Sugarloaf Day one

The Boys got their first taste of Downhill at Sugarloaf. The sun was out but the temps were low through the day, it was well below zero in the morning and only got up into the single digits through the day.
The set is similar to most DH's that we see up here, with only a few ways to set the hill the guys will probably see something similar when they are up in the future. It is has a bit more swing in places than normal but it runs great top to bottom.
With 10 boys (all 990's) we came into the day with a somewhat conservative game plan, giving it a bit more room in some places and trying to ensure that everyone would get down and learn something about the hill. They guys did a good job with trough warmup, inspection, slipping, and the training run. They learned a lot about the hill and also a lot about aerodynamics. Mike Ferri was our last guy out of the gate, but came down with the fasted run of our group 34th overall and 10th for J2's. He was followed by Dan Martin in 36th, who must have some fast skis as he was 3rd on the bottom split.
We are looking forward to making some changes tomorrow to adjust our line and find sometime on the course with more aggressive tactics. I am also hoping that the boys can improve on their aerodynamics and find a bit more time on the flats.
With the prospect of some weather coming on on Wednesday we are going to push to get both race runs on tomorrow. If everything works out and the we are able to get the hill back in shape for the SG we might be able to get an extra SG race in on Thursday or Friday.
Time for a Bag Burger and some sleep. Wish the boys luck tomorrow.
Stags

Speed Week Day 1

Well here we go again, back at sugarloaf for speed week. The schedule for tomorrow is as follows
7:00 Registration in the Comp Center
8:00 lifts open for athletes- DRC long side to Kangaroo
8:10-9:15 for warm-up from Kangaroo down
9:30-10 inspection window at the top
10:30 coaches in place
10:55 forerunners
11 womens run
11:50 mens run

With the soft surface there is a fairly complicated slipping schedule for the day. Anyone who does not show their bib to slip in their prescribed window will be dq'ed from the race

There is to be no freeskiing anywhere on the mountain on DH skis

Parker says hello

Team meeting in room 323 at 7pm tonight.

I am over at COlD Sunday River for 2 Eastern Cup Slaloms. Temps dipped to about -30 yesterday, so at the very least, it was a tough day at the office. The men's field here is pretty strong in slalom and Dylan and Jake are getting a taste of skiing at the next level.
A few mistakes and bobbles had Dylan DSQing near the finish, while Jake, not quite on his game first run either, pulled it together for a much better second run.

We looked at some video and made some adjustments, cannot wait to see what today brings. Hopefully, warmer weather at the very least.

JB

Canada Part 2...

The boys had their first of two Gs's today, and Kyle skied great! He cut his bib in half first run, moving from 42 to 21st. He finished the day in 19th, good for a 67 result. Dan showed improvement in his GS and almost made flip for second run, finishing 34th from bib 54. Unfortunately his day was cut short by a pothole that kicked his ski off second run, but he was able to land on his feet, nice athleticism! The boys are showing that they are ready to ski with the men on a hill that is very steep with an abundance of side hill fall-aways.

After tomorrow's race we begin the long journey back to Killington, which will take two days. Check for results for the race at fisski.com under Georgian Peaks, ON.

Sunday the 23rd brought cold, cold temps to VT. While one group was doing battle north of the border, yet another group went south to our neighbors at Stratton. The boys must like the colder weather, as this Vermont Cup gs brought some of the years best results.
Julian Scherding led the way with a 7th place finish, followed closely by Woodstock buddy Andrew Kimbell in 9th and brother Daniel in 11th. Tyler Guth and Brendan Bucksbaum were in 12th and 14th respectively and Jeffry Griffen stuck his career best result in there at 24th to round out the top 25.

Great job boys! The Vermont Cup circuit comes to Killington next Sunday with a gs on Needles.

jb

O' Canada!

Greetings from Collingwood, Ontario. Only 100 miles NW of Toronto, the small peaks here lie at the shoreline of Lake Huron. We have a four race series here with four of our J-2 guys: Kyle Burcin, Mike Ferri, Dan Martin, and Cameron Price. So far the slaloms are in the books, and we have two days of GS coming up.

Burcin skied well both days and impressed today especially. He moved from Bib 45 to finish 26th and scored a 73, his personal best. Dan Martin made some great adjustments today and scored his personal best as well, an 80 point race.

It should be noted there was a previous Canadian trip. On Jan. 13-14 Jake Jacobs, Dylan Malone, and Kip Spangler had a short but sweet series of two slaloms in Bromont, Quebec. Jake moved up from bib 33 to finish 7th on day one, and Dylan skied into 7th on day 2, scoring a 55 point result in the process. Jake also had a personal best 65 as well.

