Already half way through the season

The past 6 weeks have gone by so fast I don't even know where to start. I've been training mostly in Perisher, with a few events and trips along the way. Seeing as though photo says a thousand words, I'm going to let my photos do all the explaining....

 

 I managed to score an awesome powder day in Thredbo earlier in the season. Skied some fresh tracks with a Thredbo local.

The Australian Ski Cross Team training at our start gate in Perisher.

Dryland training in Jindabyne in the afternoons includes riding up Airport Hill, an intimidating site and an absolute killer.

Making friends out the front of our house in Jindabyne.

Same house, a little colder! The first time I've seen it snow in Jindy.

Up at 5am most mornings, on snow by 6:45am. Early morning training at Perisher definitely has some perks....

A week off back in Melbourne town. A beautiful building at night.

Second place in my first-ever Top2Bottom at Thredbo. Basically a 30m sprint into a Chinese Downhill. First to the bottom wins. What a morning! 

Following Top2Bottom, a successful Chicks with Stix weekend in Thredbo, with over 45 participants. And not to mention perfect bluebird weather!

Brushing off the mogul cobwebs and mixing up the training. Taking a few runs down Toppa's Dream mogul course in Perisher. Quite a challenge!

Road trip to Hotham, the "back-back way."

I am now in Mt. Hotham for the Ski Cross National Championships to be held this weekend. I'm looking forward to defending my 2-year running title!

Back in Jindy-town

After a week in Jindy, I feel like I've settled back into our southern winter routine nicely. Training for 3-4 hours on snow in the mornings, gym or cycling in the afternoons, 6 days a week. It's physically intensive, but rewarding at the same time.

I am living at Sport and Rec in Jindy, with athletes from ski cross, moguls, snowboard, alpine and the Paralympic team. 

This week we started with basic drills on snow. A first for me was skiing in boots without cuffs (boot liners in the bottom shell only). An interesting drill, and a real leg burner, but great for balance and feel on the snow.

When we're not up on the hill or in the gym, we've been occupying ourselves with Masterchef inspired cookups. On the menu last night was handmade ravioli with 5 different fillings; egg yolk, pumpkin and ricotta, mushroom, three-cheese, and for dessert, nutella.

(Team effort with the pasta making)

 

(Hand-made fresh ravioli with pumpkin and ricotta, and a burnt butter and sage sauce)

 (Perisher)

 (Headed towards the pot of gold)

 (After-training snack; scones and tea)

NSWIS induction

Winter sports athletes Brit Cox, myself and Hannah Campbell Pegg striking a pose for the NSWIS athletes shoot...

Sydney Life

So I have officially moved to Sydney! Only kidding.... I've temporarily moved up here for a 6 week training block in preparation for the southern winter season. I have been up here now for 3 weeks, and have another 3 to go. Contrary to the slight hesitation I had a few weeks ago about making the move, I am loving being in Sydney (despite missing friends and family back at home...). It is an incredible training environment, with Sport and Rec in Narrabeen, as well as NSWIS at Sydney Olympic Park as my predominant training venues. Not to mention the beach and the road for surfing and cycling.

I am on a heavy strength building program, training 2-3 times per day, 6 days a week. After 16 sessions this week, I'm pretty excited for a day off tomorrow! It is great to be able to train in such a positive environment, alongside many of Australia's elite winter sports athletes.

(Warriewood, Northern Beaches, Sydney)

(My new local (very important!)... The Sugarmill, Narrabeen)

(Collaroy beach with 6-8ft waves)

(Green tea soba noodles and chicken salad at Banana Blossom, Mona Vale)

(Hard at work designing the new 2012 ski cross race uniforms)

(A stroll along the clifftops in Bondi / Tama)

Ski Cross tragedy

The past two days here in Switzerland have been an absolute emotional rollercoaster. On Saturday 10th March, the skiing community lost an amazing athlete and friend. Nik Zoricic of Canada passed away after a fatal crash in the ski cross World Cup in Grindelwald. He was 29 years old. In what was shaping up to be a beautiful sunny day in the Swiss Alps, ended tragically when Nik crashed into the finish area safety nets off the last jump in finals. In a statement from the International Ski Federation, Nik died of “severe neurotrauma” soon after he was flown by helicopter to Interlaken hospital. 


Unsurprisingly, the final two World Cups of the season were cancelled.


Nik was an incredibly talented athlete, achieving two World Cup podiums in his career, one being less than two months ago in Les Contamines, France.


Yesterday the entire ski cross community, including over 200 athletes, coaches and officials, came together at the top of the race course to remember Nik Zoricic. We all wore blue jeans in memory of Nik’s first ever ski cross World Cup in Cyprus Mountain, Canada, where he sported blue jeans in the race. It was an extremely emotional day as we all skied down the course together one final time as a group. We then placed roses at the accident site in the finish area, beside a burning fire and a photo of Nik. In the afternoon we all got together for a curling match. In was nice to have a few laughs together, and to remember Nik for all the good times we had with him.


My heart goes out to Nik’s family and friends back home, as well as the Canadian Ski Cross Team and the entire skiing community. It is a devastating loss and one that I will never forget.


The World Cup season is now officially over and I am on my way home via America. I am spending one week in Aspen, Colorado where I am planning on taking it easy and enjoying the mountains. I am looking forward to freeskiing without a schedule to attend to. After such an upsetting experience like this, I think it’s important to remind myself how much I love skiing, and not to take any second of it for granted.

(Nik Zoricic of the Canadian Ski Cross Team) 

(Grindelwald)

(The Australian Ski Cross Team wearing our blue jeans in memory of Nik)

(Chris Del Bosco and Davey Barr of the Canadian Ski Cross Team)

(The Memorial)

  

(The afternoon curling match)

  

(Grindelwald World Cup)

A sad day for ski cross. RIP Nik.

Today the entire skiing community lost an incredible athlete and friend. Nik Zoricic from Canada passed away after a crash in the Ski Cross World Cup in Grindelwald, Switzerland. He was an amazing athlete who died doing what he loved, and my heart goes out to his friends and family.

Rest in piece Nick.

You will be missed.

Short-lived finals in Branäs

My result here in Branäs, Sweden, wasn’t quite what I was hoping for.

I posted the 10th fastest time in qualifications, which was a solid result; my third top-10 World Cup qualification for the season. Finals today were very shortly lived unfortunately. It felt like it was over before it had even begun. I pulled out of the start gate aggressively, wanting more than anything to progress through to the semi finals. Then before I knew it, I hit the ground and was on my side sliding down the hill right after the first turn. I got caught up with the Swiss girl, our skis tangled and my skis unfortunately slipped out from underneath me. One of those things in this sport that is just a bit of bad luck, and something you can’t always control. I hammered into the first turn, and I guess this is Ski Cross and this stuff happens. Extremely frustrating though!

I got up and finished the course well behind the other three racers, just in case I might be lucky enough to do a Bradbury and come from behind… Never happens to me, but I thought it was worth a shot! I finished my heat in fourth place, and was therefore pushed all the way back to 15th place overall. A bit of a disappointing result given that I qualified in 10th. On the bright side, I have now jumped up two spots into 16th place in the overall World Cup rankings, my best ever world ranking.

I am now on my way to Zurich, where we will spend the next couple of days resting, re-fuelling and preparing for the next World Cup in Grindelwald, Switzerland.

(Anton and I soaking up the Swedish skyline)

(Discussing tactics with the coach on finals day)

 (Qualifications)