls showed up for the session. We did a few fast carve runs down summit, worked on skiing switch, and finished off in the terrain park. The girls who joined in on the session had a great time, and everyone enjoyed the sunshine, skiing and each others company!

(Chicks with Stix girls)

(Making some turns on Fast One at Buller last weekend)

On Sunday I coached a group of young girls from Team Buller Riders in prep for the Junior National moguls comp at Buller next weekend.

Finally, to top off a great weekend, we celebrated Cadel's win at 2am on Sunday morning. Congratulation Cadel on the amazing achievement!

Freestyle weekend at Buller

2011-07-12T08:57:00.002+02:00

This weekend I headed to Buller for what was to be a weekend of new experiences!

First new experience... Driving into Yea solo at 7pm on Friday night, I was asked by police to do a U-turn, drive all the way back to the Hume Highway and take a 1.5 hour detour to Buller (due to a road closure in Yea). I was not in the mood to turn my already 3.5 hour drive into 5 hours, so I decided to take a risk and follow the directions of locals, guiding me to a dodgy single-lane dirt road in the middle of nowhere, with not a light in site. After 30 minutes on this dirt track, I ended up getting lost in the dark, having basically no idea where I was. Luckily a local driving past noticed the hazard lights and a 22 year old girl with a massive map splayed on the dash of the car. Kindly he stopped to give me directions. Thinking back on it now, probably not the smartest move... Let's just say I'm just glad I haven't seen Wolf Creek!

I spent all of Saturday guest coaching TBR, teaching the groms how to lay down some carve turns. In the afternoon, the coolest chicks on the mountain all met at 3pm at Koflers for a quick hot chocolate before we ventured out for an hour and a half of skiing. Despite the weather not being 'brilliant', the snow was great and everyone was really enthusiastic. We skied the recently opened Standard Run, as well as a few down Shaky Knees. Due to the massive turn out (over 25 girls...), we decided to split the group into three. Zoe took the girls who were up for learning 180s; Katie, with her moguls experience, worked on short turns; and myself and Nat took those who were keen to try some big carve / "big mountain" turns.

We had girls of all ages and from all skiing backgrounds. Everyone seemed to have a really great time, meeting new people and doing what we all love... skiing!

At the end of the afternoon, the Chick of the day was awarded to Alice (from Australia's aerial development program) for nailing her first 180 spin! She won a pair of sexy hot pink poles, kindly donated by Shafted ski poles.

To finish up, the girls unwinded by doing a one hour yoga session at the La Trobe Centre. A great way to finish off a fun afternoon!

I'm looking forward to joining in the next Chicks with Stix session at Buller in two weeks time!

Swapping the books for the bikini in Bali

2011-07-04T04:41:00.000+02:00

Last week after exams, I ditched my uni books for my bikini, and headed to Bali for a 6 day pre-winter holiday. Being a skier, it’s not often that I get the chance to have a summer holiday, so I grasped the opportunity and soaked up some rays before the winter really kicks off.

I stayed in Seminyak for 6 days with a friend, Julia de Campo, where we spent copious amounts of time on the beach and in the surf.

The highlight of the holiday was the adventurous day trip to Lembongan Island, a beautiful tiny island 30 minutes off the coast of Sanua, Bali. Cruising around on scooters, I managed to find the infamous turquoise-water cliff jump, recommended by a friend. Jumping off the 12m cliff was the easy part. The scary part was trying to grab the dodgy ladder in a big sea swell, and then climbing back up.

The running (wo)man

Cliche but nevertheless still beautiful

Getting my surf on with three new friends from Hong Kong

Within 24 hours, I went from being on the beach in a toasty 30 degrees, to getting off the plane in Melbourne at a chilly 6 degrees. I jumped straight in the car and drove 7 hours solo to Jindabyne, where I am now spending the next week training on snow.

I’ll be a Buller next weekend, and am really looking forward to my first Chicks with Stix session of the season on Saturday afternoon.

From 52nd to 33rd to 18th in the World...

2011-03-20T09:47:00.000+01:00

The 2010/11 winter season has finally come to an end, and what a season it’s been! There have been many highs and lows, new friends, great experiences, and overall an incredible five months.

Today was the last race of the season; World Cup finals in Voss, Norway. I finished in 15th place, making it my 5th top 15 result on World Cup this season, and 9th top 20. Overall I finished in 18th place in the World rankings. Last year I was 33rd, and the year before that 52nd, so it has been quite a massive improvement in two years!

I am now on my way home to Australia. I am looking forward to some warm weather, sleeping in my own bed, and a good coffee! I will be heading straight back to uni, where I’ve already missed the first four weeks of my third year Architecture degree. Hopefully it won’t take too long to catch up!

I’ve put together another video blog from the last part of the season. Click on the below link to view it online!

Katya Crema - Video Blog 4 - End of Season from Katya Crema on Vimeo.

Now for a quick summary of the season in a few words…

Best new experience: Backcountry hiking and skiing in Verbier, Switzerland.

Worst experience: The unfair decision to re-run my best race at World Champs.

Favourite ski cross track: Grindelwald, Switzerland.

Best pizza: San Candido, Italy

Favourite new destination: London

Best view: Top of Grindelwald, Switzerland. View of the Eiger and Jungfrau Mountains.

I hope you’ve enjoyed keeping up-to-date with my somewhat crazy and fast-paced life overseas on the World Cup Ski Cross tour.

(Dani (CAN), Ophelie (FRA), Kelsey (CAN) and I - World Cup Finals, Voss)

(Spring in Norway! It still looks like mid-Winter. I can't see the snow going anywhere for a long time!)

Qualified for World Cup finals!

2011-03-13T18:18:00.005+01:00

Great news! My most recent 14^th place result in Branas, Sweden, has put me into 15^th place on the overall World Cup rankings list, securing my spot in finals next week. Only the top ranked 16 women and 32 men qualify for the final World Cup of the season. This is the first time I have finished within the top 16, so I’m very excited!

Here in Branas, I qualified in 14^th place, however was unable to progress to semi finals today. I had a tough heat; racing against three girls who have each won World Cups this season; Marte Hoeie Gjefsen from Norway, Ana Woerner from Germany, and Ophelie David from France.

We head to Oslo tomorrow and then on to Voss on Wednesday.

Will keep you posted with how it goes!

(Bib number 1)

Once again, disappointing 17th!

2011-03-06T18:27:00.001+01:00

Hmm... so Meiringen didn't quite go to plan! I finished 17th in qualifications, just 0.2 of a second behind 16th, meaning that I missed out on a spot in finals today. This is the second time I have finished in 17th position on World Cup this season. Not quite what I had in mind after Grindelwald!

The good news is my past two World Cup results has moved me up the overall World Cup rankings. I'm currently sitting in 15th place in the overall standings (of non-injured athletes), meaning that I'm in a good position to qualify for World Cup finals. Only the top 16 girls and 32 guys are invited to compete at finals.

Tomorrow we head to Zurich for three days, then off to Scandinavia. Back to the cold! Switzerland has been beautiful, sunny, blue skies and warm. I'm assuming the weather in Sweden isn't going to be as kind to us! I have one more World Cup in Branas, Sweden, to secure my spot in the top 16 for finals in Voss, Norway.

