Greetings from Alberta, Canada!
I am currently writing from the lobby of the beautiful Chateau Lake Louise, where the whole World Cup speed circuit gets to stay for the week of training and racing. Staying in amazing hotels is one of the biggest perks of the World Cup, and feels extremely luxurious after our budget conscious amenities all prep period. The Chateau is definitely one of the nicest, and all the Canadian race staff and volunteers are so friendly and excited to have the speed tour back in Alberta.
Tuesday was the first ‘training run’ for the downhill races scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday. There were two more training runs scheduled for yesterday and today, but unfortunately both were cancelled because of lots of rain and now too much snow. But it was good Tuesday was able to happen, because it is FIS rules that a downhill race needs to have at least one training run before the actual race in order to happen.
Unfortunately Tuesday was not a great day for me because I ended up upside down in the net half way down the course on the infamous ‘fishnet’ turn: a bumpy, dark 90 degree left footed turn that takes you inches away from the fish-net like safety nets. Or in my case, you end up in the net. The conditions were not ideal for anyone, and many struggled during the training run, missing gates, having to stand up, or just getting pushed way off line. I was somehow the only one to crash, but after watching everyone’s video, I felt a little bit better about how tough the course was for everyone. And thankfully, I am totally fine despite going upside down at 120 km into the net.
However, because the other two training runs were cancelled, and I didn’t make it down the first one (despite posting some fast split times!), I won’t be racing the downhills here in Lake Louise, because the US Ski Team coaches decided not to give me a downhill spot. So now my focus turns completely towards the super-g on Sunday, which is what I am most excited and prepared for! Weather permitting we will probably get some gs training in the next two days before the sg race, which will be good prep.
You can watch this Sunday on NBC Peacock or live timing on FIS https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=AL&raceid=108969 . I will probably be around bib 36 and the start is supposed to be 10 am MT, but there is more weather in the forecast so you never really know!
Although Lake Louise isn’t my best hill, I am really excited to start racing and making some moves up the ranks :) Thank you as always for all the support.