Great start to the slalom race season in Mammoth.  Even with soft snow conditions and relentless winds the race went on the the guys did a great job.  Pete Spangler got on track with a 8th place, 1st for U18 class.  Dan Martin, with a tough second run got bumped to 15th overall just missing the U21 podium with the SNC guys.  Johnny Schwartz, stepped up his game second run to hold on to 16th, Jeffry, a great day in 18th.  Tommy Shebell, 23rd and a U18 podium, excellent results for him.  Ryan Z., after a hike first run, showed his speed from 40th start second run to 10th fastest for the run, overall 24th.  Spencer Wood in 49th and Graham, 51st. 
Stodgell and Tomasso will have another crack at it today. 

Consider us lucky, ski racing!  Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families impacted in this tragedy in Newtown, CT.

Peace, JB

Sorry to break the news, no training today, but 18 inches of soft, dry, fluffy powder.  Hey, I didn't have to think twice.  But rest assured we did take a lap down Terry's once the ski patrol was done blasting just to check it out.  But no way!

The kids enjoyed another powder day of exploring the mountain, hitting cliffs, shoots and just having some good ole fun.  SO important for development. 

Here are some shots, don't get to jealous, just enjoy!

jb

It's almost race time, race fans.  Mike, Andrew, Shane and Wyatt, travel day tomorrow, as they head to Jackson, WY for four tech starts.  The rest of the crew will be racing Friday thru Sunday here in Mammoth.  One more day of slalom then "Showtime". 
Mother nature is throwing a little more snow our way but just a couple inches tonight, then clearing until Saturday night.  We'll hope she keeps it light so the racing surface resembles what we've been training on.  If not, the gang is ready to deal.

stay tuned!
jb 

Congratulations and job well done to the guys that headed to the far North and are just arriving back East. 

Kyle, Cam and James traveled up to Alaska for four slalom starts.  The boys returned with some experience, results and satisfaction of a job well done.  A great start to the year for them and I am sure we'll see some more good skiing in the near future.  No pics but the last day each stepped up in their own way.  James in 5th (great result -46), Kyle in 7th (51) and Cam in 8th (52).  A small field up there but a star-studded field with many UAA guys in attendance. 

Great work guys!
jb

GS clips from a few days ago. 

jb

Split schedule today in Mammoth as the guys heading to Jackson at the end of the week took the day to recharge their batteries before their race series.  The whole Mammoth racing crew training slalom today on ADG.  I cannot tell you how good the snow is and i guess i won't with what i am hearing about the weather in the East.  I'll try to send some sunshine your way. 
Being the third day of slalom and the third day of this block we cut the volume down some for a good last day of GS race prep timing tomorrow on Terry's. 

The girls getting race ready!

Sights of Mammoth and some SL.

Chow!

jb

Much of the same today, except shorter skis.  Great grippy snow, sunshine and slalom training.  We ramped up the volume a bit today and the guys rose to the challenge.  Great training, thanks Beat.  Check out the pics.

jb

Some fantastic pictures from yesterday's GS session in Mammoth!

Mike, Dan, Ryan and Jeff in the course on ADG.

The new coats look Good!

Pavel and Andrew coming up for another run.

jb

GS, GS, GS on ADG today.  After the hill watering, the reverse till and cold nighttime temps, this hill is in "Prime" shape.  Coach Brower was out today as well, just to keep everyone honest and see where they were at.  Andrew had the 2 fastest runs, Mike and Shane were not far off the pace and big improvements go to Jeffry and young guns RZ who stayed quite competitive on a couple runs.
A little workout and Bball at Snow Creek, beef stew on the stove and a good night of Thursday NFL rounds out a great day.

OFF day tomorrow for the guys, I'll be working on getting some video and pictures up, after a early morning skate ski up the top of Minaret road.

Chow!
JB 

Training in Mammoth cannot get much better; excellent free skiing, sunny skies, no crowds and SHHHHH!, no other teams training!!

Great day today, the older boys trained GS in the first block and the younger boys in the second.  Quality studyhall time, conditioning, video, super stir fry by Dan.  Couldn't get much better.  Oh yes, the Mammoth crew is watering down ADG to provide a even better training surface by the end of the week. 

Signing off for bed, but not before some of today's pics.

jb

Snow subsiding out in Mammoth but not before a couple feet dropped and the boys had a great time free skiing the mountain.  Don't worry though, the surface will be back suitable for training in no time.

jb 

Been awhile since my last blog.  Busy fall at KMS.  Our final prep camp is under way in Mammoth.  Everyone will be back together for a few weeks enjoying the Mammoth scenery.  Good day of free skiing yesterday enough though mother nature will not exactly be cooperating over the next couple days.  I am seeing some white stuff in the forecast but as typical Mammoth for this time of year, a little snow, then it will be back to great training in no time.

jb

Wrapping things up here in Saas Fee.  We managed to get 6 out of 7 days, as the snow came in last night as the forecast was calling for and the glacier closed for the day.  Tom and I were happy with the camp and the progress that was made.  We all are looking forward to our stateside return.

jb 

Strong day of training today.  We ran GS on the bottom #57.  Everyone's skiing has really come along way this camp.  Jeffry had his best day of GS, Cam, Kyle and James are skiing solid GS right now, with more fluid movements and power.  Andrew, did a better good job of keeping control of his feet, upper body and movement to the new foot.  Tomasso, has also improved since we were last together in Chile, as he has found a better position on the skis and benefited from skiing with the older guys.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, we'll see what happens tomorrow..

jb 

AHH YES, ski racing, that's what it's all about!

jb

Sometimes after a good, productive slalom block coaches have to give back and let the guys clear their mind and have some fun.  That's what we did today after training.  Another good day of slalom, our fourth on, and going back to GS tomorrow. 

Racers Ready?

Good technique!  Weird technique!

Final Score!

when traveling find Karting!

I'll get some snow action shots up soon.

thx
jb

It's one of those camps that, knock on wood, we keep ending up on the good side of the weather.  Great day of slalom and GS training today.  On lane #53, the snow was much firmer and held up great for us.  Kyle, James, Andrew, Jeffry and Tomasso trained SL and Cameron, being the fastest in GS timing the other day, got a chance to run GS with the Russian National team.  The Russian Federation is pumping their program up with the upcoming winter Olympics and have a few pretty good guys.

It's good to figure out just how aggressive you have to be to ski well.

Great Day Boys!  And some great pictures too!

Here's one for the crash file.

jb