USSA U14 Far West North Series Dual Slalom Races

Another amazing race day today at Alpine Meadows here in Lake Tahoe C.A.

A very competitive field of 87 of the best U14 Girls in the Western United States raced a Dual Slalom in near perfect weather, sunny clear skies and warm temperatures.

I posted the fastest time of the morning on the Blue Course and then the 6th fastest time on the slower Red Course in the afternoon finishing 4th overall, an OK result and I achieved my goal of a top five finish :)

Tomorrow my goal is a top three podium before heading home on Monday...

 

Epic Utah!

There's only one word to describe Utah - EPIC!
After a long 8 hour drive through Nevada and across the salt flats into Utah we arrived in Salt Lake City full of expectation, it had been snowing hard since we crossed the state line and the forecast was for the storm to continue throughout the night!
We skied at Snowbird the next day in windy but clearing weather, what a wicked mountain, steeps, trees, and long unforgiving runs, it was pretty windy so the Tram was closed but we managed to skis some great runs and amazing powder!
The next day we once again skied at Snowbird, the storm had passed and the wind had dropped, the Tram was running and the Peruvian Tunnel through to Mineral Basin was open. We skied a couple of lines off the Tram just because we could then rode the magic carpet through the Peruvian Tunnel (So Cool) into Mineral Basin, we made a couple of runs there then connected across to Alta, really amazing to have so much terrain and variety connected by an amazing lift system all on the one ski pass!
Alta was great but with many of the lifts closed for avalanche control work we made a few runs then headed back to Snowbird to finish our day as another weather system rolled in.....!
The following day was very windy and it was snowing hard so we decided to take a drive across to Park City and Deer Valley to see if things were any better weather wise there, they weren't in fact it was worse there so we decided to have a rest day and shopped at the outlet mall in Kimble :)
The snow continued throughout the night and the next morning it was still dumping but the wind had gone, we packed early and headed too Alta with the hope of an epic powder day!
We got it, knee to thigh deep champagne powder as only Utah can deliver, with it been Monday everyone was either at work or at school so there were no crowds, endless powder runs and no lift lines!
We skied hard all day in the trees, it was so much fun skiing together as a family in such amazing conditions, we explored so much unbelievable terrain finishing up skiing untracked steep lines through the trees off the Supreme Lift at 11,000 feet!
Thanks Utah, we'll be back... :)

Utah - Snowbird / Alta Here We Come...

With California seriously struggling in terms of snow we have decide to pack up the truck and head east to Utah.
A 10 hour drive tomorrow should see us in knee deep powder by Saturday :)
Stay tuned...

USSA Far West North Series U14 SL Races

Having just finished two days of Slalom Racing at Sugar Bowl Resort here in Lake Tahoe I'm pretty happy with my results given the very challenging snow conditions - very slick, hard packed ice!
With the severe lack of snow in the greater Tahoe Region the races were limited in terms of where the ROC could set a SL Course that would hold up throughout the two days of racing and be fair and consistent, to the 170 + racers both boys and girls.
Day One saw the boys run their course first, a large proportion of them crashed hard as they struggled with the very icy course, this made for a very intimidating hour and a half for us girls as we watched the carnage and waited for the boys to complete their run and our race to start...
My first run saw me 8th in the gate out of 86 entrants, I started solidly then bang, went down hard as the tip of my ski clipped a gate, I got up and skied the rest of the course reasonably well but having fallen early I finished well down the field but qualified for a second run!
My second run was much better, 80th out of the gate I skied well putting in the 6th fastest time enabling a semi respectable finish in the middle of the field.
Day Two wasn't much better, conditions were still very slick, I started 77th in my first run of the day, I skied well putting in the 8th fastest time.
I was 9th out of the gate in my second run and although I didn't push 100% as I wanted to be sure of a result and a top 10 finish, I managed to improve my standing and finished 7th overall on Day Two to take home a nice, very heavy Far West Regional Medal :)
So, I'm generally happy with my weekend, I learned a lot, made some new friends and watched my very talented team mate A J Hurt ski two beautiful runs to take home a well deserved win which was really cool and very inspiring!
Thanks Sugar Bowl ROC and all the volunteers that made for a great weekend and my first race in the U.S.

U.S Training

Training is going well here at Lake Tahoe, California.
The majority of my training so far has been my favourite discipline Slalom, we've been training gates four days a week on the Alpine Meadows Race Arena, a great facility closed to the public.
Snow conditions are lacking as far as free skiing goes but are perfect, hard and fast for Slalom Training, just the way I like it :)

The Daniel Keys Foundation

Wow, I'm so proud to be the recipient of the 2013 Daniel Keys Foundation Grant, I've been awarded funding by the Foundation to help out with my training costs in the U.S this summer.
The Daniel Keys Foundation is a Charitable Trust that supports and encourages young people throughout New Zealand, motivating them to push the limits of ones capability, achieve personal goals and chase their dreams!