(Flying high in qualifications, Switzerland)

Video blog 3 from Grindelwald, Switzerland

2011-03-04T18:19:00.003+01:00

Katya Crema - Video Blog 3- Grindelwald, Switzerland from Katya Crema on Vimeo.

Lucky 13th, third time round!

2011-03-04T18:16:00.001+01:00

Today I finished in 13th place, in the Grindelwald World Cup, Switzerland. It is the third time I have finished in lucky 13th this season. Lets hope that things happen in three so I can break this trend and finish in the top 10!

Yesterday was qualifications. The training day was cancelled due to soft snow, so basically we had only two runs to figure the course out before it was time to race. The track was extremely fast with some big jumps and few turns…almost like a downhill. Speeds were estimated to be around the 100km/hour mark., which is very fast when you have three people racing next to you!

I qualified in 13^th position (out of a field of 30 girls), so I was happy to be well within the top half of the field. Top 16 women and top 32 men went through to finals the following day.

Unlike any other World Cup, the Swiss decided to do it in style and use a helicopter (instead of a chairlift) to transport the athletes to the top of the race hill during finals. The last time I rode in a chopper was three years ago in Meiringen when I injured my knee. It was a trip from the race hill to the hospital and all I could see was the ceiling of the helicopter, strapped into an ackea. So as you can imagine I was pretty excited!

The helicopter ride, although short, was a lot of fun. Flying through the Eiger and the Jungfrau, some of the most famous mountains in the world, was spectacular. It definitely made my day!

We are now in Meiringen, Switzerland, for the next World Cup. Again we have no training on the course due to warm snow conditions, so tomorrow is inspection only. Training is on Saturday and finals on Sunday. Let’s hope for another great result!

(Hitching a ride back into town with the Americans and Frenchies after training)

(Above the clouds in Grindelwald)

(The Eiger)

(Switzerland's most prestigious DJ)

(Public bib draw. Qualified 13th)

(Finals)

(Chopper rides for finalists)

(View from the helicopter)

Video blog 2

2011-03-01T07:47:00.002+01:00

Check out my second video blog of the season, which captures all the highlights, lowlights, action and travel from overseas. Enjoy!

Katya Crema - Video Blog 2 - 2010/11 Season from Katya Crema on Vimeo.

Return to Bavaria-land

2011-02-28T22:19:00.001+01:00

Once I returned from London, we drove toGrasgheren, Germany, for a block of training with zee Germans. We’ve been lucky to do some training with the GermanSki Cross Team this season, as they have a talented young team with verysuccessful skiers, including current World Cup overall leader Heidi Zacher.

We started off with going back to basics; GSgates training. So first day back, first run in the course, Istraddled a GS gate and went flying over the handlebars onto my head and back.Ouch! The massive purple bruise I developed on my hip the next day proved Iwasn’t faking it! Luckly I walked out reasonably uninjured... just stiff and sore.

(Ouch!)

(Looks a bit like a pirate scar!)

For the next couple of days we did some skicross training on the World Cup track in Grasgheren. Then we finished off the week with a ski cross race in Mittenwald, the German National Championships.

(The highly professional Australian ski cross team)

(Kids Cup!)

We are now on our way to Switzerland. Thenext two World Cups are in Grindelwald and Meiringen. Sitting right beneath theJungfrau and Eiger Mountains, the town we stay in has incredible 360-degreepanoramic views of some of the most incredible mountains in the world. Letshope the sun is shining!

Will keep you posted on how the World Cupsgo!

Words from a fan...

2011-02-26T21:57:00.001+01:00

Check out this e-mail I received from a fanon my website… It made my day! Thanks Katya.

Hi! My name isKatya and I live in Australia, until I saw the Winter Olympics last year, Ithought, and felt like I was the only Katya that lived in Australia, and no onecould say my name properly. They would butcher it and say it like "Katchaor Kadiya or Kataya. However, after the Olympics, when people asked what myname was, they would say "oh, like Katya in the Olympics?" So I wantto thank you for giving me hope and teaching other people how to say our nameproperly. Heehee!

From Katya.

And yes, many people struggle with not beingable to pronounce my name properly, hence the nickname ‘Kat’. It’s anotherreason why I love being in Europe. They say my name better than I do!

London

2011-02-20T21:57:00.000+01:00

After a long flight back to Europe from theStates, following a ‘celebratory after party’ of the Blue Mountain World Cup, Iwas ready for my long-awaited break. The last time we had some time off wasback in December over Christmas. The past 6 weeks has been an intense block oftraining, racing and travelling. It was time to split from the team and getaway from the mountains and snow, and do something different!

I decided to go to London to visit a goodfriend of mine. I stayed in the beautiful leafy suburb of Notting Hill for theweek. Strolls through Portobello Road markets, Oxford Circus and the BoroughMarkets was just what I needed to get my mind off skiing! I had an incredibletime in London. I now understand why so many young Australians move there. Thecity has so much to offer. Great architecture, culture, food, coffee, andshopping! What more could you want? I was VERY fortunate to get a week of greatweather too, so no complaining there!

After a week of being a tourist, including avisit to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tate Modern museum with a fellowMelbourne archi student, food tasting at the famous Borough Markets, a strolldown the river past the London Eye and Big Ben, and the discovery of a fewgreat restaurants and quaint British pubs, it was time to head back to Munichto meet the team.

I'll let my photos do all the talking...

(Big Ben)

(The Australia Shop! I was able to stock up on essentials such as Tim Tams and Milo...)

(Tess and I at Covent Gardens)

(The incredible 360 degree of London from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral)

(Ally and I in Arsenal)

(Chris and I at the Tate Modern Museum)

(Anyone seen 'Notting Hill' the movie? I'm such a tourist!)

(Just a little bit excited about big wheels of cheese)

(Enjoying a gluhwein on a lazy Sunday afternoon at the Borough Markets)

Highlights video from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games

2011-02-18T18:14:00.003+01:00

Click here to view a highlights video from the 2010 Olympic Games!

Katya Crema- Highlights from the 2010 Olympic Games from Katya Crema on Vimeo.

Carnage in Blue Mountain, Canada

2011-02-16T18:16:00.001+01:00

After a disappointing end to World Champs, I once again packed up my 120kg worth of gear, clothing and equipment, and flew to Toronto, Canada, for the next World Cup. This is the second time I have raced in Blue Mountain, last year being the first. The tiny resort is just two hours from Toronto (the fifth largest city in North America), making it an extremely popular ski area.

As per usual, things didn’t run as smoothly as we would have liked when we arrived in Toronto. Car rental “issues” forced us into hiring three Toyota Corolla’s. With 5 bags and 120kg of luggage each, you can imagine how difficult it was to squeeze all of it into the cars. Somehow we managed, and we set off in our fleet of Corolla’s.

(Just part of our 750kg worth of gear!)

Training kicked off on Wednesday, and the course ran smoothly. We had qualifications on Thursday, where I qualified in 13th place. The top 16 women and top 32 men progressed to finals on Thursday, so I was excited to once again have a chance at racing head-to-head.

