Training Camp 2

A camp just for sit skiers.  Well at least it felt that way.  Rob Jeff and I were the only people that were at the camp.  Everyone else was either with the national team or couldn't make it because the roads were way too icy. Benn was out there with us too but he was still spending time dialing in his prosthetic.

We trained GS both days, big thanks to gatebusters and to ski cross!  Saturday I blew out of my binding a few times.  First the din was too low, then it was so high that getting the ski back in was very difficult.  But the binding and everything was fine and i didn't even break anything.  The snow was great, we all got a ton out of it.  Sunday we trained on Dave Murray and it was a little tight.  There was 3 courses set on it so it was a bit nerve racking trying to blast down and think about the little kids racing beside you but we still got lots of laps in.  The snow and course were awesome!  There was one fairly significant bump that blasted a few of us out of the course but at least there weren't any bails.  My faith in my binding was completely restored.  Check out some of the footage from the weekend, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR1sY-mMDAs

Camp 3 is next week.  Hopefully we get the same conditions and a little more room to let it run.

Fast Forward to 2011

We had a ton of great ski days over the christmas break.

Jeff broke 2 more bindings but he also found a pair of Fisher GS skisk for 40 bucks

We had a great day skiing with the crown guys!  www.crownskis.com A few friends demoed their skis and had an awesome day on them.

There has been lots of wet conditions on whistler but its all been good for the base and the crisp dry powder is just starting to show up.

First Race Camp & First Broken Ski

The first BCPAST ski camp was a great start to the season.  It was great to ski with the team again.

We free skied Friday and Jeff broke the first ski of the season. He broke the ski first run, first turn.  I wasn't there to witness but apparently it was pretty spectacular.  Jeff did a rotation and a half before landing ski first and popping out of the binding.  Looks like Jeff is down a GS ski for the season, we'll keep track over the season of how many skis we destroy.

Saturday we trained slalom on Blackcomb.  I had binding problems so I skied slalom on my Head Mojo 190cm.  We had tons of fun and conditions were great!  Soft snow, maybe too soft, the last training runs had huge ruts in it.  We ended up jumping rut to rut in the last run of the day.  Tons of fun as always.

Sunday, big weather change. It was super wet.  Andreas and I did one run on Green chair and were soaked. The snow was soo wet it sounded like water lapping at the front of a canoe when you were going through the powder. We went in for a team meeting and decided to disband.  Jeff and I went for a few laps but we were done pretty quickly.  First day on the new crown skis, they didn't get a fair test but they still felt really good can't wait to get them on a real powder day.  Also it was my first day with my GoPro, movie is to come soon.

The First Few Days

It's so good to be back on the snow.  We had to get a bunch of skis re drilled and move a few bindings so they would work but we finally made it onto the snow.  We had a few crashes but nothing major.  Weather was good.

Blog Start

My brother and I have been sit skiing for since 2004/2005.  We started with the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program (WASP) and the Disabled Skiers Association of BC (DSABC).  Everyone at WASP is amazing, if you are even thinking about getting into sit skiing look them up.  We broke a lot of skis in the learning process but we were both totally addicted to sit skiing the day we started.

This is the first year we are officially on the B.C. Para Alpine Ski Team (BCPAST) which is run through the DSABC's high performance program.  Last year we both did a few races and some training with the BCPAST but now its really time to race.  All we have to do now is finish some exams, wax the skis and head for the hills.

We have been working with Crown Skis to make a sit ski specific ski.  As you can imagine there is a lot of force on a ski skiers ski, its like having a 400 pound person skiing hard and fast.  You are bound to break skis and you don't have a chance of floating on top of powder if you are on a normal ski.  So they have been working with us to make a sick powder ski specifically for sit skiers.  Last year we had a see through and  customized version of the Kensho (190cm, 142-106-122).  the ski had a ton of reinforcement in it to prevent breaking, bending and the bindings from pulling out of the ski.  This year we are riding getting 2 brand new skis from Crown, and this year we are riding in style with a sick graphic.  The Crown guys have helped us out a bunch and make sick skis, look them up if you are in the market for new skis.  

We will keep this as up to date as possible.  We have a busy season full of racing (not to mention its supposed to be a huge snow year full of powder days).  So far we are planning on going to Kimberly, Sun Peaks and Alaska for races.  We will be skiing Whistler almost every weekend, so if you see some sit skiers and want to go for a run track us down on the hill.

Ben