vids vids vids

I guess I have been in the video making mode.  Here is a new one of todays Super G and one of my wild Downhill rides.  I also added some slow mo vid from DH.  check out my leg muscles moving when I hit the bumps.  It is incredible what skiing puts them through.  

The SG has been going really well.  My movement with the terrain has been  really good.  I can improve on the steeps though.  I still have trouble linking up the whole pitch.  It is funny, I have always been really good when it comes to terrain but when I am on a steep, open, consistent pitch (which luckily is rarely on the World Cup) I have a little trouble.   The pitch has been the focus of my camp.  Im trying to generate consistent movements which is coming along.  I will dial 3 turns then get going too fast or not move with the turn well enough and botch one.  

Sorry if you don't understand what Im talking about but my Dad was wondering so this Blog is dedicated to him.  

Hope all's good Pops

Portillo DH

Heres a little vid of my DH from Portillo yesterday.  It feels good to finally be pain free skiing.  I had a lot of back troubles last season and was in a trunk cast for six weeks this spring to heal a bulging disc.  Portillo is a true test to the body and it seems to be holding up fine.  The skis are moving fast and my body is finally moving free to where I can search for speed.  Enjoy the vid

  

Tio Bob's

Here in Portillo we make our way up to Tio Bob's on our days off.  Tio Bob's is a restaurant up high on the mountain looking down upon the lake and hotel.  In my opinion it is one of the coolest places to ski and eat on earth.  We usually arrive up there around 12-1230 and stay until 2ish.

This year we decided to have a frisbee golf tourney from the top of the plateau to the bottom.  It was a great idea in the beginning.  But we ended up loosing 3 of the 6 discs.  TJ and Andrew were the only finishers with TJ taking the title.  My disc ended up getting picked up and brought to the lifties at the bottom.  I think Marco broke the World record for longest throw EVER, but it was with a white disc so we couldn't find it in the snow.  Heres a vid of the days events.  Enjoy

 

Dew Tour & Back in Portillo

Becky, Fish and Crystal joined me

Dropping Mr. Jones

Spinner no hander

When Fish stays over this is what I wake up to.  Imagine getting a roundhouse kick to the face by this guy.

Blance and Me are VIPs

Tail whips never get old

HUH?

Two weekends ago the Dew tour took over Salt Lake and I was fortunate enough to go.  POC hooked my brother and I up with some Athlete passes and we could roam pretty much anywhere.  I tried to see everything I could Moto X, BMX dirt, park and pipe and Skate Park and Pipe.  

Blake (my Brother) and I made our way up to the top of the Moto X drop in tower and had the best view in the house.  These guys were impressive, all the backflip variations, 360s and the classic tail whip.  Tail whips can never get old.  I don't know how the swing the bike around like they do.  When I ride I freak out the moment the bike gets in the air.  I am more of a dirt bike tourist, riding trails through the mountains.  

What I don't understand is the judging aspect.  I guess thats the way you have to do it, but I don't understand that the only guy throwing 360s in the group ends up 4th?  No offense to the athletes but I think it is like WWF, the judges are giving scores to help ratings for the whole tour.  They want it to be a competition to the end.  All of the athletes are incredible riders and the competition is so close that thats the way they have to do it.  

I got the feeling that this doesn't happen in BMX and Skate though.  there are a couple of guys that were standouts in the competitions.  Daniel Diheres and Mike Spinner dominated the BMX park field.  I swear Daniel threw a 720 can can tailwhip? But I think it was just a 720 can can, it was nuts!  I couldn't even make sense of what I saw but he nailed it, taking the win from Mike who was a spinning machine.  

As for the skate scene Ryan Sheckler and Chaz Ortiz were the dominators.  The cool thing is Chaz was only 14.  These two dueled it to the end where Ryan took the win but Chaz took the Jam Session.

Right now I'm in Portillo with the whole team getting in some good DH.  So far it has been great.  We have had hard snow and great training.  Something I have been wanting all summer. Tommorw is our day off and we have a frisbee golf game planned from Tio Bobs back down to the hotel.  

