Years End

Oh yeah and my little brother is breaking Nyman records.  He's the first of the Nyman boys to attend prom.  Big up to ya Sam


The season ended a little earlier for me.  In January I compressed my L4 and L5 disc which left me looking like a 2x4.  I could barely bend 5 degrees at the waist.  At the moment I thought my season was done but fortunately I met a guru in Austria who helped me through acupuncture and he got me back running by Val DiSere.  

I was a little bummed to miss Marco's first win in Chamnoix, but I was more bummed to miss the race itself because I had only raced it once and I felt incredibly comfortable there.  It was a cool experience when I was there.  I was talking to Marco in 2006 telling him how good I felt.  He said he felt the same.  We were both aching to get back there and show our stuff.  And Marco did that.  The kid had a good year.  I'm stoked for him.  Hopefully we can combine our energy and push each other to new levels and shoot for the Downhill title next season.  

Right now I feel I have to get healthy.  So I took Nationals off to get everything in line for the summer training schedule.  The best thing for a back is to simply give it rest.  Right now I am looking at several different things to speed up the recovery process mainly traction, maybe some injections, but lots of stretching and rest.  

I'm using my time wisely though.  Yesterday I went up to my old stomping grounds and hung out with the local ski kids.  They had a parents vs. kids race day followed by a BBQ.  While roasting some dogs covered in relish and mustard I signed some posters and cards, gave out Believe in Steven pins and Speedfreak stickers.  I'm proud to say Sundance has some good little shredders.  Surprisingly the little resort has seen some good racers go through it.  From what I can calculate it has produced 3+ US Ski Team Racers, Me, Erik Fisher and Elisha Stephens.  We all weren't solely based there but we put in our time at the resort then moved to bigger programs as we progressed.  If we look back further I think we can add several names to that list.  A lot of the old Utah Skiing history came from Sundance (formerly known as Timphaven).  I recommend checking the place out if your ever in Utah.  

I hope you enjoyed my Utah ski history.

Have a good spring and go for it in the final races!

Congrats to Donkey, Jimmy Jamma, Cookie and Vonn for winning Nationals.  Also to Freedog for the comeback!

Steven

Safety/Lanzinger

I feel I need to state my opinion on the whole safety/Mattias Lanzinger issue before its too late. 

When the accident happened there were a lot of rumors about how and what FIS should do and why the accident happened.  

FIS for some reason seems to still blame the equipment for these matters, which is ludicrous.  You can't change the equipment.  There will always be ways to bend the rules and we will seek out every possible way to make ourselves faster if it be through equipment and/or physically.  That's what we do, we push the limits of our bodies and see how fast we can go.  If the FIS pursue the skis it would have to be deeper than the radius regulations.  

There will always be danger, it is inherent to our sport.  If you look at the pinnacle of the sport, World Cup ski racing, everyone is trying to see how fast and hard they can go.  Danger is present.  So what do you do?  Stop the danger aspect?  If you do ski racing wouldn't be ski racing!  It is tough to say but accidents like these are part of ski racing.  It has happened as long as it has existed.

The best thing the FIS can do is check and recheck safety!  There have been several problems this year and it is mostly due to simple things people can change.  Mac and Buders crashes could have been avoided if the course prep was better.  The final jump at kitz was extremely sketchy.  Coming off the Hausberg there was a huge hole right where you had to turn which could have easily have been fixed.  There also were also rumors that Kitz purposely put that hole there.  Finley Mickel and Ondre Bank snapped their legs off the final jumps in Kvitfjell and Kitz.  The jumps were poorly formed. 

Lanzis crash could have been avoided if they changed the course set.  From the beginning racers were landing right by the gate.  Once you took off from that jump there would be no way to change your trajectory.  We could have fixed this if the changed the course set so it brought us slower into the jump.  I guess this issue was bought up in the FIS conference as well but I think it didn't get much attention.  People just kept coming up with excuses and placing blame on someone else.  

People blame it on the lack of a proper helicopter but there was no way to get him to a hospital in time if they had one there.  Lanzi's injury was so severe it would be tough to save his leg even if they had the proper safety and exit procedures in place.  The closest proper hospital in Oslo was just too far away!  

It is tough to talk about this.  We can all argue about what could and should have been done.  But in my opinion it is up to simple safety measures.  Check and recheck before you send the best athletes in the world down these pistes.  We will always push the limits and there is no stopping that.  

My major injuries

(the list is small compared to most ski racers)

Injury/Place/Reason

1. Broken Tibia-Altenmarkt, Austria-Poor tactical decision

2. Strained Shin-Tarvisio, Italy-Poorly shaped jump

3. Compressed L4-L5 Disc-Val Gardena, Italy-Poor tactical decision

Sheed For President!

Check out my YouTube station.  I have a few vids posted there but most recently I found some vids of my favorite NBA player, Rasheed Wallace.  The man is hilarious and a constant threat on the court at all times.  Check out some clips of him in my favorites folder along with some of the Journey vids.  I hope they were serious when they made their music videos.

http://www.youtube.com/profile_favorites?user=steebert

The JAZZ MEN

The Jazz are back in the top five of the NBA power rankings! Im
loving these guys. They are number 1 in the league in offense! When
did this last happen??? I think never. They were always a defensive
prowess. Now they run and gun, their offense is precise and fluid.
It is also a lot of fun to watch! Hopefully they can get their
defense back together for their playoff run!

HOW 'BOUT THEM JAZZ!!!

Crusin Stanley Park

After Whistler Big Huey, Mick, Leo and I were able to kill a few days in Vancouver.  One of those afternoons we rented bikes and cruised around Stanley Park.  Vancouver is a beauty I tell you.  If you go I recommend Stanley Park and Granville Island.  If you research it and are up early enough, go try and find a little resturant called Slickety Jims Chat'n Chew.  According to my brother its fantastic but he's vegaterian.  I don't know if you can trust him.

I wasn't able to experience its goodness because it was too early in the morning (open 8:30 on the weekends, Leo and I were there at 6:30).  I doubt anyone will follow my advice but if for some reason you don't believe me check out this link.  

http://www.mrbreakfast.com/r_display.asp?restid=2017 

I dont think there can be a better recommendation.  5 for 5 on the Golden Egg scale!  I think it is worth a quick summers drive from Utah up to Vancouver to try this one out.  If someone has been or goes, please give me an update.

Enjoy the vid I put together of the park

  

Red Room!

This past weekend was tough!  I understand the importance of staying in shape through the season but this week I felt it.  After I hurt my back I took two weeks off with very little activity.  I tried skiing a lot while I was home but you can't replicate the forces you produce while ski racing.

Racing this weekend I felt these forces.  On the Kvitfjell course I was feeling my legs 40 seconds into the course and already questioning myself.  It also showed when I slammed into the fence on the second Downhill day.  Everything is alright with my body and Im still in one piece.  This next week I have some time to put in some good physical training and hopefully end on a good note in Bormio.  

The positive side of the weekend is that I am skiing really well!  My splits were really fast each day but I would make some huge mistakes and loose a lot of time.  Kvitfjell is one of those courses where if you loose speed it takes a while to get it back, so mistakes compound upon each other.  

My heart goes out to Lanzinger.  It was really heavy news when I heard he would get his leg amputated.  Lanzi is a friend of mine.  There are three guys I get along really well with on the Austrian squad and he was one of them.  He had a different energy around him.  He is a really good dude, outgoing and happy to live life.  I give him and his family my best.