Day 17 - Killington

ASRA Race Camp Day 4 - Race Day, otherwise known as 'Better Living Through Pharmaceuticals'. Out just over 2 hours, 9:15 to 11:45; thankfully last night's rain stopped right at 9:00 leaving a very low cloud layer with light and variable winds and temps in the forties; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheaters; 7 runs; 6,800 vertical; last night's rain and some light grooming actually made conditions a little better - there were still tons of rocks and crap, but the snow pack was soft and much more consistent than the past few days; we had a quick, 2 run, single course race on Bunny to help make up for the cancelled ASRA races this weekend - skied OK, a little slow on run 2, but OK; had a panel wrap-around and whack me pretty good on run 1; 800 mg of Ibuprophin and a Vicodin had my knee feeling much better today!

GS:    Run 1 - 38.12 (14)    Run 2 - 39.84 (19)    Total - 1:17:96 (14)

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Day 16 - Killington

ASRA Race Camp Day 3. Out 9:00 to 2:00 with a long, long lunch; calm overcast with temps rising from around freezing into the low forties; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; 13 runs; 10,000 vertical; heavy loose granular, scraped into piles by the end of the day; AM session: GS drills - turn initiation on edged ski from wedge, short dual brush course, and short stubby course; PM session: full GS course on Bunny; another accident/injury in my group today - Larry and Paul collided pretty hard I guess; worked on patience again today - 'going deep'; started to expand view of a single turn - rather than thinking about the top, the apex, and the bottom, trying to expand view of the bottom the turn through the crossover to the new ski; my right knee's been a little balky recently, but this afternoon it really acted up and I had to quit early - I'll try Vicodin for tomorrow's 'race'.

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Day 15 - Killington

ASRA Race Camp Day 2. Out 9:15 to 2:15 with an hour for lunch; increasing cloud cover, very little to no wind, temps steady around freezing; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; 15 runs, 18,000 vertical; a little more snowmaking and another night of light grooming had things looking a little better today, i.e. a little less granular and a little less variable; AM session: drills and short SL drill courses - long leg/short leg (building pressure through leg extension), engage the tip and maintain forward pressure (where does the snow start to come off the ski? at the tip or just in front of the binding?); PM session: real SL course - 40 gates or so with a flush and 3 hairpins; be patient, don't rush... ... ... engage the edge and build pressure slowly at the top of the turn while saving the hard knee and hip angulation for later in the turn when you need to finish the turn and for the skis to travel across the fall line to the rise line for the next gate; my skiing was a bit of a mixed bag today - some good and some bad; helicopter work today on the Snowdon Triple rebuild.



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Day 14 - Killington

ASRA Race Camp Day 1 - Out 9:30 to 2:45 with an hour for lunch; sunny with temps rising into the low forties and very little wind; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; 17 runs; 10,500 vertical; variable granular with tons of rocks; in Fred Deiffenbach's group with Didier, John, Larry, and Bill; AM session worked on balance drills: falling leaf, pivot slips, javelin turns; PM session, multiple short courses on Bunny - dual brushes, stubbies, and short SL; skiing OK - I think all the drills are helping a little; ASRA/NEMS races this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday have been cancelled; had a fantastic weekend on FSR - three global top 10's in six races has me in 8th place overall globally!

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Day 63 - Ski Roundtop

ASRA GS - 37.05 (18)    37.97 (23)    1:15:02 (19)

ASRA SL - 45.75 (10)    46.04 (12)    1:31.79 (10)

Ski Trip Day 1 - an ASRA 2-fer. Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a quick break between races; clear, cold, and windy - temps rising from some where around 10° to about 20°; 15 runs; 3,500 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's and the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; good snow on the hill; absolutely horrible skiing in the GS - not sure what's wrong; I felt much better in the SL despite a NASTAR handicap in the thirties; up early enough to miss all traffic this morning - made from my house to Roundtop in 3½ hours with a stop for coffee and a stop for gas; already off plan - today was supposed to be Tussey. #justgivemeagroomer    

Day 59 - West Mountain

ASRA SL - 1:03.19 (12)    1:03.55 (12)    2:06.74 (12)    +21.01

Out 9:00 to 12:00; sunny with temps in the upper twenties and light winds; 7 runs; 5,000 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; skied a little better today - not fast, but no real mistakes;



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Day 58 - West Mountain

ASRA GS - 1:18.40 (23)    1:03.88 (15)    2:22.28 (19)    +26.66

Out 9:00 to 1:30 with a quick break between race runs; overcast with intermittent light snow and temps in the twenties; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; 12 runs; 9,000 vertical; skied poorly again; good snow on the race hill and one or tow other trails, but very little of the hill was open; big mistake at the bottom on run 1 - didn't stop, but came close.

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Day 48 - Montage

ASRA GS - 44.98 (27)    40.57 (25)    1:25.55 (27)    + 13.90

Sometimes you just suck. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with a quick 2 beer lunch to drown my sorrows between runs; clear, cold, and a little windy; 5° to 15°; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; stayed and skied with JJ after the race; White Lightning was real good - even in my GS skis; it took a while, 8 days, but I finally put a nick in the edge of my race skis - not to worry, it was just a small one.

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Day 46 - Elk Mountain

ASRA SL - 1:04.93 (11)    1:07.40 (14)    2:12.33 (12)    +28.92

Not a rain day on the hill despite a steady rain overnight and a rainy drive home. Out 9:00 to 2:30 with a short break for race awards and another for lunch; foggy with temps constant in the low forties; 17 runs; 15,000 vertical; skied the 2015 Volkl RaceTiger SL World Cups; good snow on the hill, but a little too soft for racing - some big holes and ruts despite just 28 racers today; very complicated course set today - 50+ gates, 3 hairpins, 2 flushes including a 4-gater, and a thru gate; absolutely nobody else on the hill - so I stayed and skied a little after the race.

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Day 45 - Elk Mountain

ASRA GS - 44.01 (37)    45.39 (38)    1:29.40 (35)    +20.77

Out 8:30 to 1:30 with just a quick warm up in the lodge between race runs; overcast with temps in the mid to upper twenties - heavy snow developed between runs accumulating to 2" by the time I left; 10 runs or so; 8,000 vertical; skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; needed to take a real late re-run in the powder after they missed the timing for Tomassetti's and my second runs - did the re-run with my coat and warm-ups on and my wax/tool bag stuffed in my jacket; slow again...



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Day 28 - Killington

ASRA GS - 44.02 (26)    47.11 (31)     1:31.13 (26)    +17.35

Out 9:00 to 12:30 without a break; overcast with temps in the mid-twenties; a couple more inches of new snow last night - storm totals in the mid-twenties :); skied the Atomic D2 3.0 Race GS's; 7 runs; 6,500 vertical; soft pack everywhere; another poor result, but the first run showed a little promise - decent time even with a mistake that had to cost me 1 or 2 seconds; surprised that they did not reset for the second run since the soft conditions made even the first run bumpy - the second run was a rodeo ride; took out the finish corral fence - embarrassed.

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