Hello Everyone!
I was a bit nervous to write and post this blog because I don’t love talking about my expectations right before a race, but I’m learning to keep things as objective as possible and only focus on the skiing. So I’ll give you an insight on my mindset heading into St. Moritz.
But first, a recap on Lake Louise! I was quite nervous, which was expected for the first race, but tried to channel the nerves into excitement. I have been working so hard this season and race day always feels like the reward. Especially after not being able to race the downhill, I felt extra motivated to take advantage of the opportunity to race and put my best skiing forward.
The course was an extremely straight set by the Austrians and had high speeds so everything came at you really quickly. The snow was pretty good, hard but not icy and stayed in good condition for everyone! The Lake Louise volunteer course crew is known for their insane work and crazy hours they put into making the snow really really good, so huge props to them :)
My game plan is always to focus on how I want to ski, any tricky parts of the course, and try to be as aggressive, smooth, and aerodynamic as possible. I’ve also started to break the course/hill into sections which helps a lot with different mentalities in different parts.
I skied the top a bit conservative, but was clean and fast. I then focused on strong position and just being as clean and solid as possible in the technical section (where I crashed in the downhill), then I went full gas on the pitch and felt really good, but went a bit too straight coming onto the flats where all the forces really added up. We were skiing at around 70 mph and I got pulled late and low, losing a lot of speed and eventually a lot of time on the bottom because the rest of the course was flat. Overall, I think it was a good stepping stone, but I know I can be faster, it’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together for a full clean and aggressive run.
And that is exactly the plan for the two super-g’s at St. Moritz tomorrow and Sunday!
It snowed a ton the past couple of days, and the hill was extremely soft for our hill free ski today, but a lot can change overnight, so fingers crossed :) I’m bib 41 and it should play on peacock, I know they missed me in Lake Louise so I am including my run here if you want to watch.
I did send an email to Peacock letting them know they skipped two US girls in Lake Louise, so hopefully it doesn’t happen again.
Here are some photos:
You look AWESOME attacking Lake Louise. You GOT this in “the old country”!!! #YouRockTricia
UD