(The start)

(The Australians in course inspection)

(The track)

On Friday, the course froze overnight and sped up considerably. In my first training run, I was not expecting to hit the speeds that I did. There were crashes all over the place right from the get go! People were overshooting jumps, landing on the flat or even on the upside of the next jump.

When finals started with the men, I had to stop watching after three heats! In each heat, men collided and crashed before the first turn. There were injuries all over the place, and my heat was still yet to come.

I have to say that although I tried to convince myself that everything would be okay, there was still an element of fear in the back of my mind. Usually I am able to switch that ‘sane’ little voice off in my head and just race, but every now and then, watching people crash and being carted away in the bucket by paramedics brings me back to bad memories of my own injury two years ago (torn ligament in my knee). I guess it is a mental issue I still need to overcome, particularly when conditions are difficult like they were on Friday.

Once I got to the gate, I think subconsciously my body had already decided to ski in safe mode. And at this level of competition, if you’re not willing to give it 100% right from the start, you’ve got no chance of progressing through to the next round… unless you do a Bradbury of course!

Besides the fact that I am safe and well, skiing safe didn’t pay off this time, and I didn’t manage to progress to the semi finals. I finished up in 13th place, which was still a great result (my equal best result for the season).

(13th fastest qualifier)

(Skis and more skis....)

(Marcos making my skis nice and fast for the race)

(Finals)

The race ended with Chris Del Bosco from Canada winning the men’s, and Ana Woerner of Germany winning the women’s. Sadly there were a large number of injuries by the end of the race, including a few blown knees, concussions, a torn elbow, torn ankle, groin injury, and I’m sure a few more I don’t know about!

(Three cripples still in high spirits after the race)

(Sami's battle wounds after her crash in training)

The team now has a 5-day break, which I’m very excited about after a difficult 6 weeks of racing. I am heading back to Europe and spending 5 days in London. It will be nice to get away from snow and the mountains for a little while, and spend some time in the city.

Controversy at Freestyle World Championships

2011-02-06T06:43:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was probably one of the most disappointing days racing I’ve ever had in my sporting career. Never did I ever imagine what was to come on finals day.

I arrived here in Deer Valley, Utah, for the FIS Freestyle World Championships just five days ago, after the World Cup in Germany. I was excited to be competing in this world event, which is held every two years. This is my second Freestyle World Championships; my first being two years ago in Inawashiro, Japan, where I finished 26th.

We were faced with tough training conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday, with temperatures as low as -26°C during the day, and under -35°C wind chill. Beautiful sunny days but bitterly cold, the coldest days Utah has on record this year in fact. We managed to get two good days of training on the track, and I was confident and excited for qualifying.

I qualified in 16^th, which would have been the last qualifying place if they were to take 16 women like on World Cup. Instead they took 32 to give everyone a shot at racing finals. A bit stupid if you ask me, seeing as though there weren’t enough to have four in every heat, but I guess it’s World Championships and not a World Cup.

Yesterday was finals. There was a massive turnout, with spectators filling the entire finish area. It’s great to have people come and support an event like this. It always makes the race a lot more fun when you have people ‘ooohing’ and ‘aaaring’, and cheering you on at the bottom.

I was placed in the very first heat of the day, with Heidi Zacher of Germany (the number one qualifier and current World Cup leader) and Katrin Hofner of Austria. In the start I was psyched and ready to go. Then came the start, “Racers Ready…. bang.” The gate dropped immediately. No “Attention” and no 1-5 second hold. The start man made an unforgiveable error and dropped the gate early. Before I knew it, the two girls had pulled out of the gate and were already over the first feature before I knew what had happened. After doing work on training starts over and over with the same procedure, I definitely wasn’t expecting this!

I pulled out anyway as I figured the race would go on, and was well behind coming into the second jump. I was so riled up and angry at what had just happened that I went into ‘autopilot’ mode and just skied my heart out. By the second turn I had caught up to Hofner, and made a quick pass on her inside. It was a fight to stay in front all the way down, but I managed to hold my position and finish in second. I was so ecstatic at what I had just accomplished. From over 10m behind out of the start to second place and through to the next round in the World Championships! Or so I thought….

The Austrians filed a protest firstly about ‘contact’ in the race, saying that I grabbed Hofner (which clearly did not happen). When they were denied a disqualification, they decided to do anything they could and filed a second protested, this time about the false start. An inexperienced jury made a rash decision and awarded a re-run. I was so devastated. I had just skied the run of my life, coming from far behind with a severe disadvantage and finishing in second. Instead of going through to quarter finals, I was heading back up for an unfair re-run.

By the time I was in the gate for my re-run, I was frazzled, anxious and just angry at the situation. I wasn’t relaxed and focused like I was in the first heat. I didn’t have a great start and pulled into third. Half way down the course I straddled a gate trying to pass Hofner. Finishing in third, I was knocked out and didn’t progress to the next round.

I felt I was severely hard done by, and robbed of my chance to race in the quarter finals. But what could I do? The decision was made and the re-run was awarded. And knowing my luck, Hofner ended up in the big final, and finished in 4th place.

I ended up finishing in 17th place in the final results. Still a top 20 at World Championships, but definitely not the result I was after.

I guess all I can do now is put it all behind me. After all things like this happen in life!

I’m now looking forward to a day powder skiing in Snowbird on Sunday. That should cheer me up! I then head to Blue Mountain, Ontario, for the next World Cup.

(Some Utah love)

(Mum, Cate Sullivan (one of my first ever ski instructors) and I at the bottom of the course)

(The Australian Ski Cross Team. Anton, Matt, Sami, myself, Jenny, Marcos and Scott)

(At the top of the course before qualifying)

(Doing some mental visualization of the course before race run)

(Pulling out of the start gate)

(Jenny Owens, Scott Kneller and myself after qualifying)

(Jenny and I launching off the final jump in training)

(Ski boot testing)

(Wax room)

13th in Germany World Cup

2011-01-30T09:19:00.000+01:00

After the Europa Cup in Switzerland last week, we drove to Grasgheren, Germany, for the next Ski Cross World Cup. We had two days to kill prior to the race, so we decided to train some GS at Oberjoch. This mountain doesn’t bring back great memories for me. I raced in my first Europa Cup slalom here four years ago and it turned out to be a disaster; a night race in gale force winds, torrential rain, no operating chair lift (which meant hiking) and a broken thumb. Not my idea of fun! Four years on though and how things have changed! From Europa Cup slalom to a World Cup Ski Cross.

On Thursday we did ski testing with the Swiss Team in order to figure out which skis were fastest on this type of snow.

(Ski testing)

Training was held on Friday in Grasgheren. When we arrived, there seemed to be a lot of hype surrounding this particular World Cup. Media vans filled the car park, as well as fans just to watch training. The course was equipped with 18 cameras to capture the race for live TV coverage; almost as many cameras as the Olympics! Apparently Ski Cross is huge in Germany after the sport’s success at the Olympic Games. It was the second most watched sport in the nation (behind biathlon of course!), with over 3 million viewers. Germany is right behind the new and exciting sport.

