lienz and some other stuff

I don't have much to say about lienz, 9th at the top interval, 50th at the bottom interval, combined time of SLOW not qualifying....

It's disappointing, training has been going great (like my first 30 seconds of the race) and I am really looking ahead to the next races to redeem myself!  

On another note,  it was sad to say goodbye to Sarah Schleper as she retired at Lienz.   Her final world cup run was really touching, especially the part where she picked up Lasse half way down the course and came through the finish line with him.  I guess it represented her next step in life, building and focusing on her family.  It was really fun to have her around, we shared some hilarious crazy fun memories and lots of laughs.   Her energy will be missed!!

Here's some pics from the cool town of Lienz and all it's CHristmas lights!!

 Bib draw crowd!

 time for a hot chocolate!

 massive tree

 early mornings training at Hinterreit

 hardcore!!

 The final picture of my secret santa gift from Martin.... right before we DEVOURED her.

 mmmm Leki poles.

 mmmmm podium..

SHE's GONE!!

That's all!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TONIGHT!!! 

Maddy and I bought a ton of amazing fireworks!!! yipeee!!!!!!  

merry christmas!!

Merry Christmas to everybody!

We've been hanging out in Saafelding all day resting up for the next few days of training! Last night Maddy, MP and I went on a Christmas tree mission so that we could have a tree for our gift exchange!!

Great Success!!  we left it in front of Jenny's (our physio) door as a christmas surprise! haha.

After sprucing up our room all day we were ready to break it out for the big "white elephant" gift exchange !

 Mitch drew one of the first numbers.... opening her first surprise!! 

 I chose the best one!!!! 

An amazing chocolate/marzipan Canadian ski chick!

 She even has Head skis and Leki poles!! Thanks Martin!!!!!!

 Jay was trying to pawn off parts of his gifts, but jenny won't have it!

 ahh good times!!! And our sweet tree!

 Hope everyone had a great holiday!!! 

 :)

.......

AND a bunch of pics I took while hanging out with Marco in Sankt Lambrecht for a few days!

 fluorescent gates...

 That's Marco!! Can you tell?

 crazy people getting drunk in 1494!!!

 kirch

That's it!! Happy Holidays!

I skied slowly yesterday

Flachau night slalom did not go nearly as well as Courchevel!  I went out of the start gate attacking, but I was just not skiing smooth enough for the conditions and ended up SLOW. The girls however ripped! Mitch in 9th and Erin in 14th! Another great day for our team!

 I'm excited for a mini Christmas break and excited to regroup after Christmas and work on some things in training before Lienz!  Despite one bad result, I'm still confident with my skiing and my ability to be fast; some days just don't work out.  Anyway, turning the page AND celebrating Christmas with Marco for a few days in a random valley in Austria!

here's some pics from the last few days!

MPP number 69 ready to rip!! Unfortunately she bailed at the bottom, but was attacking until then! Yeah!

 Marco and I checked out the Christmas Markets in Salzburg today!! They were really cool!

 Such a cool old town.

 The castle....

 The super narrow colourful streets....

 Crazy illusions.....

 And the best part: this.

yes, we did this.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

11th place in Courchevel!

I just arrived in Flachau after a LONG drive from France to Austria today.  We race here tomorrow night! Can't wait to get back out there after yesterday's result.  I finished in 11th place!  First run was one of the toughest I've ever had.  I was starting 46 near the back and fought through ruts and a snowstorm that had just rolled in.  I was really happy with how it went, I gave it my all and came into 20th place.  Second run I went for it, lost time on the bottom (again) but charged hard, but still have lot's of room tto get faster!  Eleventh place is huge for me right now, it's my second best world cup result ever and it put me back into the top thirty for tomorrow's race! yay!  Not only did I have a great day, but four of us qualified for second run.  THat's never happened since I've been around so it was really exciting! Elli scored her first points, Erin had the equivalent to her PB, and Mitch ripped first run but straddled second run going for the podium.  Good times.  Unfortunately Eve hurt herself, we're all really sad to see her injured, she's a huge part of this team always laughing and always positive.  GET WELL SOON! 

Here are some pictures from yesterday!

Thanks to Andy Mielzynski for this pic.

 pre-race bowling with the girls!! So fun to see Chemmy again!! 

 pure talent....

 Post race playing in the snow.....

 Yeah!! Mitch, MP and Erin....... and my sad attempt at a non-blurry picture.... :(

 hahahahhahaha

 Let's bury MP!

 haha

 radical moves!

 She's FLYING!!!!

 France is so pretty right now!

 SO are they!

 Checkin out the Christmas lights...

 mp?

 Goodbye Courchevel.......its been tres fun.