WCSN Blogs

April 3rd, 2008

Hey everybody, so last time I talked I was ready for Jo’s. I’ve competed in them already and actually had another race in winter park. At Jo’s I didn’t ski that great my prep and everything went great but I couldn’t stay on my feet. When race day came I was all over the place and my technique was terrible for the Super-G and Downhill. I was 5th in the super-g and that was sadly my best result. Then In the GS I gave it a short run. I ended up falling out early in the first race. I was bummed because GS is my best event and I screwed it up. Then in the slalom I was all over the place, I fell a couple of times slowing me way down and it was just terrible. Although my week in Vail didn’t go so well I enjoyed myself and had a good time. I love Jo’s because it is all the best skiers from rock/central and you all get to be together in the heat of competition. I can take a lot from this week and use it as a learning experience. Although my skiing didn’t meet my standards I was the top first year J3 in every race. So that puts me in the right place for next year.

From Jo’s I moved on to The Smartwool Finale in Winter Park. After a week to regroup from Jo’s I skied pretty well. The week consisted of 2 GS’s, a Slalom and a Dual SL. In the first GS I skied pretty well. I started 31^st, moved up to 9th overall and won for J3’s. The second day was a little different. The first run I fell over but recovered in time to stay in the course. I ended up third for J3’s and 13th overall. I was pretty happy because I was able to get my GS points down to 75 which will put me in a really good position for next year. This year slalom has been a battle. I have only finished once. My points are terrible so I started 65 but after a good first run I moved up to 25. Then once again I fell in my second run. The next day in the dual slalom I got third. It was really cool because it was like a tournament and you would move on to a new racer every time you win. I was happy because I was able to get third against some of the older J2’s And 1’s. My season is now almost over. I have one last race, the Loveland Derby and then I’m done till summer camp. I’m excited for the derby because it’s a good chance for me to get my SL points down before the season is over. I look forward to it and I hope everyone is having just as much fun this spring as I am.

So last time I wrote in I was hurt and unable to ski and wasn’t sure exactly what happened to my knee. Now I can ski and I’m very excited. My injury was not bad but I had to take a couple weeks off of skiing. I’m healthy and I’m back racing. I have had two races since being back. One was a Junior Olympic qualifier and the other a SmartWool. The first race was a qualifier, a GS and SL in Winter Park. The first day was a SL and it didn’t go so well. I broke my hand guard during the first run on about the third gate, and every time I would block it would hook onto the gate. I made it down, but it wasn’t so easy. The second run I did not finish. What I had going was a good run but I just made a mistake and it didn’t work out. Then came the GS. The first run I hiked. I don’t really now what happened, I just ended up hiking. I had a good second run I skied really good the whole way down just made a little mistake at the bottom I went a little to strait and got pushed low. I have nothing to complain about. I got third and I was happy with my result. Now I’m officially qualified for Junior Olympics.

The next race I had was a SmartWool in steamboat which included a GS and SL. The GS was first. It’s a points race so both runs are combined. I had a really god day. I finished sixth after the first run and third for J3’s. The second run I moved up to second for J3’s and still sixth overall. I was happy with my result and ready for the next days SL. I started 56th in the slalom and, it wasn’t that easy but, I moved way up into the top ten. I felt really good with my first run. I ended up skiing out o my second run but I ‘m okay with that because I gained confidence in my slalom for the upcoming J.O’s.

My Junior Olympics start on March 9 so I’ll check in from there and hopefully I can get some good results. Wish me luck. I’ll be training in Aspen for the next week trying to work some things out to get me ready to win some races.

Hey, just thought I would check in from Aspen. I have a little break from racing until next week. Hopefully I will be able to race. Last Saturday I suffered a bad fall training slalom. I hyper-extended my knee and strained a couple of things. This morning I got an MRI to make sure nothing was torn. I have not received the results but we’re pretty sure nothing is torn because each day I’m getting better, which is usually a sign that nothing is torn. I have been doing physical therapy at Aspen Sports Medicine and I can’t thank them enough. They fixed my shoulder at the beginning of the year in time for me to start my season and they’re doing a great job with my knee. I’m having problems finding a brace that will work for skiing, so I hope I can get that ready in time for next weekends qualifiers in Winter Park. Lets hope I will be healthy and ready to go. I’ll talk to you soon and let you know my MRI results, but cross your fingers.

Thanks,

Bobby Moyer

I had a lot of fun this weekend racing on my home hill. It’s fun to have everyone come to your town and race. I had pretty good finishes for a first year j3 and I was the fastest first-year both days. I’m almost to the point where I can win races consistently, or be in the hunt, on every run. Last time, I talked about finding the speed that I need to be a threat. I have now found my speed but this weekend both runs I had a big mistake that kept me away from a win. The first day, I finished 3rd and the second day I finished 5th. All in all, I’m proud with the way I skied and if I didn’t have those mistakes I could have walked away with a win. There will always be something that I could do better but I’m getting closer and closer to finding my speed and control at the same time. This week, I have been training giant slalom to get ready for a Smartwool in Telluride. I fell really good about my skiing and think i can do really well.

