Thoughts on Soelden

INNSBRUCK, Austria -- I was in Soelden on Thursday for a Head press conference but I took off before the races started over the weekend. I went to Innsbruck, did a workout and watched the races on TV. I would have liked to have seen the guys race in person but it just gets too hectic in Soelden on opening weekend. There are so many people and so much media -- people take it really seriously.
 
I was psyched about the way Ted skied. He went pretty hard. I've been training with him for the last few weeks and he's been skiing hard in training -- he goes pretty aggressive all the time. He's been skiing well and making turns and he definitely kept that up in the race. The other guys kind of backed off a bit but the conditions were pretty tricky. As usual, unfortunately for all of us, it's hard to get in enough race preparation this time of year. So, no one has the training to be super prepared for that race. You get the best training you can all prep period, then you go to that first World Cup and it's just a different level than what you expect. The pitch is different, the snow is different, the course sets even seem to be different. I think that throws a lot of guys off. Ted fortunately has the experience to handle it. The reality is, you rely more on your past World Cup racing experience than your training when it comes time to race. You can see some of the young guys came in there thinking it's going to be just like training but it doesn't feel like training and it throws them off. They end up not racing at as high of a level that they had been during the prep period, but that's just the way it is.
 
I didn't think there were any big surprises in the men's race. A couple of guys got bounced around. Axel went out in the second run; I think his leg was a little bit sore. Didier just did all the right stuff. He didn't make any major mistakes except going on his hip during the second run but that didn't really cost him any time. He had a pretty good advantage running [bib] one on the first run. That's just the advantage you get from being one of the best guys. In that particular race, running one as opposed to five is a huge advantage. I've run one there before and I know from experience, it's really nice. I think he used that advantage well, but still, he had to execute on the second run and he did. Ted is definitely the faster skier but Didier tactically is just really sound and he doesn't really have any weaknesses. Ted lost six-tenths to Didier on the bottom flat in the second run. Didier has really improved on the flats over the last few years -- he was never that quick before. Overall, I didn't think the level was crazy high which is good for me because I don't feel like it was outside the range of where I'm at and what I'm capable of right now. But still, it was good -- everyone was pushing.
 
I think I'll be ready to race in Levi. It's been good to get some time on snow these past few weeks. I got done what I wanted to get done but the conditioning component will continue through January probably. It's going to take a long time to get as fit as I want to be.
 
On Thursday, I fly back to New York for the USSA Ski Ball. I'll be in NY for a few days, then I'll fly back to Europe to train indoor slalom in Germany. Indoor training is good because the conditions are really consistent and you get in a bunch of volume.