After the combined in Chamonix I drove to Val D’isere to scope out the sl training and the rest of the crew went up the Aigi du Midi which is this crazy tram that leaves from town and climbs 5000+ vertical feet up Mount Blanc. Incredible views of the area and a beautiful day to enjoy it.Forest, Mike, Chance, Jake and a few friends all skied down the 12 miles back to Chamonix with a guide keeping them out of crevasses. My day was not quite as eventful checking out the new course in Val D’Isere and sl training options but still important. I decided it was worth going back to Chamonix for one more night and training on the Planard where we knew the snow conditions would be better. We had a really good training session and as usual played with a few equipment variations. It was a valuable session even though Bode was still battered and bruised from his falls. Bode was also able to get a session on our eccentric machine which was positive.

Onward to Val D’Isere and the new Bellvarde course which is on the front of the mountain where the 1992 Olympic course was run. The new course is considerably different but still a few of the same sections. The weather is decent and course prep is a bit behind schedule as they are injecting the course the day before we train. On the first training day the track is quite rough and the snow a bit inconsistent….hard and grippy in some places and very soft in others. Bode cruises much of the course to feel it out and finds it extremely tiring and rough. The Olympic course had a winning time of 1:50.37 and this course is running 2:13.00. It is an unusual DH course as it goes from extremely fast sections to very slow and huge turns which are necessary to control speed on the steep pitches.

The first day was a bit extreme so the coaches got together with the jury and gave them our perspective. The consensus was that some areas could still be set faster and it would run better and still be safe. The following day they had made minor changes and it did run run with a little more flow. Day 2 training and Bode planned on running a pair of stiffer skis with Bindings mounted forward to help eliminate the flapping of the tip in the rough conditions. His run was a bit erratic and he was not able to feel what he thought the binding placement would achieve. Later we discovered that Heinz who prepares skis for Bode and Hans Olson of Sweden had mistakenly put Hans on that particular ski and Bode was on the ski from the previous day which he did not like in those conditions.

The final day of training and many racers are skipping out to save themselves for race day. Bode chooses to train and due to the weather the start is moved down to the combined start. We got the set up right this day and he was jazzed about the way it responded in the rough chop and big turns. Prior to the run we had spoken about skiing the bottom of the course hard to get a feel for it at speed because the first two training runs he stood up and cruised. Bode hammered the whole run and put the screws to the field for the last training run.

DH Race day and I awoke to the sound of snow blowers and plows. All the windows of our bus were covered with snow and it was obvious it would be major challenge to pull off the race. The downhill slope is so steep and winds in and around avalanche shoots so they have to pull all the a nets, blast the hill and then start the process of removing snow from the track. It only snowed about 8 inches up top but the wind was ripping and there were huge drifts. By 9am the jury had cancelled the race. It was a bummer because we knew it would not be pushed back a day due to sponsor $’s and television rights. The hill also suits Bode well. Hopefully we will be able to race a make up downhill in Norway.

Super-combined race day and skies are clear but there is a stiff wind. The race crews have done an amazing job of clearing the snow fall but there will still be a ton of work as the wind keeps drifting soft snow on the race line. Bode will race on the last training set up which consisted of the forward mount skies and his old race boot. Some area of the course are smoother than 2 days prior and some have added terrain with windrows from cats and other elements.

Out of the start there is a stout tail wind and Bode skis the first big left footer a bit conservative due to the added speed into the section. I am sure he could have skied it faster but it pays off as lots of guys pay because they attempt to ski it like their last training run where there was no wind. After the big lefty there is a road and then a difficult turn onto a steep pitch where speeds jack up quickly. Exiting the pitch there is a long rattley traverse on the left foot and then a huge round house 180 degree right footer. Finding the line and timing here is critical. Bode skied off the road fairly well but then got tossed a round more than he expected on a low line on the left foot traverse. He was still able to hit his entry point of the long round house and executed this well.

From this point down the course is technical and demanding. This is where Showtime stepped it up and pulled a bunch of time on the field. He skied through the rough sections on a rail and tactically gave himself the room to execute the turns well. The wind died down momentarily and he was perhaps a bit lucky there but overall is was a really solid dh run and a very good run on the bottom of the course. He had a comfortable margin of lead heading into the slalom of 1.36 seconds.

The warm up hill for the slalom had been injected a few days ago and the snow was good so Bode warmed up a few runs. Unfortunately, the slalom piste for the race was not hard snow and even though they had injected it several days earlier, all the new snow and focus on the downhill track left it looking and feeling freshly groomed. We decided to use the race set up from Chamonix as it is a bit more forgiving with variable snow. Had the hill been injected like the training hill we would have gone a different direction.

Tough snow conditions…almost chaulky and a very tight course set at 10 meters the whole way to make minimum gate number of 52. We all knew it would be a rock fight and Bode would have to ski the grooves and hustle like crazy because the course deteriorated quite a bit.

Bode skied conservatively which is something I do not see often but he also skied smart for the conditions and it was enough to win the combined and the combined crystal globe. His analogy of the run had me laughing for some time. He said it felt like a young adult just learning to drive who has one foot on the gas and one on the brake lurching around every corner. It was definitely not the way he wanted to ski the slalom.

I am glad he put down such a screamer in the downhill. I know he looks forward to skiing slalom hard and looking for speed all the time. This was not the day for it but Garmisch will be. We are off to train for a few days and test some new GS skis. I know Bode loves the process and striving for athletic excellence but winning is cool too. His excellent DH run allowed him to ski slalom without a lot of risk and bring home the Bacon. I am proud of him.

Think fast and stay tuned,
Johno

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