Jit's Journal: Training run packs a knockout punch

After getting rained out for three days straight days at the beginning of our New Zealand training camp, things finally turned around in a big way. Sometimes after a long period of tough weather, it takes a good chunk of time before things get back to normal or close to race quality in terms of training conditions. However, by some stroke of luck, we ended up with some of the best training conditions anyone could have expected. Coronet Peak turned into an amazing training venue for the entire U.S. team. And we made the most of it.
AFTER GETTING RAINED out for three days straight days at the beginning of our New Zealand training camp, things finally turned around in a big way. Sometimes after a long period of tough weather, it takes a good chunk of time before things get back to normal or close to race quality in terms of training conditions. However, by some stroke of luck, we ended up with some of the best training conditions anyone could have expected. Coronet Peak turned into an amazing training venue for the entire U.S. team. And we made the most of it.
    Each day we split into various groups based on what each athlete needed. If you needed giant slalom work, you ended up on a run called the Hurdle. The Hurdle is about as steep and tough a run as you’ll find anywhere in the world. Looking at a blazing fast course down the Hurdle, you may feel a combination of excitement and fear at the top of it. Crash on the Hurdle and you better have some recovery skills or you might find yourself in a tight spot.
    The slalom training was conducted on the T-bar race area down the way from the Hurdle. Here the coaches injected water in the early evening so that the following day we had ice to train on. Injecting is a tricky thing. If the weather is too warm or it snows on top of the slope before it freezes, you’re in big trouble. This time around, however, it worked almost too well. The injection turned out to be about as slick as anything I’ve ever skied on, even Schladming. It took an amazing amount of physical strength to even make it down the 40-second course. The vibration on the ice alone left the metal in my leg sore every time I finished training. And I wasn’t alone.
    My New Zealand camp was supposed to end with training and racing the final four days. Somehow things don’t always go according to plan. While I was training before the first race run on the first day of our last four-day block, I found myself in a position I hadn’t been in quite a long time — knocked out. Because the race was taking place on the Hurdle, we decided to train GS on the injection between runs. After a lackluster warm-up run on the injection, I made the call to ramp it up on my last run before I went over for my race run. I kicked out of gate and onto the ice with the intention of putting maximum effort into the run. All seemed to be going according to plan, but that would change quickly.
    I was at the second-to-last gate of the steep and icy beast when things went bad. At the apex — or maximum bend of my ski — into the turn, I high-sided. What this means is that when I was completely laying the skis over, my inside ski caught some soft snow and shot away from me, causing the splits. The force of the inside ski shooting away from me caused the outside ski to violently follow suit while I was still saving myself from the splits. In turn, it launched me back and into the air — I did a 180-degree spin. Keep in mind that all this took place in about a hundredth of a second. All I remember was looking over my shoulder about 5 feet in the air going extremely fast. I didn’t really have time to be scared because by the time I realized what was going on, the back of my head was driven about 6 inches into glare ice.
    Next thing I know, I woke up to find a bunch of people standing above me. “Are you all right?” someone said. “Don’t move!” said another. I was knocked out stone cold for about 20 seconds. Apparently I rag-dolled down the rest of the course through a bunch of gates until I came to a stop. And with that, my training in New Zealand came to an end. While I was busy recuperating over the next few days, Jimmy Cochran, T.J. Lanning and Ted Ligety all took down the victories in the races at Coronet. Congrats to those guys for getting it done out there as well as Erik Fisher for hitting the podium twice.
    Till next time …   

— Jit

Jit’s Hits — New Zealand

Top 5 good:
1. Meat pies
2. Kiwi-to-dollar exchange rate
3. Bungi jumping
4. The scenery and Coronet Peak
5. Fergburgers in Queenstown

Top 5 bad:
1. Occasional rain
2. Long flight to get there
3. Driving on the left-hand side of the road
4. Knocking yourself out on the ice
5. Knowing that no matter how you try, you’ll never be able to explain to people how beautiful New Zealand really is until they see it for themselves.