Long travels from Canada as we had a ski space party in Vancouver the night before travel so we departed from Whistler at 2am for our 7am flight to Oslo via Denver and Munich. This followed by a 3 hour drive to Kvitfjell made for quite a haul. The day after arrival I put Bode through a tolerance workout on the bike and leg press machine. He is strong and despite a few bumps, bruises and small ailments is getting his body back to a place where it is firing on all cylinders.

The next morning we trained SG with some other teams and Heinz had three different bevels which Bode was testing. After our adventures in Whistler it was obvious we had to mellow out the way the new aggressive SG ski initiated the turn. The snow was a little inconsistent for testing but Bode was able to sort out that the ski with .8 base bevel was better than the machine ground ski he had used in Canada.

The first and only training run caught a lot of guys off guard as 1/2 the field missed gates. Track preparation was ok but there was places where there was lots of soft snow on the low line. If a racer got caught in the sluff it was difficult to make adjustments. Bode ran on the Stiffer ski and got a feel for the flow and line.

Val D’Isere make up race and the weather looks pretty good. It was cold over night and scattered clouds by race time. Bode was really nervous about a few sections of the course after only having one training run. He later told me he worked through that with sheer aggression. Bode skied ok. He had some mistakes on the top and places where he looked anxious and unsettled on his skis but he hustled. He was not particularly content with the way he skied and figured there was a good chance his lead would not hold. Cuche made a big mistake on the top and ended up 6th. Werner Heel put down a really solid run and was .1 behind Bode at the last split but ripped the bottom flats for the win. It was a missed opportunity to win for us but overall a big day because we narrowed the standings of the DH title to 25 points behind Cuche.

We had a fun session of soccer with the Fins in the parking garage that afternoon as the weather rolled in with high winds and snow. Saturday morning and there is 5 inches of new snow and drifts. At jury inspection it is evident there is lots of work to make the hill race ready. The organizers pushed the start back to noon and worked like mad to prep the track.

Bode was focused and confident at inspection. We watched a bunch of video the previous night and he knew where he had to make adjustments. He was calm and did not feel as nervous. Bode and Heinz had spoken about skiing on the Kitzbuhel skis which are softer but run fast in new snow. Bode knew they would be fast but opted for the stiffer ski which he prefers in the turns.

Cuche, Kroell and Heel all ran in front of Bode. Cuche had a mistake up top which cost him a few tenths and both Kroell and Heel put down solid runs. Bode ripped the top left foot cooridor on a tighter line to stay out of the sluff and he pulled it off. Off the first jump Bode hit the line and was a bit more patient than the previous day which allowed him to get better direction at the gate entering the flats. He carried good speed onto the flats. The Russi jump this year was huge and we measured a few of the boys going over 80 meters in the air. This is the biggest jump we have seen all year. Bode rode off the jump and soared. He was tight in the air and touched down with a grunt only to immediately grab bull. He skied well through the middle of the course and looked more subtle on his skis than the day before. At the Big S Bode once again displayed a touch more patience and ripped the technical section.

Entering the Daytona turn Bode did a great job of moving with the terrain and handling the forces of the compression which was giving a lot of guys fits. Bode won this section and piped the next big left footer at the top of the final pitch. He went off the last jump with a little too much direction right so he carried a bit more distance than the ideal line. This combined with perhaps a little wind influence and not riding as flat a ski as possible lost a bit of ground on the bottom split. None the less a really solid run and .40 ahead of his competition. Despite a few mistakes Bode was stoked with the way he skied. Right on… the Downhill title is now within reach…5 points separate Bode and Cuche. It is on! The battle in Bormio for the title. I have to feel like Bode is in the drivers seat but I know it will be an epic battle.

SG race day and the weather looks good, track looks good and the course is a ripper. In places it is as fast as the DH. We all considered the option of racing on his dh skis but Bode decided on his new SG’s. The course was so straight that a lot of guys over skied it. Bode skied hard but was not happy with the way his ski reacted. He loves the platform the ski provides but does not feel it has the optimal balance like his dh ski.

Bode was still in the hunt to win the race even though he had so so sections. He won the daytona and big left footer section at the top of the last pitch but skied the last section a bit conservatively off the last jump and ended up going too straight for a few gates. Once again he was leading at the last split but lost enough time on the bottom to give the victory this time to Streitberger. Bode was not content with his skiing but all in all it was a great weekend and we left Norway in a good place physically and mentally. It was a rough weekend for Marco and Steven with crashes and mistakes but both showed sections of really good skiing so this is encouraging heading into the finals. Virgil and his crew were helpful to us over the weekend and I thank them.

On a sad note, the Lanzinger crash was awful and reminds us of how dangerous this sport can be. I know it was a very serious injury and there are complications with circulation so our prayers are with him and the Austrian team. While I am on the bummer train I would also like to mention the loss of Paul Robbins was sad as he truly was a passionate fan and supporter of the sport and US Skiing. His energy, enthusiasm and silly hat will be missed by all.

Yesterday we arrived at our friend Gidi’s Hotel in Kirchberg and are finally reunited with our lovely bus. Nice to have our home on wheels back again. We played tennis and Bode had a good lift on the eccentric machine before going to Dr. Obwaller to get tuned up with nerve stimulation. The weather sucks right now as it is warm and rainy over most of Europe and the South is getting lots of snow. We will do our best to sort out some decent training environments so we can fine tune for Kranska Gora. 2 more weeks of focus and keeping our ducks in a row. **Check out pictures above**

Think fast,

Cheers, Johno

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