The race that never was
After the race in Grindelwald was canceled, the Swiss organizers thought we had a chance to make it up on Sunday in Meiringen. In order to do this they held the original Meiringen race on Saturday. They had great weather for that event. I was optimistic in their chances of pulling off another one on Sunday, but it seems this race was not meant to happen. And considering how things went in this race for me last year,(that’s when I got K.O.’d and separated my shoulder in a nasty crash) I was not about to argue.
After the 30 minute trip up to the ski area, starting with a tram, and then a long gondola ride, we found ourselves completely mired in fog. It was so thick you could barely see your hand in front of your face. The word of the day was vertigo. We went for a free run and the only thing I could feel, besides the snow under my feet, was gravity. This stuff was thick.
The fog did clear a bit by noon and it looked like we still might get a race off. Unfortunately the weather did a number on the course conditions and, when we took our training run, we found some huge holes. In fact, I buried my right foot in the hole, which gave me a nice sprained ankle. No matter, pain is just one of the factors of this sport.
After about 10 athletes ejected out of their bindings they decided to do something about it. After about 2 hours of solutions we ran out of time and they finally decided to cancel the race. After wasting two full days trying to get this race off it was time to come to terms with the fact that it wasn’t going to happen.
Now the U.S. Ski Cross team is back down to 1. I’m going to La Plagne, France for the World Cup finals. I’m currently tied for 4th with Andreas Matt in the overall standings. The battle for first is between Thomas Kraus and Chris DelBosco. I have no shot at it now. If I win I could overtake 3rd over Lars Lewen. If I don’t win I could still get to 4th on my own and hold that position. There are a lot of guys not too far behind me so I still have to fight for everything I can get.
I’ll check in again from La Plagne so stay tuned.