Cutting through the wind

I left for Chile on Wednesday but before I could make the full journey down to Portillo we stopped in Buffalo to log in a little wind tunnel time.  The US Ski Team has been collaborating with Mike Holden for years, perfecting our aerodynamics.  Sir Michael Holden is a genius.  He probably is actually a Sir, this guy is full of knowledge.  Basically all the aerodynamics work he does is top secret NASA, military work but he decided to build the tunnel we use on the side.  It reaches speeds up to 120 mph, we were running around 80 mph.  Bobsled, Luge and ski teams have been coming here for years finding ways to eliminate resistance, cut time and make speed.

Our crew consisted of Scotty Mac, Marco (O)Sullivan, Ted Shred, the Warhorse Andrew Weibrecht, Mr. Chris Brigham and Myself.  We would take turns honing our skills and testing equipment while Brigham monitored us, taking down notes and talking to the guru, Mike.  Mike was impressive because right when we got into the tunnel he would critique us and put into the most aerodynamic position.  He had quite the eye.  I took a few pics, enjoy.  

Marco 

Killin time

Nymans move on

The Nyman name is expanding.  This past weekend my older brother was the first Nyman to get married.  His new wife is Mrs. Lindsey Dickenson Nyman, who is quite the lady.  It is awesome to see how happy my brother is together with Lindsey.  

They got married on Friday in the Salt Lake Temple then we made our way to the Dickenson residence to have a close family and friends dinner.  I have to say I learned a lot about weddings.  For some reason I have missed most of them to this day.  So I learned of some of my obligations.  Like decorating the car and also giving a toast (which wasnt so bad but I have to admit I did get a little choked up.).  But I am proud of my brother.  I have to admit (sorry Blake and Sam) but if there was a man scale amongst all us Nyman boys Michael would take the cake.  

Congrats me bradda

Mom and her boys.  She's smiling because she finally is realizing there is another woman in the family.  

This is only one fifth of the total Nyman clan.  We are a happy bunch

Especially me and Virgil.  

For the love of trees

Me like trees too

Snow year round

Last Saturday, Aug 31,I went and saw Bob Dylan in the middle of a massive rain storm.  I have never been a huge Bob Dylan fan but he's a legend so I had to see him.  Honestly I didn't understand a single song of his until the encore, when he sang, How Does It Feel (if that's even the title).  As the night set in I could start seeing my breath and I thought it was going to snow.  To my surprise I woke up to snow in the mountains of the Wasatch.  So that means it snowed Aug 31, and Sept 1.  Which only leaves the month of July as the only snowless month thus far in 2008.  Global warming?  Erik Fisher put it best, "As long as its cold enough to snow it is good enough for me."  

I'm stoked to get back skiing.  I leave back to Chile in a little over a week.  Right now we are getting some good dry land training under our belts.  Marco is in town, it is always good to have another person in the gym to feed off of.  I also have Fish living at my house and Becko is coming in a couple of days.  

 Here's a pic of Mr. Bob doing what he does best.  

Under a tarp

Pine Creek 08

For Labor Day weekend a few friends and I made our way down to Zion to climb Pine Creek slot canyon. The hike is a fairly short distance but you are constantly hiking through canyons where you can touch both walls with each hand. There are seven rappels and lots of wading in cold pools of water.
One of the coolest things about the hike was who I was able to hike with. Will Price is his name and he is 77 years old. This guy was a trooper, he is a friend of my friend Bob Bills, who was our guide through the canyon. Bob claims, Will is still a shredder on skis but Will says he isn't.  I believe Bob.  He moved here from San Francisco because he hated driving for 4 hours to ski in Tahoe.  He even races in the local Alta town races.   I was impressed watching him hike and rappel down the final 110 ft. rappel.  

I promised you some fo the photos from Chile so here they are along with some from Pine Creek.

Plenty of snow

Local shredder

Flying Fish

Basking Becko

On top of the chimney chute before descent

Bryan and Blake Freezing

Will dropping on the final rappel

Me