just another random movie!

Melschee Frutt....

Since I have not been carrying around a small camera, I have limited random pictures from our adventures.  We left Kirchberg the other day for Melschee Frutt, took a few detours, crossed a snowy mountain pass, saw beautiful views of untouched white mountains, and finally made it to a Monastery/hotel in Sankt Niklaus Switzerland.  There was a huge church attached to the building, shared toilets and showers for each floor, and nuns walking around all smiles joking with us in german!

It was interesting!! As were the races.  The first day we got amazing weather and a pretty competitive race.  I think I skied pretty well, not the greatest but it felt good to have some decent race runs.  The second day was a whole different story.  It was a night race starting at 5:30, due to rain and fog the race got pushed back to 6:30pm and the start was lowered.  The first run was a 35 second super open race, the second run was a 45 second tightest-thing-I-have-ever-skied run that was still going around 10pm.  Unfortunately I was a DNF.  It was a weird race and i'm not looking too far into it. 

 It was an entertaining weekend and I was pumped when we randomly stopped to get gas on the way home and I got to see Marco's Garmisch run!

View from the nunnery at night........foggy and SNOWING!

 Daytime view!

 And the same view when we left on a snowy morning!!

With no internet I finally stickered-up my new helmet.  I added a few more to it than the last one!  

Old on the left, new on the right! It's a colourful forest!

 Hanging in the lobby with the nuns!!!!!

Good times!

We left Switzerland, crossed Lichtenstein, lunched in Innsbruck and made it over the Brenner to Pozza di Fassa for some AMAZING pasta and some upcoming slalom training!

birthday!

Kranjska Gora didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.  Straddling the 4th GATE.... yes, that's what happened, sucks! I was really disappointed because the snow was so awesome and I think it would be a great hill for me.  We got to train on the race hill the following day which gave me a boost of confidence after a disappointing race, the training was amazing.  One of the best days this year.  It left me feeling excited to attack some Europa Cups and keep staying positive until the next world cup in 2 weeks.  I am skiing strong and fast and one day of straddling isn't the end of the world.

ANYWAY it was also my 26th BIRTHDAY!!! I don't feel any older or wiser but I had a great day off in Innsbruck with Marco!  We ate non-Austrian food and enjoyed the snowy deserted city.

 from above, looking out at the Ski Jump!

 :)

 I got back to good old Kirchberg just in time to catch the mens night race last night!!!

It's been fun to watch Mike and Brad go all out in the recent slaloms.  The one thing that completely blows my mind and inspires me further is how much guys ATTACK.   They just go as hard as they can no matter what.  I like it.

 I walked home from the train station in a massive snowstorm.  It was super peaceful and beautiful, I bet there are some people out there having epic powder days today!!

As for us, we are off to Switzerland for some Europa Cups!

just a few pictures

On our way to Slovenia we witnessed the beginning of the Kitzbuhel storm....

 Huge snowbanks!

 We finally made it to a less snowy part of Europe, Kranskja Gora, Slovenia....

 MP and I went for coffee and stopped for a pose.

 LEVITATE!

 We brought back some coffee for the best technicians EVER Martin and Marco!!

Marco stopping for a mid-tuning snack!

 MORE treats for the techs. We can never thank them enough!

Slalom's tomorrow! I'm 41! wahhoOoo!

I LOVE SLALOM!

I've just spent the last four days training at Hinttereit, near Saalfelden in Austria.  It's a sweet place to train not only for the awesome views of the Austrian Alps, but for the quality of the snow (hard and icy) and the high caliber of people to train with.  We trained slalom with the Swedes, beside the Austrians.  Whether you're on the t-bar, at the bottom or at the top, there always seems to be someone good to watch for some inspiration.  It felt great to get back into things after the short break, and now we're in Kranska-Gora, Slovenia for this weekend's world cup !  

I broke my camera last week so I've been mooching some pics off JS and MP!

Julia and I getting ready to rip up some slalom!

 warm up!

 DRYLAND!! jogging through the snowy fields!

 And a mini-preview of our next amazing movie!!!!

featuring ONE PIECES!! (of norway.)

 ninja style!!

The girls have GS saturday,slalom Sunday, and the men race KITZ this weekend!!!!!

it's good to be home

A couple days ago aliens landed in the middle of lake tremblant.

it was crazy

it was -20, I had wet hair and a tshirt, and slippers on when I sprinted outside to take this picture.  I didn't really have time to think about making this photo epic, but it was an awesome sight to see and the pics turned out ok! 

Another cool thing was the full moon on the horizon with crazy clouds.

Christmas was still in full force at home!  I think I know where my pinecone obsession comes from....haha

a doe, a deer!

 A real tree with real decorations!!

we went SKATING under the full moon!! 

I think the aliens found us!!!

pure talent and skills.

good times.

AND

on another note...

some pics from the bib draw in Zagreb where we (and our sparklers) cheered Mitch on!

popular!

Zagreb

The race in Zagreb was OK.  My skiing was average and not up to par with my training, but this is the best result I've had here in the last 4 years and that makes me happy.  Three years ago I left this race in an ambulance with a broken thumb followed by surgery, two years ago a torn knee two months before the Olympics, and last year a minor concussion.   It's a weird spot for me, I think the city is awesome, the crowds are energetic and the hill is nothing crazy, it's a hill that I should be very well suited for.  Either way, Zagreb has left me with some of the biggest challenges to overcome in my career, which I feel like I finally have!  I am skiing fast, races have been up and down but overall I feel like I am back to where I left off two years ago before tearing my knee, or better.  It's been a bumpy few years with three surgeries in three years, lots of rehab, lots of "return to snow's" and lots of great improvements with myself and my team.  I'm excited for a healthy and strong 2012 and to continue working my way up the ranks in slalom.

photo from alpine canada/ pentaphoto.

And a video from the top section of Lienz where my splits we're fast.

Here are a few more pics from sunny warm Zagreb!

Graffiti LEVITATion!

 JUMP!

 At the farmers market.

AND our tribute video to Sarah and her ROARS.  we'll be missing her!!

happy 2012!

I can't believe it's already 2012.  So many highs and lows in 2011 but spending the last few days with Marco, ripping slalom courses, feeling good and having fun was the perfect way to end the year.  Instead of reflecting on the past, I'm looking forward to a new year full of new adventures, new friends, old friends, , new trips and travels, new bike rides, new ski hills, new camping spots, new recipes, and all the old favourites!! Can't wait to see what's in store.

I had a happy new year Austrian dinner in an Austrian hut with a Canadian, an American, a Swede and an Australian!!  Good times!! They rodelled down, I took pictures and walked because of a sore back.

All topped off with our own firework display above Saalfelden!!

 SNOW!!!! Puking down and piling up!

 Rodelbahn......

 snow snow snow snow snow!

 RIPPING THE RODELBAHN!!!!

 yippeeeeeeeee!!!!

looks professional!!!

And now, we are back in Croatia for the annual "snow queen" world cup in Zagreb.  I think that's the hill in the distance!  View from my hotel room.

 the opera house with Mitch and Maddy.

 Figuring out the statues.....

 These roses made me think of Eve!!! We both watched beauty and the Beast on the airplane ride over because it is still an awesoem movie 20 years later!!!

 We found a busy and cool part of town!

 And some ghetto parts too!!

One more rest day and then ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!! woohoo!