Things from my racing tour have been relatively quite with the exception of the last couple of days. After finishing up in Aspen I had a rare two-week break from racing that allowed for some training. Unfortunately Mother Nature has not been very cooperative. I had hoped for some high quality training before my last big races of the season, but soft snow made for some challenging conditions.
The finals for the North American cup series got under way yesterday with a super g and super combined race. Going into the races I was in second place in the season's super g standings, with two races to go. This is important because the top two skiers in the standings for each event earn a world cup spot in that event for the following season. For the past couple of years this has been my goal and I was getting closer than ever before. All I had to do to reach my goal was ski well and not let the guys behind me in the standings beat me.
Yesterday was surely a lesson in patience for me. Since Aspen I have been gearing up for the two super g races that were scheduled to be at Burke Mountain in Vermont. The first super g race was supposed to startat 9:30 in the morning, but was pushed back to 12 because the course setter set an unsafe course. Before races begin forerunners run the course to make sure that it runs well and is safe. After the forerunners went the jury realized that it was too fast going into a big jump and would be unsafe. This lead to them resetting the course and pushing the start back. All I wanted to do was get in the gate and go and the added wait was tough.
When we finally got under way just after noon, nearly five hours after arriving at the mountain, I was very nervous. As I got into my skis at the start I was able to block all of those feelings out of my mind and focus on skiing. I was able to have a solid run that was not my fastest, but landed me in 6th place. It was enough to keep me in second place in the standings, but some other competitors moved closer. In all honesty I was a bit disappointed that I had not finished better, but glad to have held onto second place. It was all going to come down to the final super g race.
Before that final race, we had a slalom run for the super combined. All of my focus was on super gand maybe because of that I was relaxed going into the slalom portion of the super combined. I did not put a lot of pressure on myself to do well in the super combined because I did not finish the previous one. Despite starting atalmost 5 pm because of all of the delays and the 50-degree weather the course was in excellent shape thanks to a lot of salt on the trail. I had a very good slalom run that moved me from 6th up to 2nd place, a career best finish in noram super combined.
My 6th and 2nd place finishes moved me up to 3rd in the overall noram cup standings from 5th, which I was thrilled with, but all I could think about was super g the next day. The weather was not making racing easy. During the night it was warm and the snow became very soft towards the bottom of the course. Early on in the morning I was hoping that the race would be cancelled, but as the morning progressed I forced myself to block that thought out. Believing I could win the race made it much easier.
After some early course holds I started sixth and pushed out of the gate with one thing in mind, take chances and push the line. I knew I had to be first or second to guarantee the world cup spot regardless of what anyone else did. I was able to charge hard right out of the start and was skiing very well. Over the first jump I pushed it a bit too far and didn't have enough direction. This caused me to be off line in the air, something that cannot be corrected for. When I landed I was well inside of the next gate and ended up missing it.
At that point I was furious and unusually fired up. I felt like I had blown my best chance at achieving a long-standing goal of mine. I immediately got on the lift to go around to the top and get my stuff. When I got to the start everyone was hanging around in their clothes and the race had been stopped. I quickly learned that three people after I went the race had been stopped because the snow was too soft.
All of the sudden there was a glimpse of hope and there wasa renewed light when the race was cancelled. I had luckily dodged a huge bullet. After cancelling the race the jury had a meeting to discuss the possibility of rescheduling the race. The suspense during that time was agonizing, but I knew either way I would still have a chance.
Much to my satisfaction they decided that it was too warm and unsafe to try and run another speed race. That meant that I had stayed in second place and earned a start in every world cup super g next year that only I can use and no one can deny me from.
The last few days were beyond stressful, but in the end I accomplished a huge goal and over the course of the season I skied better than any other American in the noram super g series. Accomplishing this has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. Now I have another opportunity tomorrow to earn a world cup start in giant slalom. As of now I am in 5th place, but very close to 2nd.