I’m now driving back from Telluride after a weekend of GS. I had a lot of fun and Telluride is a really cool town. My skiing was good, but the first day I had some trouble at the third gate. I kneed myself in the face and skied out and started spitting up blood. I chipped my tooth and knocked it out of place. The course is a battle. It’s a long steep pitch then a flat into the finish. I was upset that I didn’t get to run the course again but I got a chance to free-ski and had some time to enjoy the mountain. The second day, I came out and wanted to win bad. I felt I needed to get my confidence up to keep me going through the season. The weather wasn’t that good and the light was flat but I have no problems with that. I actually like it better that way. It makes it more of a challenge. The first run I skied pretty good. I was third overall and in good position for the second run. The second run I really liked the course and felt I could really go for it. I tried to be as aggressive as I could. It was a tough battle but I made it down with the fastest time of the run. Despite almost falling and hip checking, I finished second overall and first for j3’s. I’m happy with the way I skied and fell confident that I can get the finishes I want. I have a break from racing for a couple weeks but I’ll check in from training soon.

GO GIANTS!!!!! PUT YOUR MONEY ON THE PATRIOTS BUT ROOT FOR THE GIANTS

I spent five days this week in Keystone training and racing in my first downhill. If any of you know me, I’m not the biggest kid so downhill can be hard. I had a lot of fun though. The course was really flat and only had one pitch. Being only 5′ 3″ and just over 100 pounds the flats can be hard. This race was a Smartwool series event, so it counts toward my USSA points. This means that anyone over 13 years of age with a USSA card can compete. On a flat hill like this and racing against older kids, I did okay. I wasn’t pleased with the results I had, but being my size was a huge disadvantage. This whole season I’ve been struggling. This season my technique has improved a lot and technically I’m skiing better than all of my competitors but I can’t find the speed I need to win races. I skied really well in all of my races this season but it doesn’t show in the results. At Keystone it was really hard because it was such a flat hill. I got really frustrated but it motivated me to work harder to prepare for the super G qualifiers that will be held in Aspen this coming weekend.

I came back from Keystone on Friday to train in Aspen. I missed the super G but I’m okay with that - I got to train on the same hill that the qualifiers will be held on next weekend. I feel that I’m skiing good and I had the fastest times for my team in training, but I still know where I can make up time and go faster. At my past few races I left the mountain with regrets and knowing that I could have skied better. I hate feeling that more than anything when I’m done with a race. Thats what I get angry about. I’m not mad because I may have gotten unlucky and something could’ve happened. The one thing I want to have happen by the end of this season is that I want to get to the bottom of the course see my time and know that I did everything in my power to go as fast as I can. I don’t care about results…wining is nice but I would much rather be second and have skied as best as I possibly can then win and know I could’ve done better. I hope I can do this in the qualifiers this coming weekend and hopefully have a good performance on my home hill.

Thanks for the support and I’ll check in from training and my super G this coming weekend.

Bobby

Most of you probably don’t know who I am. My job is to show you what it’s like to be a kid trying to become a top ski racer. I am a 13-year-old racer from Aspen, Colorado. I’m a J3 and compete in the Rocky/Central division. Right now I’m just getting into the first couple races of my season. I’m a first year J3 so this year will be a little bit of a challenge to race against the older, bigger kids in my age group. This year I also start to race for USSA points which will get me ready to race FIS races when I’m older. I’m excited for all these new opportunities that will help me prepare for bigger things that will come in the future. I hope I can provide an idea of what it’s like to be a kid, working hard to succeed in the junior ranks.

I began this week out in Winter Park for the Topolino shootout, which consists of three runs of GS and three runs of SL. They take your fastest GS and your fastest SL time and combined them to find an overall winner to represent the USA in Italy. There is a very select group of kids that get to compete at this race. The group mostly consists of second year J3’s (the older kids.) The only way to qualify for the tryouts when you’re my age is to win an event at the J4 Junior Olympics the prior year. Being a first year, I wasn’t expecting to make Topolino, but I knew if I skied my best I could. I had a tough go at the tryouts. My focus wasn’t 100 percent and it showed in my skiing. I had a strong finish for the first year J3’s but we all know that at the end of the day they don’t hand out awards for that. The slalom at the shootouts was very interesting. On my first run, I punched myself in the face and came close to knocking myself out. I have no idea how this happened but it did. I walked away with a headache some crooked teeth and a couple bruises. I only finished one run and I was fifth but after the way I was feeling I say that’s not bad. I may not have skied my best in Winter Park, but I learned a lot and this will help me prepare for next year. I also had some fun off the hill i got a couple of sharpie tattoos and enjoyed my time catching up with friends in winter park.

From Winter Park I moved on to the open age class event in Crested Butte. My first race was a short GS - the opener for all the younger kids. This race gives me a seed for the Junior Olympic qualifiers coming up. My goal was to win one of the races so I would have a first seed for qualifiers, (held in Aspen in two weeks). The format was 2 runs both separate races. On my first run, I had trouble adapting to the soft conditions and wasn’t focused and gave up. I finished fifth. The course was tough because they got three feet of new snow the night before and the conditions were extremely soft. The second run, I got my act together. I was extremely focused I knew I had to win this run. I got into the start and the wind had to be blowing at 30 mph straight up the hill. I knew I had to ski extremely well to win because I was one of the smallest guys out there. I pushed out and just tried to attack this course as much as I could with the soft snow. I ended up in first and I was proud of my finish in the windy and soft conditions. I had fun over this past week and now I start all over again at the 5-day Keystone Smartwool speed series in Colorado.

Have fun and I’ll check in later from Keystone.

Bobby