(Course inspection with a view!)

(Anton on top of the step-down)

The course was the longest track on the World Cup so far, over 1 minute and 15 seconds. Tiring and leg burning when you’re taking four runs in under an hour, including hiking to the start.

On Friday night, an athlete presentation was held in the town square. There was a massive turn out, with a huge number of people showing up to support the athletes. It definitely established some hype and excitement for what was to come on race day tomorrow.

(Team Australia)

Yesterday was qualifications and finals in the one day. Fans lined the entire course for a view of the action. I qualified in 12th position, with a couple of minor mistakes. It’s difficult to ski a perfect run, especially when you’re pushing it and taking risks. In a 1 minute 15 course, I was just over 2 seconds behind the winner and current World Cup leader, Heidi Zacher, of Germany.

Between qualifications and finals, I made the most of the stationary bike we travel with by doing some spinning in the back of the van for recovery, trying to remove the lactic acid from my legs. I needed to be fresh for finals in the afternoon, not slow and lethargic.

(Spinning in the van before finals)

In my finals heat was Katrin Mueller of Switzerland, Andrea Limbacher of Austria and Nikola Checova of Czech… a tough heat! I had a great start and pulled into second position off the first jump and around the first turn. I maintained this position right down the course, staying tight to Mueller who was less than a ski length in front of me. Coming around the second last turn, Limbacher managed to pull into my draft, and in the long straight section before the finish, she pulled out and accelerated past me. I was pipped right at the finish line, and finished in third. Devastated! So unbelievably close to making semi-finals and a top 8 result. My qualifying time put me in 13th place, still a great World Cup result.

(The crowd at the bottom of the race)

Although it was extremely disappointing to be beaten on the last turn, I was happy with how I raced. The head-to-head racing is definitely improving, and my confidence is building. I know I can mix it with the best girls in the world; it’s just a matter of time, and each racing is getting better and better!

What made my day was when the Australian national anthem was played for Andreas Matt of Austria, who won the men's event. I thought it was strange whilst watching the prize giving ceremony why I knew the words to the supposed Austrian anthem...

I am now at Munich airport, waiting to board my flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. Next on the schedule, World Championships!!!

(Packing for the States. One way to save money on an airline ticket!)

Will keep you updated!

(Traditional gondola)

(Team shot for our hotel owners)

(Interesting benches at a German cafe)

7th in Europa Cup, Zweisimmen

2011-01-24T14:26:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I finally got a chance at racing finals. We had a week break in the World Cup circuit, so we decided to come to Switzerland to compete in the Europa Cup in Zweisimmen. I raced here 3 years ago; it was actually one of my first ever ski cross races (after my World Cup debut in France).

Racing were all the Europa Cup athletes, as well as a bunch of World Cup athletes from Switzerland, Germany, Japan, France, Russia… There was a solid field of over 35 girls. The track was pretty easy compared to a standard World Cup course. No major jumps, extremely flat (to my disadvantage!) and no major technical sections. This was mostly due to lack of snow, but also not to scare the living hell out of young racers new to ski cross!

I qualified in 8th position. I was racing in heat 1 of the quarter finals, and made it through the first round with German World Cup racer Alex Grauvogl. I then proceeded to semi finals. Unfortunately with my qualifying time, I was given the yellow bib, meaning I had last pick of the start gate. In this course it was rather a large disadvantage. I was in the far left gate, and the far right gate was most direct to the first turn. I came out with a fast, strong start and ended up neck and neck in 2nd position with a Swiss girl. She had the inside line and so pinched me out. I was forced through the gate and therefore didn’t make it through to the big final.

In the small finals (to decide 5th through to 8th place), I came through in 3rd place, therefore finishing in 7th overall. It was a great day and fun to finally race some head-to-head competition.

I think this will give me a lot of confidence going into the next World Cup in Germany. All I have to do now is qualify fast, and then let everything I’m been training so hard for take care of itself in the head-to-head competition!

Here are some photos taken by Jenny Owens on race day.

(Ready in the start for the quarter finals)

("Racers ready.... attention...")

(Quarter finals)

(I get the hole shot in the first turn)

(Trying to make a pass in the small finals)

(Team Australia. Anton, Marcos, Matt, myself and Development Team coach Shawn)

Thanks Jen for the photos!

Backcountry ski touring in Verbier

2011-01-21T18:18:00.001+01:00

I had one of the most incredible days yesterday in Verbier, Switzerland. We came here after the World Cup in Les Contamines for a few days of free skiing.

Yesterday, a friend (the coach of Swiss Ski Cross racer Fanny Smith) took us backcountry skiing off the back of Mont Forte, Verbier. The peak reaches a massive 3300m. As you can imagine at that height, the view from the top is incredible. It’s almost as if you’re in a helicopter, looking down on the Swiss Alps. You even get a close view of Mont Blanc. Guilliame, our guide for the day, lives in Verbier, and therefore knows the mountain like the back of his hand. There’s nothing like a local to show you around the mountain!

We started the day by hiring the necessary gear; touring skis, skins (put under the skis to grip whilst climbing up hill), a beeper and a parachute pack (designed to open if caught in an avalanche or in a dangerous situation and you need protection). There wasn’t a whole heap of fresh snow, so the likelihood of an avalanche was pretty slim, but it’s always better to go out there well equipped in case! Better to be safe than sorry.

Once we reached the peak, we skied off the backside of the mountain. It was steep, rocky and pretty intimidating. We skied down an impressively steep couloir and down into the first valley. It was a good two hours of skinning up hill from there. Tough work at 3300m! The air is thin and cold.

The scenery was incredible. There was just the four of us in the middle of the Swiss Alps, with not a person, house or hint of civilisation in site.

Once we made it to the top, the ski down was well worth the hike. There was one long open section where you could just hammer down with some big swooping GS turns, making fresh tracks. We finally made it to the bottom, well below Verbier and into another town, over 5 hours later. It was an epic journey and I was absolutely spent, but so excited to have experienced something so amazing.

(On top of the World at Verbier)

(View from Mont Forte, Verbier's peak, at 3300m)

(Impressive wind lip)

(Sami, myself and Matt, ready for an epic adventure)

(Above the couloir)

(View of the couloir we just skied from the bottom)

(Skiing through tunnels)

(Exhausted from a full days hiking and skiing)

(The beautiful Swiss town of Verbier)

(Looking down onto the massive mogul field at Verbier's peak)

(Traditional Swiss raclette melting by the fire)

(Bandit in the gondola looking as though he's about to rob me...)

The dreaded 17th position in Les Contamines

2011-01-16T17:04:00.003+01:00

17th position in ski cross has to be possibly the most frustrating position to end up in. It’s like losing the AFL grand final by 1 point. You’d almost rather lose by 100 points than lose by 1 because of the utter frustration. I finished in 17th position in the Les Contamines Ski Cross World Cup this weekend. In reality, it’s a great result and my best finish this season, but to miss out on finals by only one position hurts!

