Not so smart

I can't dog on the guy because I have kited as a storm front was moving through but this is simply nuts! You don't kite in a tropical storm.

Were Off

It is over.  The camp flew by but the spirits and motivation remained high through the entire camp.  It seems like everyone is stoked to go home and prep for the next camp in Portillo in a month.  I definatly found somethings I need to work on and now I have a month to think about them and prep for the camp.  Im in a hurry because were running out the door right now.

hasta más adelante

Steven

More Snow

The forecast was for blue bird sunshine, which it was in the morning,
than out of nowhere came a dense cloud full of snow that decided to
park itself over us and let loose. We received a few more inches of
snow but I think we will get training off tomorrow. It is supposed to
be our first day of downhill training so I hope it happens.
The mountain all the sudden became crowded with teams. The US Eastern
and Western Development teams arrived a few days ago along with the
French and Slovenian women. We also have a couple of Canadian teams
here so we are all fighting for hill space if mother nature allows.
Tomorrow we have to share the DH track with the French women. I was
watching them ski today and there are a few rippers in their crew.
As for our external activities. I scored an all time high on Virus
Buster on Brain Age 2 for my Nintendo DS. 1406 points, level 12 on
hard. Not too shabby. I have been competing with Patrick Jaryben for
the all time score. He's been getting close but can't ever beat me.
Its making the angry Swede even angrier. We are also having nightly
Scrabble and Mario Cart tournaments while Die Hard and Terminator 2
are playing in the back ground in spanish. Surprisingly they are
still entertaining. Terminator 2 has to be one of the best movies of
all time.
Enough for now.
Steven

Back training

Finally we got back to training today.  It was tough getting out of bed though.  My legs were spent from hiking all day yesterday.  I have to give props to our phisio, Christa, for taking care of all of us.  She was a trooper because she not only was on top of keeping us in one piece but she skied with us all day and hiked the chimney chute to see the sunset.  

As for training today, it was soft but we made it work.  The course more resembled the form of a bobsled track than a GS course but we got some work done.  It felt good to move again and feel the speed.  

This morning we had to cancel our SG training due to more snow over night so we free skied SG all morning.  It became a little boring so Becko, Fish, Mac, Freedog and myself made our way to the top of the mountain for a Chinese downhill.  Right off the bat Becko and Fish took the lead followed by Bryon then me and Mac.  Freedog and I pushed Becko and Fish into a grooming berm and that slowed them down so Bryon and I took the lead.  Then we hit the pitch and I was sucking down the snow dust of Friedman.  I couldn't see much and it was quite freaky but sticking close to him gave me the draft and I passed him and took the lead all the way to the finish.  

It has been awesome thus far this trip.  The vibe with the group has been better than I have ever seen it.  We have been creative with our spare time and have been entertaining each other.  And for some reason we have found the patience to deal with Beckos singing. 

Hopefully from now on the weather will cooperate and we can end the camp on a positive note. 

Basta

Esteban

Uno mas

Yesterday 's day wasn't too eventful aside from learning that Bigfoot was found in Georgia and watching the 100m race.  Bolt is a phenom.  The ease with the way he runs is incredible.  It was a disappointment about Tyson Gay but a misfortune as well.  Good job Mr. Phelps for making a million bones.

But when night rolled around Bryon pulled out his guitar and we created a song about Donald Keystone Species or Kevin Francis for short.  We gathered random utensils from around the hose and had the whole band going off.  We had Marco on the stick, Becko on the dyna disc, Me on the morter and pestol and Fish on the scrabble bag.  We have major plans for a music video and releasing a single.  

After last nights prep for todays pow skiing we woke up to blue skies and freshies everywhere.  We only took four runs today due to it being packed because of the Chilean holiday, but they were all quality.  We hiked up to a chute called chimney  twice.  The final time was around sundown so we skied down under the alpen glow.  I would give you pictures but the internet is horrible so I will have to provide you with the pics when I get home.  

