Spring Update

Spring has well and truly arrived, I think today is the 25th Bluebird Day with temperatures getting warmer day by day...
Conditions are tough to train in with hard melt freeze conditions in the morning, the snow softens by mid morning for an hour or two of good training then boom you have heavy wet slush, my legs are toast by days end and it's tough to find consistency, oh the challenges of spring!
With only three weeks remaining in our season and one important round of the NZYS remaining at Cardrona in two weeks it's going to be interesting to see who can hold their form and find the energy to race for three days in Spring conditions.

New Zealand Youth Series / Round Three / Mt Hutt

We travelled to Mt Hutt for our annual Speed Camp last Tuesday, we set up camp at Barkers Lodge in Methven which as usual was fantastic.
We trained two days of SuperG in perfect conditions and sunny, clear skies at Mt Hutt on Wednesday and Thursday working ourselves up to speeds around 100Km/hr on the speed gun.
Round Three of the NZYS at Mt Hutt consisted of 4 x Super G Races + 1 x Slalom Race.
Super G Race One and Two on Friday went well with a 7th and a 4th placing, SG Race Three and Four on Saturday weren't bad either with a 5th and 6th place, overall I was the fastest 1st Year U16 Female Athlete, I felt comfortable at speed and ironed out a couple of small positional issues that pleased my coaches and picked up valuable NZYS Points :)
Sunday we raced Slalom, the course for the first run was long and very tight, after four days of speed training and racing there were some very tired ladies, I skied well and with the exception of a big mistake on the second to last gate I managed a 5th place, would have been a lot better without the mistake!
My second run was great, I went out with a determined attitude wanting to make up time for the mistake on my first run. I charged hard and managed a 4th place with the three podium places going to Second Year U16 Athletes ( Well done Eden, Georgia and Cam ), happily I still managed the fastest 1st Year U16 Athletes time, thanks Sophie T for a tough weekend of close competition and pushing one another to ski at our best!
Overall a very pleasing weekend with solid results, I'm looking forward to the last round of the NZYS at Cardrona in a couple of weeks!
Thanks to Team Hutt for a great week and well run races :)
Stay tuned for the final NZYS results and overall placings...!

New Zealand Youth Series - Round One / Ohau

What a fantastic, inspirational weekend at Ohau for the first round of the New Zealand Youth Series Races ( GS & SL ), thanks SSNZ and Twizel Ski Club for a great two days of U14 / U16 racing.
It started off well when I bumped into Ted Ligety playing tennis on Friday afternoon at Ohau Lodge, after a chat he signed my Slytech Arm Guards, well his arm guards actually as my Dad scored them off him on a TV Commercial last winter.
Saturday dawned a beautiful, clear and sunny day, I had breakfast at the lodge with the U.S Men's Team and was totally inspired and pumped to watch them train a full GS course set from the top to the bottom of the mountain at Ohau.
The U.S Team finished training and pulled the lower section of their course and left the upper section ( 28 Gates ) in place for us to race the first round of the NZYS GS on - So cool to race on a course set for the U.S Men's Team / thanks Sasha :)
My first run was solid, I was fast on the upper flat section of the course and skied the lower steep set well, finishing my first run in 4th place overall with the fastest 1st Year U16 time, my second run was good too but a couple of small mistakes meant I finished 5th overall with the 2nd fastest 1st Year U16 time, just beaten by 0.52 of a second by my QAST team mate Sophie T, well done Sophie.
Sunday was another sunny, clear day and with my favourite discipline / Slalom ( 38 Gates ) I was pumped to race and do well!
A nice course set on dry snow with a steep start then a flat technical section leading to the final pitch with a rhythmical tight set to the finish.
I was stoked to put down the fast overall U16 women's time ( 35.90 sec ) in the first run, leading Georgia Bushell ( 2nd Year U16 ) by just 0.21 sec.
After a course reset and the addition of a few more gates ( 44 Gates ) my second run was fast too registering a respectable second fastest time ( 37.18 sec ) behind Eden McKay ( 2nd Year U16 / Team Hutt - well done Eden ) but just enough to hold off Team Hutt's Georgia B by 0.37 sec ( Well done Georgia ) for the Gold Medal and 1st Place in Round One of the NZYS SL Races.
With Round Two of the NZYS Races coming up this weekend here at home at Coronet Peak it's going to be exciting, I'll keep you posted....