Going back a few days, we took the drive to Les Contamines, France, from Alpes D’Huez the day after finals. What was meant to be only a 3 hour drive turned into a 7 hour drive due to an unfortunate car crash involving our ski technician, Marcos. Driving alone in his own car, somehow he collided with another car from behind. The result was not pretty. Fortunately no one was hurt, however the 12 pairs of race skis that were sitting in the roof carrier system came rocketing out the front, sprawling across the bitumen road. Not ideal for our equipment to say the least!

(Spectacular drive down Alpes D'Huez, the famous Tour De France hill climb)

(Marcos' car after the accident... notice the gaping whole in the roof coffin)

The training day on Friday ran smoothly, and I managed to squeeze in four training runs on the course in the allocated 1-hour session. Come qualifications day, I was feeling reasonably confident and comfortable with the course. Courses vary greatly from World Cup to World Cup. They range from long, fast with big jumps like Alpes D’Huez, to steep, icy and at night like St Johann, to fast and super-G-like here in Les Contamines. You really have to adapt your race approach and type of skiing to suit the course.

(Launching myself off one of the jumps)

I had a solid qualifying run with no major mistakes, and came down in 16thposition from bib 25. I thought I was reasonably safe with only another 8 or 9 girls to go, however I was just pipped by one of the back runners; a French girl. It was a blow to the heart. I was so devastated that I just missed out on racing head-to-head finals; something I thrive on and am good at. A positive way to look at it is that my results continue to improve, and my confidence is getting stronger and stronger.

Once again I watched finals today (when I'd much rather be racing in them!). Scotty finished in 7th place; another great result for the Aussie. Anton finished 29th, and Sami 26th.

(Scotty happy with his 7th place finish)

(Aussie physio Cassie and our Spanish ski technician, Marcos)

(The athlete VIP pass... Thank god I'm allowed in the "Kiss and Cry" area!)

We now head to Verbier, Switzerland, for three days of big mountain skiing. We’re planning on getting a guide to show us around the spectacular mountain, and hopefully get some powder turns in! Then we’re onto Zweissimen, Switzerland, for a Europa Cup Ski Cross at the end of the week.

Will keep you posted!

Plus, a few more photos from the past few days...

(The French and their love of cheese...)

(Yes... ALL of those wheels of cheese plus more, and about a tonne of potatoes were used in the tartiflette at the bottom of the race today. The diet of real athletes!)

(Interesting. The French call is 'Steak Tartare'. I call it raw mince with raw egg that probably should be thrown on the barby!).

(Our cute, cosy mini hotel in Les Contamines)

Brand new 2XU sports bra video...

2011-01-14T18:57:00.000+01:00

A few months ago I did a shoot for 2XU and their new sports bra. Along with 4 other female elite athletes, we are promoting 2XU's new sports bra range for women.

Check out the mini movie!

Crepes, baguettes and Ski Cross racing

2011-01-12T14:41:00.001+01:00

After our epic 13-hour journey from Austria, right through Italy and then into France, we finally arrived in Alpes D’Huez on Sunday night. I really enjoyed the race here last year. The course was a lot of fun; fast with big jumps, and the off piste skiing is phenomenal. Plus the hotel we stay at is great… there are not many times I can say that whilst travelling in Europe on the Freestyle ski circuit.

After our training day on Monday, I was feeling confident and excited to race. Like last year, the course is lots of fun. Definitely more of a real ski cross track compared with the last two races. It’s fast with some big jumps, as opposed to GS turns with a few small step-downs. Scary at first but once I skied it once, all I wanted to do was go around for another!

Yesterday in qualifications I finished 18th, just 0.2 of a second from qualifying for finals in the top 16. Frustratingly close! I was disappointed that I didn’t qualify, however 18th is still a great result; a big improvement from than the past 3 races. It’s a step in the right direction, and hopefully it will give me a boost of confidence going into the next World Cup.

Fortunately it decided to snow pretty hard after the race yesterday afternoon and into the night, so today I made the most of the blue skies, sunshine and fresh snow and went powder skiing. The amount of accessible terrain here is unbelievable. Unfortunately the very top gondola was closed due to avalanche control, however that didn’t stop us from finding some untouched deep powder. I dragged myself back to the race to watch finals, and support my teammate Scott Kneller. Unfortunately he didn’t make it through the first round.

Tomorrow we pack our bags again and head to Les Contamines, France, for the next World Cup. I’m feeling fit and strong and excited for another race ahead!

(Spectacular morning sunrise at Alpes D'Huez)

(Ski cross race start)

(The morning of Qualifications on Tuesday)

(Course inspection - step down)

(Exhausted at the bottom of the course after the training day)

(Excited to use my fatty's for today's powder day)

(Windy at the top!)

(Anton's destroyed ski after he hit a rock)

(The track)

(Men's finals)

St Johann, Austria

2011-01-09T18:40:00.001+01:00

A long and eventful 12 months later and we’re back in St. Johann, Austria. This is where the ski cross World Cup circuit began to get interesting last season! A bulletproof, ice-injected hill held at night under lights with a crowd of over 5,000 people. Not your normal World Cup!

We arrived on Tuesday night after training in Lienz. Official training was held on Wednesday afternoon, with an official welcome dinner on Wednesday night. The athletes had an opening ceremony march followed by a traditional Austrian dinner. The entertainment provided on the night was quite amusing. Austrian men in short shorts dancing the traditional Austrian “Holtzhacker”.

(Traditional Austrian summer house in Zettersfeld)

(Team Australia)

(Austrian men dancing in Lederhosen)

Qualifications were on Thursday. I qualified 23rd, so again, not enough for finals which was disappointing. I was just over half a second from 16th position (cut-off for finals), which shows how tight it is! I feel that I am skiing well at the moment, but I just haven’t been able to translate it to racing. I made a mistake on the flat at the bottom which was enough to cost me a spot in the finals. The competition amongst the girls is fierce this year, so you can’t afford to make any mistakes.

(Qualifications at St. Johann World Cup)

To make up for my disappointment, I took a ride with a rally car driver in the new Mercedes. They had a track where they took public for a wild ride on the ice. They drive how I ski!

(Bea and I (Marcos, our Spanish ski technicians' daughter) ready to go for a ride)

(The final jump into the finish)

(

(Anton and I watching finals)

Yesterday, the morning after finals, we made the epic journey from Austria, right through Italy and finally to France. 13 hours in total! The only thing positive from the long journey was a quick pit stop in Oulx, Italy, where I have spent a lot of time living and training over the past 5 years. We stopped for what is, in my opinion, the world’s best crepe!

(Yum! Apple and cinnamon crepe)

We are now in Alpes D’Huez, France, which is most famous for the Tour de France hill climb. Tomorrow is official training, followed by qualifications on Tuesday and finals on Wednesday. Until then, au revoir!

Video Blog - Part 1

2011-01-04T18:35:00.000+01:00

Check out my first video blog of the season...

Katya Crema - 2010-11 Season- Video Blog Part 1

Back to Europe and into the New Year!

2011-01-02T12:15:00.000+01:00

After a short but sweet break at home, we returned back to Lienz, Austria where we have spent a fair amount of time over the past 4 weeks.