See you after the GS!

attitash sg races

We have our first two sg races of the year behind us. We accepted an invitation to race in the nhara sg races at attitash today and tomorrow, jumping at the chance to get four starts in two days. These races are some great opportunitys for our guys to get four runs of sg in a race setting before speed week at Sugarloaf.
The guys did a good job inspecting and learning the hill in the morning and it paid off with some good results. In the first race Cam skied his way into second place for j2's and scored himself a nice race in the process. Kyle and dan martin also skies very well and scored some very helpful results.
The results were also positive in the second race with more of the boys skiing fast and scoring.
We said goodbye to cam, Kyle, mike, and Dan this afternoon, they are on their way up to Canada for four fis tech starts this weekend.
We have two more races tomorrow and I am looking forward to the guys learning a lot and scoring more great results.
Stags.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

IMG00012-20110113-0830.jpg

Now this is more like it. The cat is up here at the start pushing off a couple feet of wind blown snow. Right now the start is delayed until noon. Let's hope we can get one race in the books today.
Stags
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sugarloaf sg day 1

Well this is more like it for Sugarloaf. We had great weather the last two days for the gs races and sg freeski yesterday. Now up on the hill for super-g we have some freezing fog and light snow. Should make for an interesting day. We won't know if we are running until later this morning. We will let you know around noon. I will also get some results and pics from the second gs up later today.
Stags
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Vermont Cups at Smuggler's Notch

Over the weekend the boys had a very successful two days of Vermont Cup action at Smuggler's Notch, easily the most difficult hill the VC has to offer every year. I like to consider it the "kitzbuhel" of USSA racing. The hill twists and turns at the top and then breaks over a long and very steep pitch which carries racers onto the bottom flat with rolling terrain all the way down.

SL was on Saturday, with minimal results, but a lot of gains were made nonetheless. Only two KMS finishers, Ansel Dickey and Brendan Bucksbaum, who hiked first run. Ansel finished 18th from a late start position and Bucks threw down a second run that was one of his best ever in SL.

In Sunday's GS, the boys had a really good day on one beast of a track. The steep and winding trail made for bumpy conditions in the track, which the guys handled effortlessly. Jack Salisbury finished 18th, scoring himself a 94 USSA result, down from 154, a nice result. Tyler Guth and Kenny Mcneill finished 21st and 22nd, both scoring right around 100. This is a significant drop in points for both of them as well. Ansel had another good day. He finished 32nd and scored himself a 135, chopping more than 100 points off his current profile.

Bucks had another bittersweet day, after bumping his chin with his knee 2nd run and putting himself out of contention. His first run was more than impressive, as he moved from a start position in the late 30's into 15th place, right in the mix with 70 point skiers and a few NCAA skiers. No results for Bucks, but it was a monumental weekend for him anyway!

Greetings from the loaf. Dylan, Kip, Jake, and I made the drive up to Maine Sunday. With the Orford races canceled this presented itself as a good alternative. These boys have been skiing well in the Devo races and have been scoring great results this season.
We were lucky not to find standard Sugarloaf weather, it was fairly sunny and warm all day, although the wind did pick up in the afternoon.
The first run was a challenging set that caught out many in the field. including Dylan and Kip. Jake made a good move up from 65th to 48th first run. Dylan hip checked first run, but was able to recover and only move back one spot to 61st. Kip also had some trouble but moved up from 79th to 65th.
Second run Jake skied well again and moved up again, finishing in 39th, a great improvement from bib 65. Dylan skied better second run and moved back up to 46th. Kip skied better on the top, but had some trouble on headwall and wasn't able to finish.
Jack and the rest of the boys are on their way up from Sugarbush for the SG's Wednesday Thursday.

Exciting weekend of racing in Vermont. The USSA group traveled to Smuggler's Notch for Vermont Excellence Weekend. They were greeted with cold temps and good surface conditions. On Sunday, the Middlebury team showed up and many of the guys took advantage of a great penalty. Jack Salisbury led the charge in 18th, Tyler Guth, who has been skiing strong giant slalom, in 21st, followed closely by Kenny Mcneill in 22nd.

Meanwhile, up at Sugarbush the boys faced some strong winds and blowing snow and a bit softer conditions for their Devo GS. Cam Price picked up the new year where he left off, just outside the top 10 in 11th, while Kyle Burcin, after a rough first run, stepped up, to put in a solid 24th place finish. Daniel Scherding, nursing a sore back, had another day of scoring moving from the 70's to 38th. And Andrew Kimbell with a nice race for himself,no longer a 990, starting 137 moved into the 50's.

Nice work Guys!

Racing at Mt. Ellen again tomorrow, then up North for the first sg's of the season.

jb

Back to the blog!!

busy Holidays here at KMS. KMS boys had a fine start of the New Year on Sunday here in our backyard, Highline. The VC Slalom was held under spring conditions in January. After a bit of chemicals, the track held up fairly well and the boys were able to make some strong moves through the field.

Dylan Malone was our top place holder in 3rd after stepping off the throttle a bit for second run. Kyle Burcin had a strong slalom showing again in 4th and Cameron Price got his short turn feet back with a top 10 result, in 8th.

Alumni Jimmy Ryan, now from Colby College, showed all the young bucks his competitive juices are still flowing with a fast second run to win on the day.

Julian Scherding, Daniel Scherding and Jake Jacobs rounded out the top 20 in 13th, 19th and 17th, respectively

Another busy January racing weekend awaits. keep tuned to the "BLOG"!!

jb