2014 Sponsors - Thanks

A huge thank you for the ongoing support from my 2014 Sponsors Outside Sports Queenstown, Bobo Products New Zealand, Dynastar New Zealand, Dalbello Italy and Atlas Beer Cafe Queenstown.

NZ Winter Training Underway

Three weeks into winter here in NZ and training is going well, although we could definitely do with some more snow!
I'm working hard and enjoying being part of the QAST U16 Team this season, our coaches Igor and Tim are amazing and I'm learning a lot from them both.
I'm loving my new Dynastar Race Skis, the move to an adult ski from a junior ski is fantastic and has totally changed my skiing!
Telemark training tomorrow will be interesting....
AndieG❄️

Japanese Camp

Finally back home in Queenstown after 26 hours of non stop travel!
The camp was great fun, with great coaching and great company.
We mainly focused on G.S training with both technical skiing, gate training and daily video sessions.
I was happy with my early season progress and have identified what I need to work on and have set my goals for the fast approaching NZ winter season.
Thanks Simon, Thanks Japan :)

Japanese Camp

We've had two great days of technical free skiing supported by video sessions at a small resort called Akita Hachimantai in the Hachimantai National Park in the far north of Japan's main island of Honshu.

There's just the one chairlift and two long, moderately steep runs which are perfect for training :)

There's no one here except us and the snow is perfect allowing us to ski hard and fast all day without getting into trouble!

We've spent the days training until early afternoon followed by some Dryland training and a bike ride in afternoon then a swim in the icy Lake Towada ( Which by the way has ice on the surface ), it's freezing but so much fun!

We're having a day off today to visit one of the nearby cities ( Towada City ) to do some shopping before we start four days of gate training tomorrow.

I'm loving my new Dynastar SL and G.S Skis ( Thanks Gerald and Bobo Sports NZ ).

My new race skis are totally different to my previous junior race ski, far more precise edge to edge, more stable under foot and powerful out of the turn, I'm looking forward to getting into a course with them over the next few days.

More to come, stay tuned...

Back Home, Back To School, Bring On Winter...

Well I'm back home, back to school ( Wakatipu High School ) and back to being a regular kid :)
Looking forward to getting my Training Schedule sorted out with Braden at Fight Science Queenstown and the coming NZ Winter Race Season :)
Stay posted for regular updates as our NZ Winter draws nearer... :)

Sochi Winter Olympics

Two days until the 2014 Winter Olympic in Sochi open, I can wait to see all my idols compete!

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...

Bigtruck Hats Truckee CA

What a great day off!
We went across to Truckee for some shopping and a late lunch, we ate at a really cool retro diner called Jax on the Trax and then looked around the shops in Downtown Historic Truckee, Mum and Dad bought me a pretty snowflake necklace ( which I love ) for doing well in my races over the weekend at Sugar Bowl which was really cool!
We then decided to try and find the Bigtruck Hat Factory and after some clever use of free Wifi here and there, Google Maps and some sleuthing about we managed to located it.
We entered the warehouse factory to be greeted by both Galen and Kelsen the two really cool guys that created the now very famous Bigtruck Hat Company a few years back and a brand now worn by many well respected athletes including my inspirational idol and Truckee local Julia Mancuso!
So what was really just supposed to be a quick drive by of the Bigtruck base in Truckee turned out to be so much more...
The guys were stoked that we had travelled all the way from Queenstown, New Zealand and had made the effort to call by their warehouse and say hi that they gave us a full tour of their operation showing us each stage of the design phase and how they make their wicked hats, after which Galen says "So Andie how about you design your very own one off Custom Bigtruck Hat" - I'm like speechless and grinning from ear to ear!!!
Then Kelsen rummages about in a drawer and produces a really cool Goggle Patch and says "Andie, you can be the very first person to use the new and yet to be released 2014 Bigtruck Goggle Patch".
I'm like wow, that's way cool, thanks guys!
So I spend the next 45 minutes with the guys in the factory choosing my hat, thread colour, custom flags and then I watch as Kelsen hand stitches it together right there in front of me, my very own one off, custom designed AndieG Bigtruck Hat, I'm so stoked, thanks guys :)
So then we are about to leave and Galen goes, so Andie I think you should have this pair of really cool KOSS Headphones just like Jules wears and oh, here's a Julia Mancuso Olympic Hoodie too...
I'm now totally blown away, a Custom Bigtruck Hat, Koss Headphones and a Julia Hoodie - Simply the best day off I could have hoped for!