(Sunrise in Lienz)

(View from our farmhouse above Lienz)

A ski cross track has been built at Zettersfeld, so we have been training there with the German Ski Cross Team. The "Himmelfahrt" (meaning 'to the heavens' in German) was a table jump with a massive 25m+ clearance. It was intimidating at first due to the fact that you have to tuck down a steep pitch directly into the jump without turning in order to get enough speed to clear it. If you stood up out of your tuck or put in a speed check, then you would definitely not make it and land on the flat. Ouch! Straight after the jump was a large double which came quickly, so you had to be ready for it!

After I hit the jump once, I loved it and wanted to go back for more! There's something about overcoming your fears that gives me such a sense of satisfaction in this sport.

Over the past two days we have been training at Hinter Reit / Maria Alm, which is a 1.5 hours drive away, in Salzburg region, the racing capital of Austria. We have been training on ice-injected snow to get used to what is to be expected in St Johann later this week. St Johann World Cup is renowned for being double-injected and super icy, almost to the point where just standing up during course inspection becomes extremely difficult! My skis are tuned to 85 degrees (as opposed to the regular 88 degrees), meaning that they're absolute razors. It's the only way to get a grip on the blue ice, which is basically like a sheet of glass.

We have two more days of training here in Lienz, then we head to St. Johann for the World Cup.

Will keep you posted! Plus I have a video blog on it's way shortly, just need better internet to upload it!

(Sam and I at New Years Eve dinner)

(Chopper Reid and I)

(Packing the van once again)

(What my December 2010 looked like... A photo from each day)

Italian Christmas at home

2010-12-27T03:36:00.000+01:00

After the very familiar Munich-Singapore-Melbourne flight (over 24 hours), I finally made it home for Christmas. I have had only one Christmas at home in the past 10 years, so as you can imagine I was pretty excited to come home for the occasion! Awaiting me in Australia was beautiful 25-degree sunny weather. A big difference to being in the freezer of Europe!

True to Crema tradition, we had a big Italian family lunch with 25 family members. On this year’s menu was lobster, oysters, prawns (Australian tradition) as well as suckling pig, a smoked leg of ham, home-made lasagne (grazie Nonna), vitello tornato, tiramisu, grappa, panettone etc etc… the list goes on!

(The dogs awaiting their gifts, Diesel and Mya)

(Preparing the enormous smoked ham-on-the-bone)

(Mum with the suckling pig)

(My family)

(The Crema kids; Giulia, Nick and I)

(Big family lunch)

(Crema girls; Olivia, Giulia, Jessica and I)

(Jess and I)

It was a great Christmas and definitely worth the long trip home to spend time with family and friends.

I am now heading back to Munich this afternoon where we will start the second block of the season. The first block was mostly training with one Europa Cup and two World Cup’s in the final week. The second block is basically all racing. It means travelling every few days from mountain to mountain, country to country, and basically living straight out of a suitcase for the next two and a half months. Let’s just say after years of doing this, we ski racers have become some of the world’s best packers!

First up on the race agenda is St. Johann World Cup in Austria, which is the famous night race. Every year this race attracts huge crowds and is generally one of the most anticipated races of the year. It is raced on double-injected ice, a very steep pitch and under the stadium lights. So I’ve definitely got something to look forward to!

First World Cups of the Season, San Candido

2010-12-21T02:11:00.001+01:00

The racing season is now well on it’s way with the first two World Cup Ski Cross events held this weekend in San Candido, Italy. After an 11th place finish amongst a strong field of World Cup girls in the Europa Cup last week, I was feeling confident and ready to race.

(The ski cross start with the incredible Dolomites in the backdrop)

(The beautiful town of San Candido)

The Dolomites course was turny and fast, with some big jumps and smooth features. On Friday we had qualifications for the first race. I finished in 23rd place, so missed out on qualifying for finals which was a bit disappointing. This year they decided to take only the top 16 girls for finals as opposed to 32 last year. It definitely makes the competition much tougher in fighting for a spot for finals. In the second race I finished 25th. I was definitely hoping for much better results at these first World Cups. I feel that I am skiing well however just didn’t manage to deliver on the day. All I can do now is put these races behind me, stay positive and look forward to the next World Cup in Austria in early January.

My teammates on other hand, Scott Kneller and Anton Grimus, definitely didn’t fail to deliver. Kneller won the second World Cup by a hands reach, beating Swiss skier Alex Fiva at the last minute over the line. We were absolutely ecstatic. I think everyone was rooting for Scotty, being the underdog in the big final. It’s Australia’s first Ski Cross World Cup victory ever, and Australia’s first World Cup win of the season. Young Grimus finished 9thwhich was also an incredible result, being only his second World Cup Ski Cross ever. Two great results for the Australian Team! Congratulations boys.

On another positive note, the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) annual awards night was held last Monday night in Canberra. I was awarded ‘AIS Education Athlete of the Year,’ an award which recognises athletes who have achieved academic success at the same time as balancing the demands of their sport. OWI aerial skier Lydia Lasilla won the AIS Athlete of the Year. So in total two awards for Winter Sports, which is a great achievement for winter sports.

(Members of the Australian Ski Cross Team)

(Scott Kneller wins gold; Australia's first ski cross World Cup victory)

(Medal winners)

(Aussie staff: Marcos, ski technician, and Nick, physio)

I am now sitting in Munich airport enjoying a bowl of coffee (literally) and a croissant. I've enjoyed the past four weeks in Europe. Training has been great, and although it was not the start to the world cup season I was hoping for, I am sure there will be good things to come this season! I’m about to fly back to Melbourne for a short 6-day Christmas break; just enough time to see family and friends and soak up some sun before heading back to winter!

San Candido

2010-12-16T17:48:00.000+01:00

After an 11th place on Europa Cup in Pitztal, Austria, we are now in San Candido for the first world cups of the season.

Today we had our official training day. The course runs really well... some nice jumps with smooth landings, and great hard icy snow. It is on the same hill as last year, however the course is quite different. Slightly longer and smoother running.

Tomorrow we have qualifications with finals to be held on Saturday. A second world cup on the same track will be held on Sunday.

I'm feeling confident after training today, and am looking forward to the competition tomorrow. After months of hard work it's finally time to show off what I've got!

Will update you after the race.

Here are some of the best photos from the week....

(Aussie ski cross team van)

(View of Lienz from Zettersfeld gondola)

(San Candido)

(Tuning room... and that's not even all of them!)

(Delisioso! Speck, rocket and parmesan pizza at the number one pizzeria in San Candido)

On the road to the first races of the season

2010-12-09T20:50:00.003+01:00

Following two days off in Lienz, I was very ready to hit the slopes again. Although a day off is necessary to rest and recover, it does actually get a little boring! We occupied ourselves with a visit to the Christmas markets in Lienz, a gym session as well as a game of squash in the afternoon.

Yesterday, after a failed attempt at a day training day at Molltaler Glacier, we decided to go skiing at Zettersfeld. High winds and poor weather conditions closed the glacier which meant that we couldn’t train on the skier cross track as originally planned. Instead, we freeskied at Zettersfeld, a small resort 5 minutes from Lienz, Austria. The weather was warm and foggy, and the snow was soft… it actually reminded me a little of skiing in Australia. Such a change from the -25˚ C freezer days in Hintertux last week!

