The Turning Point II

Ski Racing Championships #2

Aksel Lund Svindal (favorite ski racer)

Advice: If you are a new viewer of my blog I would recommend reading the post before this because this post is adding onto my previous post of last years ski racing championships that I attended.

The next morning it was a little hard to get out of bed due to all of the lactic acid building up in my legs from yesterdays shocking run.  Although I was sore I was still ready to rip it up and get another win under my belt.  Once again,  I did the same routine which is eating breakfast, stretching (a little bit more because of the soreness),  and last but certainly not least getting into my mental zone.

Twenty to twenty five minutes later

I began the what seems to be trek up to the lift from our team room.  I also put in my music once more to stay in that "mental zone".  Today was much warmer than yesterday which worried me.  When the weather gets too warm it melts the snow making it slushy and hard to grab an edge while going down the race course.  Despite the slushy snow I had to stay positive and believe that I was going to win.  I decided to take a couple runs on the upper mountain to keep my mind off of the dissolving snow (this was a very bad idea and will show later).

One hour later

Click Click... Click Click... "Ok you're ready Ben get in there!" said my ski coach Darryl.  I just kept telling myself that I was going to win and that I had to keep my head in the game.  At that exact moment I didn't feel that I was mentally ready.  This also worried me along with the melting snow that I could observe from the start.  I had to stop thinking about that and tried to keep my mind off of ski racing for the moment.  It seemed to be working and I got into the gate with a clear mind.  Racer Ready? 3... 2... 1... Go!!  Pulled with all of my might out of the starting gate pulling towards the first gate.  The snow still felt surprisingly firm to what I was observing from the start.  I could actually feel my edges grabbing in the snow and didn't feel any ruts in the line I was taking (a rut is basically a hole that forms from the earlier skiers).  The set of the gates was fairly easy that run and I got the luck of the draw pertaining to the snow and ruts.  I passed the finish with once again a winning run!  This time the gap between me and the second place finisher was about a second and three tenths.  I was completely and utterly astonished by this finish and to be honest didn't think I could achieve that but since this was GS I still had one more run to go....

To Be Continued

The Turning Point

Ski Racing Championships

Ted Ligety #1 in World (Park City local)

I am not only a Park City teen that screws around with friends on the weekends but a lot of my time is also spent on the ski slopes or the gym trying to be as fast as I can going down the race course.  I have ski raced for my whole life and the sport of ski racing has been passed down the generations.  I am going to tell you a story about most likely one of my highest achievements I have reached.  Last year was the record-breaking season for me and I am going to tell you about the last race I was in that led me to the big leagues for my age.

I woke up very early in the morning, around 5 or 5:30 so I could get a good breakfast, stretch, and try to get my head in the right place to win.  Once I got the breakfast down and felt mentally/physically prepared I got in the car and went up to my team room to put the ski clothes on.  When I arrived I was greeted and told what my bib number was.  I made sure to put in my music so no one approached me before my run.  I like to do this because it keeps me from messing around and also keeps my focus on my run.  After all of my ski clothes were on and my skis were prepped I made my way up to the lifts for inspection. Before every run ski racers side slip down the run to inspect what the terrain of the run is offering and to plan their line for the run.  This only takes 30 to 45 minutes and after that I either go in to the lodge to warm up or I ski around the resort to try to get in some turns before my run.

Super-G Run #1

Racer Ready? Three... Two... One... GO!  I pull out of the start gate as hard as I can, get in as many skates as I can before the first gate comes.  Building up speed getting into my tuck trying to find as much speed as possible coming around the first couple gates to build up speeds for the upcoming flats that get so many people.  I cross the flats rolling over a bump coming onto the next pitch.  I have to get my direction so I don't miss the next gate and once again prepare for another long flats.  I nail it I am carrying more speed than I have ever!  Transferring my weight ever so slightly so I can keep this speed going.  I am almost at the bottom one more pitch to go and I am home free.  I shoot over the last pitch getting out of my tuck and arching down the last face.  I can feel my skis bending around each gate perfectly.  2 gates to go, grabbing my tuck once more and crossing the finish line.  I throw my ski sideways to stop in the finish line.  I try to listen closely over all of the screaming parents and skiers for my time and if I was in first or not.  A couple second later I hear, "Ben Lawson coming through the finish a second and half ahead of the second place finisher!"  In the ski racing world a second and a half is a life time.  I was so completely exhilarated and happy with my finish but that was not the end.  I still had to GS and Slalom to do in the following days of the race.

                                                                 Ted Ligety Super G Run

To Be Continued

The "Bro" Trip

The "Bro" Trip

Solana Beach, California (original)

I have been friends with a kid that goes by the name of Shane for my whole life.  We spend basically every waking moment together whether it is hanging out with friends around town, or skiing on the slopes.  I see him every single day no matter what.  Well this year his amazing family decided to take me to their beach house with them.  Shane and I were so excited to finally take a trip together to beach.  We have traveled to countless ski resorts together but we finally were able to go surf and hang out with the famed California girls that he talked about so much!  The flight was only about two hours long so the day we got there we still had daylight to waste.  Once we arrived at his house we put our stuff in the room we were staying in and went over to his neighbors  house to say hello.  He has had the house since he was little so he is sort of considered a "local".  His neighbors house is stunning and kept us occupied for that day so we did not have the opportunity to do what we do best.  Which is either getting the girls numbers or of course getting into some type of trouble.

The next morning was a gorgeous one to say the least.  Most likely around 80 degrees and completely clear skies.  Which meant we had to get in that early morning surfing session.  Shane is a very good surfer where I am a complete amateur.  Although I used to spend a lot of time in California I was to young to start to surf.  Once we got a little fatigued we packed up and walked up the stairs that lead back to the road.

After we got cleaned up a little more we went down to Main street to try our luck and get some numbers.  There is a famous burrito shack named Roberto's in Solana Beach that every local knows about and is a very popular place for kids our age.  We saw a couple girls that we were interested in and decided to build up the courage to go and talk to them.  After a couple minutes of talking we got their numbers and told them we would call them that night.  This was the beginning of our long night.

It was still mid day and we needed to occupy ourselves until the night which was when we could hangout with these very good looking girls.  We had one of the local kids named Chris to call around and get us a ride to a beach called marine street, which is a beach break (waves break on the shore).  We decided to go there because the beach has very big waves and we would like to take pictures to post on social media.  This took up those hours and we had tons of fun while doing it.

45 minutes later

It was finally time to try our luck with these girls!  I gave them a call waiting for them to answer with anticipation.  A couple rings later we here a faint, "Hello?"  Not knowing who it was we explained who it was and when they met us and if they would want to come meet us at the stairs that lead down to the ocean on what do you know Ocean Street.  They agreed and told us they were going to get ready and meet us there in 15 minutes.

15 minutes later

They arrived right on time and told us what they wanted to do.  Didn't ask us but told us!  This took us by surprise but we did as they said and took them down to the beach to just talk (boring) and that was exactly what happened.  That was the end to the not so eventful night that we were so sure was going to be the night of a life time. 

Ocean Street (original)