Thanks guys, thanks Bigtruck!

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.

Mikaela Shiffrin

So cool to have met Mikaela Shiffrin earlier in the season when she was training SL right beside us at Coronet Peak.
Thanks for your inspirational advice and encouragement Mikaela, you'd have to say it certainly paid off!

2013 Sponsors

I want to say a big thank you to my 2013 Sponsors - Gerald from Bobo Sports / Dynastar New Zealand, Ivan from Outside Sports Queenstown, Davey from Atlas Cafe Queenstown and of course my Parents ( MAP Productions Queenstown ) for always being there to support me and drive me forward :)
Your support and belief in me has been both awesome and inspiring allowing me to achieve my goals and perform to the best of my ability throughout the season.
Here's hoping your generosity extends into 2014 and beyond.

Squaw Valley 2013 /2014

A weeks rest and some fun with non skiing friends in the last week of the school holidays then it's back into the gym before heading away to the U.S / Squaw Valley on December 20th to train and race with the Squaw Valley Ski Team, can't wait....

South Island Champs / National Points Races Mt Hutt

The Final Round of competition for the 2013 Season took place at Mt Hutt over the weekend with the South Island Champs taking place on Saturday and the last of the National Points Races on Sunday.
With spring conditions the decision was made to race Slalom on both days which very much suited me as SL is my strength :)
After the first run on Saturday I was in 1st place but my QAST team mates Alice Robinson and Alex Hull both skied exceptionally well, both with faster second run times than me which pushed me back to 3rd place and a Bronze Medal Podium finish with just 0.41 seconds separating the three of us!
After the first race on Sunday I found myself once again in 1st place with a fraction of a second ( 0.12 sec ) lead over my team mate Sophie Thompson, the second run saw my QAST team mate Alice Robinson ski a phenomenal run to take another 1st placing pushing me into 2nd place and a Silver Medal Podium finish with Sophie T finishing in 3rd place - QASTies take all three podium positions on both days, well done girls.
A great weekend of competitive ski racing and team fun, thanks Mt Hutt for a great event :)

National Youth Series - Cardrona SL

What An Amazing Day :)
We raced the Final Round of the National Youth Series Slalom Races which also combined as the New Zealand National Title Race at Cardrona on Saturday in tough, spring conditions!
The first course set was quite technical the second course flowed more I thought both suited me and I put in two solid runs.
After two tough runs ( A 2nd & 3rd placing ) I finished 3rd Overall picking up a NYS SL Bronze Medal.
Taking into account my National Slalom Points ( 80 Points after Round One at Coronet Peak ) and with Round Two at Mt Hutt cancelled due to bad weather it all came down to this Last Round at Cardrona!
My overall 3rd place finish gave me another 60 Points therefore I finished the NYS with a combined Slalom Points Total of 140 Points enough to take out the Joint 1st Place U14 Ladies New Zealand National Title with my QAST team mate Alex Hull, no better way to wrap up the season than with a National Title.

National Youth Series - Cardrona Super G

Some very early starts ( 5:15am ) made for some long days during the Third and Final Round of the National Youth Series Races held at Cardrona last week.
We raced Super G early on Friday morning to ensure we got the speed event finished before the snow deteriorated, it was a well set course raced in good visibility.
With Super G not my strongest event I finished in 6th place with work still to do!
Overall I'm happy with most things just need to dial into speed mode a little more, only 1.05 seconds off a podium finish :)