(Not a bad view from my bedroom window!)

(Anton and I in the gondola)

Now, once again, we’re back on the road living out of our suitcases. We’re on our way to Pitztal, Austria today for the first skier cross races of the season; two Europa Cups. On the way we stopped for a free ski at San Candido, Italy, where the first two World Cup’s of the season will be held next week. It was a good opportunity to ski next to the race hill, and to get a feel for the terrain. The course is yet to be built and the race is less than a week away! 2 hours skiing and a delicious speck, rocket and parmiggiano pizza later, we’re back on the road for another 3 hours.

Tomorrow is the official training day on the track, then race Saturday and Sunday.

Will keep you posted!!

Christmas markets, crepes and a powder day... life doesn't get much better!

2010-12-02T21:13:00.000+01:00

After four rather cold days of training on Stubai Glacier, we took the day off to rest and recover. We spent the morning in Innsbruck exploring the Christmas markets. The markets are full of traditional Austrian and European Christmas foods; sauerkraut, spatzle, kaiserschmarren, roasted marshmallows, and my favourite, crepes! Innsbruck is one of my favourite cities. It's modern and full of young people, yet has one of the most beautiful old towns I've ever seen. It's almost like a fairytale setting.

(Innsbruck old town)

(Roasting marshmallows at the Innsbruck Christmas markets)

(Nutella crepes... you can see the joy in my face)

On Wednesday morning we drove to Hintertux glacier. We are based here for the next four days where we will be training with a number of teams on a ski cross course.

After 6 days of average weather conditions, this morning appeared to be just like any other average day. Heading up the gondola, it was foggy and snowing like it has been for the past week. However as we reached the summit, we surprisingly broke through the cloud. The view was spectacular... blue skies, sunshine and endless mountains. Plus there was over a foot of fresh snow waiting for us to enjoy. I can't even remember my last great powder day, so as you can imagine, I was very excited for those first turns in the fresh, light snow.

(Hintertux Glacier summit, 3200m)

(View from the summit)

(

(Tyrolean mountain ranges)

(Perfect unskied terrain awaiting us)

(Powder in Hintertux)

(True face shot)

It's still snowing up on the mountain, so hopefully another powder day tomorrow!

Out of the sun and into the freezer

2010-11-28T14:19:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday I left Melbourne at a beautiful 35˚C and arrived in Austria at minus 25˚C. A 60˚ temperature drop in 24 hours. Definitely a shock to the body!

I am now back at Stubai Glacier in Austria, where we spent two weeks training in October. Things are looking a little different now compared to when I was here 5 weeks ago. The valley is white and the sun makes an appearance for only a limited number of hours each day. Lets just say it’s no longer ‘Sound of Music’ green like it was in spring. This is Europe in November!

It is still beautiful however. The rugged mountains are snow capped, and fresh snow blankets all the trees.

(Trees covered in fresh snow)

(Heading up to Stubai Glacier at 3200m)

(Windy at the peak. Photo courtesy of Anton)

(The snow cat prepares the skier cross track)

After we arrived on Thursday morning, I spent about 5 hours at a special race boot-fitting shop to get my new Nordica boots sorted. Unlike any normal ski boot, race boots need to be extremely tight. My ski boots are in fact 2 sizes smaller than my normal shoes.

I had foam-liners made, which is a custom-fitting boot liner. Foam is injected into the liner through tubes in order to mould perfectly to your feet. The boots now fit like a glove. They’re tight and a bit painful, but extremely responsive. Any tiny move with your foot is transferred straight to your skis and onto snow.

(Foam injected liners)

We have now had two days training on snow. It is great to be back on skis again. I always love the feeling of that first run when you haven’t skied in a while (not that 5 weeks is a very long time… although for me it feels like ages!)

(Windy, eery and cold on the glacier)

(Covered head-to-toe in -25 degrees)

(Anton Grimus and I)

We are training on a skier cross track up in the glacier, working on features and some head-to-head skiing. After a week of training here, we will head to Hintertux glacier for some training with the German team. They have a start gate set up there as well as a small course. Then our first competition of the season kicks off with a Europa Cup in Pitztal, Austria. This will be a great chance to practice before the first World Cup of the season one week later in San Candido, Italy.

Until then, Auf Wiedersehen!

AIS / Sydney training camp

2010-11-21T07:24:00.000+01:00

Last week the Australian Ski Cross National Team headed to Canberra and Sydney for a 5-day camp before we depart for Europe.

We started off the week with fitness testing at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. This was the first time I had ever been to the AIS. As an AIS athlete, we will now be using the world-class facilities more and more for fitness testing and training.

We began with anthropology testing, which is a measure of our percentage of body fat. Along with this, we used the AIS’s extremely high-tech “body scanner”, which takes a 3D image of our body, and is used to analyse muscle mass and body composition. Pretty interesting!

Next was our favourite… the VO2 max test, which is a maximal aerobic test that measures cardiovascular fitness. Fun! It was great to see some large improvements after such a heavy training period. It’s good to know that all the hard work is paying off!

(VO2 max test on the bike)

(AIS lab)

Over the following day, we did some explosive strength testing as well as made use of the AIS’s incredible recovery facilities. The recovery centre is equipped with enormous hot tubs, cold pools and whirl pools, all set to highly specific temperatures…. a little more high-tech than jumping in the freezing glacier-water river in Austria!

On Tuesday we drove to Sydney’s Northern Beaches where we spent the next two days training in Narrabeen. Over Wednesday and Thursday, we did a total of 8 enduring training sessions (about 6-8 hours of training per day).

This was the schedule:

Wednesday

Session 1: 6am- Beach sprints and exercises plus a swim in Warriewood beach.

(Warriewood beach)

Session 2: Strength testing and anaerobic testing (maximum sprint for 30 seconds on the wind-gate bike to test lactate threshold and power output… the longest 30 seconds of my life!). On top of this, we did the beloved ‘farmers run,’ where you carry your body weight whilst running with dumbbells for 400m, or alterteratively half your body weight for 800m. About 6-7 minutes of pain.

Session 3: 1 hour bush run in the Narrabeen hills.

Session 4: 1 hour session of ‘Crossfit’ – a strength / cardio-based circuit session.

Thursday

Session 5: 5:30am – 2-hour bike ride to Sydney’s ‘West Head’ (very hilly).

(At the top of the lookout point at West Head, Northern Sydney)

(View of the morning sunrise)

Session 6: Soccer / agility training.

Session 7: 1 hour of sea kayaking.

Session 8: Boxing.

By Friday, I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to hold my pen for my final Construction exam! All-in-all however, a great week of training.

It is now that time of year again! On Wednesday I leave for Europe. We are heading back to Stubai, Austria, for a block of training before we begin racing. Our first event is a Europa Cup ski cross in Pitztal, Austria, and then on to the first World Cups of the season in San Candido, Italy.

Will keep you posted with how the first few weeks in Europe go!