Wind, snow, delays and sledding

The wind is howling outside, the snow is coming down so I am yet to leave the apartment today.  We have logged some good TV time but it seems that the Chileans only want to show their countries tennis hero, Fernando Gonzales over and over again.  The whole match...  I don't understand?  But in between sets they did show some of the 100m qualifying races.  Bolt and Powell are looking fast.  It seems like they are coasting into the finals.  With a 9.92 time and they are only running 50m then jogging to the finish.  It is impressive to watch Bolt run the race because he has a 6'5", 198cm body.  All the other guys are under 6' it seems.  The power they produce and the explosiveness is incredible.  I asked Per, our trainer, what he thinks I could run the 100m in 13 seconds.  NOT TOO SHABBY for a tall white guy!  Actually thats horrible.

Here some shots we took last night of the city.  This is a rare site due to the pollution.  Ghost Stevens

Heres Hans claiming his SG training title.

Now I think I will go sledding

Esteban

Holdin out

It hasn't started snowing yet but all is good.  Today we had some great SG training and horrible GS so for my second session I bailed after 3 runs and went freeskiing to find some good feelings again.  

Today was a pretty uneventful day aside from the training.  I found some good nap time.  

Luckily the snow hasn't hit yet.  We my get another good day of training in tomorrow. 

Quote of the day comes from Leo Mussi my service man.  "Well its good but not that good."???? huh

Well Im out  

Its a brewin

Theres a big storm a comin!  Tomorrow night it's supposed to dump 3-4 feet of snow.  So were gonna pull some good pow and inter-lodge time.  Something I haven't had in a while.  Last time I was down here it was when Katrina hit the states, at the same time a massive storm hit here of similar size and we received 9 feet+ of snow.  Luckily La Parva has some good terrain to shred around on.  

The storm won't make for good training so were trying to get it in while we can.  Today we trained Super G for the first time.  It was soft but good for the balance.  Then we moved into a GS session.  It is funny how my skiing can change from day to day.  Yesterday I was so balanced and moving well over my skis, then today I looked like a completely different person.  I pin point the problem to being a focus issue.  Yesterday I was so focused and I had a few key reminders for myself when I would ski.  Then today I guess I just figured everything would be habitual and I became lazy.  Then after a couple of bad runs I found my hidden focus and all was good.  

Quote of the day comes from coach of the day Greg Needell, "Dwell on the positive."  haha he's looking forward to the next few days. 

Chilean Boredom

During our day off we spent some good time honing our balance skills.  Rewk has been keeping his eyes out for a place to set up a slack line and yesterday we found our spot.  

In the beginning Mac and Marco were naturals getting it done making their way down the rope.  But for the most part whoever attempted the line had incredibly bad elvis leg.  By the end we were all getting the hang of the rope.  Im proud to say only A team made it to the end of the rope and turned around.  Becko was awarded most improved and Brigham even took a jump back in time and made his way onto the rope.  

Heres Mac staring into the horizon

and this is how you get it done Chilean style.  Ski right down the paved road to your condo, click out of your bindings, toss your skis over your shoulders and make your way to the door. 

I love it.

 

And to finish things off, the quote of the day comes from Chris Beckman "I like walking in circles.  It's my favorite thing to do."

Adios

Dia tres

Were snowed in but we are getting some good TV time in and enjoying the Olympics.

I have to give it to the Olympians.  Mr. Phelps is impressive, he seems to be toying with all the other athletes.  His individual performances thus far have been incredibly impressive.  And then the team 4x100 freestyle race was come from behind a nail biter.  I thought we lost it for sure but the French bonked at the end.  Incredible!  It is amazing to watch the prelims to the swim events.  When Phelps wants t put on the gas he does and then blows by everyone.  

It is interesting being down here watching the Olympics from Chiles point of view.  They have the defending champ in both tennis events and are really big into equestrian.  I also think they are strong in the sculling events.  