Melbourne training camp

2010-11-02T00:18:00.001+01:00

Last week the National Ski Cross Team had a training camp in Melbourne. Like most off-snow training camps, we try to mix it up a bit for variety, the chance to try new things, and have a bit of fun!

Matt Lyons, Head Coach, ran the training camp with help from Shawn Flemming, coach of the newly formed Development Ski Cross Team, as well as Anthony Khoury, OWI acrobatics coach.

We started off the week with wind tunnel testing out at RMIT University in Bundoora. They have a special lab where they test the aerodynamics of a variety of things; from formula one cars to cyclists to bobsleigh to skier cross racers. Basically the aim was to figure out, a) which position is fastest whilst racing, and b) what type of clothing is most aerodynamic at high speed. After over 2 hours in the wind tunnel, getting in and out of a tuck with a maximum speed of 70km/hour, the session was tiring but a success! Hopefully this will give us a bit of an edge leading into this coming world cup season. Every millisecond counts in this sport!

(Preparing my tuck position for the wind tunnel)

(In the wind tunnel)

(Traveling at a simulated speed of 70km/hour)

The following morning we headed to Lilydale at 5:45am for water jumping. It’s a great chance to practise jumping without having the fear of landing hard on ice. Water is definitely a more comfortable landing surface if you happen to land on your head! After a much needed coffee at that hour, I was ready to get going. We geared up with our retro ski gear and jumped all morning (about 30 jumps).

(Anton, Harry, myself and Sami ready to hit the jumps)

(Takeoff)

(Having a bit of fun and practicing our 360s)

We jumped again Thursday morning, and for something a little different, we had an ice hockey session at the new OWI Ice House at Docklands in the afternoon. After an hour or so of ice skating drills (which are harder than they look!), we got straight into it, and had a lot of fun. Our competitive sides definitely came out in the ice hockey match!

(Kitted up and feeling like a pro... that is before I step onto the ice....)

(Australian Ski Cross Team, turned hockey team!)

On Friday night, I attended the I Ski For Tommy Gala, which was a great success. Over 150 people came to show their support for the cause, which raises money for the Victorian Melanoma Service in honour of the late Tom Mathias. As an athlete ambassador for the organization, I’m proud to welcome aboard Jarryd Williams, Australian halfpipe snowboarder, onto the ambassador team.

(Mark Cicchiello, founder of ISFT, his father and myself)

For the next few weeks I will be in Melbourne, finishing off assessments and studying for uni exams, as well as training in the gym.

I’ll keep you posted with how things are going!

Bungy video

2010-10-19T14:41:00.000+02:00

3…2…1…BUNGY! Europe’s highest bungy jump, 192m.

2010-10-16T22:33:00.000+02:00

To end what has already been an incredible two weeks of skiing, I can now tick off the list Europe’s highest bungy jump….192m! Renowned as one of the most breathtaking and challenging bungy jumping sites (the third largest in the world in fact), the bungy site is right off the spectacular Europa Bridge in Innsbruck, Austria. With a free fall time of over 5 seconds and a maximum speed of up to 120km/hour, it was pretty damn scary but also an incredible adrenaline rush!

(Once you past this sign, there's no turning back!)

I’ve been fantasising about the jump…even dreaming about it at night… for the past three days since a Swedish friend mentioned it to me. Since then it’s been my mission to convince the rest team to join me! At first they thought it was a crazy idea, but I finally succeeded in getting Anton and Scotty to also jump.

I arrived at the bungy site excited but also super nervous! I have bungy jumped twice before, but neither of them compared to the mammoth size of this one! Once we were harnessed up, we walked about halfway across the bridge along the pedestrian path until we finally reached these little old rickety ladders. We hooked ourselves on with our carabineers and climbed down to a platform beneath the bridge where the launch site was. By this stage I was so nervous, frightened and excited I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!

(Scotty and I excited for the jump)

(Anton and I on our way to the bungy site)

(View off the Europa Bridge. Long way down!)

(Dodgy ladder leading to bungy site beneath)

Anton was first to take the plunge, then Scotty. I was last up from the opposite platform. After the famous countdown from 5 in German (by request of course as opposed to English…. When in Rome!) I attempted a swan dive off the platform, however because of fear, nerves and the shear weight of the rope, it turned into more of a collapse and tumble off the platform! Either way, I was off and falling…

The decent was so long and fast… I was just waiting for the rope to tighten! Then came the rebound where it felt like I was flung almost all the way back up to the take-off! The scariest part was probably hanging upside down about 40m from the ground waiting for them to pull me back up again.

(The launch pad)

(Anton on his way up)

(Taking the plunge)

(Still free falling after 5 seconds...)

(I couldn't wipe the grin off my face for hours after the jump....)

All in all, I’m very glad I did it! Worth every penny, and something I’ll remember forever.

Hintertux Glacier

2010-10-14T20:04:00.003+02:00

Today we trained at Hintertux, about a 1 and a ½ hour drive from Stubai. It is a massive glacier where a large number of ski teams train early on in the season.

Once again we were greeted by hectic gondola lines where Europeans seem to have no concept of what a line actually is. There’s pushing and shoving from everyone, even kids from about the age of 5 (they’re obviously trained young by their parents!) Absolute mayhem to get onto the gondola!

Once we reached the peak at 3250m, the long journey was well worth it. Hintertux has some incredible skiing terrain, with plenty of long steep runs. They are also one of the only resorts in Austria to build a terrain park this early in the season, so we made the most of it and practised our jumping.

We also joined the Norwegian, German and Swedish world cup ski cross teams in some ski cross training. They had a start gate and small course set up with a few turns, rollers and jumps. It was fun to catch up with everyone again, and also to get back into the head-to-head competition. I am now really excited to start racing world cups again in December!

Over the next few days we will be training at Stubai glacier, again working on technical skiing, GS and super g. This camp has been absolutely incredible for my skiing. Long consistent runs with great hard snow, perfect blue bird weather and training all day… I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Grawa-Wasserfall

2010-10-10T17:21:00.000+02:00

Yesterday after a morning of training super G with the Swedish Development Ski Team, we headed to Innsbruck, a half hour drive, for a gym session and dinner in the old town. If you're ever in Innsbruck and feel like Mexican, you must try Flo Jo's... best fajita's!

Today was a scheduled day off. After five full days of training on snow at high altitude as well as physical training in the afternoons, we were all pretty exhausted! We decided to make the most of the beautiful weather and check out the Grawa Wasserfall (waterfall), just a 10 minute drive up the valley towards Stubai Glacier.

We hiked to the top and managed to get pretty close to the fast flowing waterfall. Here are the best shots from the day...

(Grawa Waterfall)

(Vibrant greenery in the forest)

(View of the valley)

(Sami and I beneath the waterfall)

(Anton getting up close and personal)

(You've got to have at least one cliche tourist shot....)

(Team Shot. Thanks to whoever invented the self-timer.... genius!)

(Bloody Australians harassing the local Austrian police officer)

Tomorrow we're back on snow training super G with the Swedish development ski team again. Weather's looking good, so it should be another great week of training!