Im trying to embed some videos but it seems as if NBC has constant filtering of youtube and isn't letting out any of the race footage.  LAME

Hasta Manana

Esteban

Day Dos

Hey yo, Day Dos,

It has been a while for me since I ran gates.  Since World Cup Finals in Bormio in fact.  It felt really good to ski.  The snow was super soft but it was good for my balance.  We did the apex drill (if you even care what that is) then moved into normal GS.  But the free skiing was fantastic.  After training Hans Olsson and I cruised around on the DH track for a few runs, then we became too cold.  (Its tough coming from 100 degree weather directly into below freezing conditions).  

Let me tell you about Hans.  He's a nasty ski racer hailing from the great country of Sweden. He's a funny guy with the classic Scandanavian sarcastic humor.  His brother is the Swedish play boy/freeskier, Jon Olsson.  I have been teasing Hans the past few years about having a brotherly competition because it just so happens that my little bradda (Blake) is a freeskier as well.  

I think it will be a fair competition when you balance it out.  Jon has been training in gates recently and Blake actually jumped into a session with me last season as well.  Hans has some skills on the jumps but he weighs in over a 100 kilos so some of his skills have diminished (hopefully).  I seem to be the one lacking in skills.  When I jump I freeze when I go upside down or start spinning.  I will go big though.  All we need to do is find a scoring system? The invite is out if any other brotherly duos want in.  It would be awesome if we could get a good crew and make it happen.  

Well I will leave you with a photo of tonight's sunset

Adios

Blog Marathon

I decided to have a blog marathon.  Everyday I am down here in La Parva, Chile, I will blog about something.  I figure I will run out of information about La Parva after the first few days so this could become interesting.  

As for La Parva, it is one of three resorts in the mountains outside of Santiago.  It, El Colorado and Valle Nevado are the easiest accessible skiing in Chile.  You can get off the plane and be at the resort in less than an hour and a half.  

The journey to the resorts is an adventure in itself.  The drive used to take over 3 hours because of the lack of a highway through the city.  But 3-4 years ago they diverted the biggest river coming out of the Mountains above the city and built a road in its river bed or maybe under the river?  Either way there is water leaking all over in the tunnel.  A little sketchy but it saves you 2 hours of stop and go through the city of 5 million people and some of the worst smog in South America.  I wonder how the tunnel react after a major snow melt?  

Then you get up into the foothills of Santiago and begin your ascent from 1000 ft. up the mountain side to 9,000 ft.  39 tight switchbacks later you get to the junction for La Parva or Valle Nevado.  If you choose Valle you will face another 30 or so switch backs and if you choose La Parva you have 10 or so more with a long traverse across the mountainside. 

Once your up high the mountain views are incredible.  There are a few 17,000+ ft mountains around and if you get high enough you can see Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the western Hemisphere, 26,000+ ft.

Aside from the mountain views, I have to say the worlds best sunsets are found up here.  You can see long over the Pacific and I think the cities pollution enhances the suns effects.  

As for today, the skiing was fantastic.  I ripped around with Marco most of the day and skied until my swollen summer feet couldn't handle it anymore.  

Day 1 over and out, enjoy the pics of tonight's sunset and some of the fabulous pollution found in the city below.

        

Where did summer go?

I'm off to the southern hemisphere in a couple of days and it finally hit me, my summer is almost over?! It is crunch time. Time to ski, time to test my new body, time to see how fast I can go on snow. I do have to say, I feel good, I think the training this summer has put me in a good position coming into this on snow prep period.

My schedule looks like this. 2+weeks in La Parva, Chile, fly home for 2 ish weeks then make the journey back to Portillo, Chile for an intense 3+ weeks. Then home for around a month in the fall then off to Colorado. Where did the time go?

I am stoked to ski but I will miss days like this.
(it aint Maui but it has its own perks)

Oh Monsieur!

Good job to the announcer on this one.