3rd Place World Cup Finals Bardonecchia, Italy

What a way to end the World Cup racing season, on the podium! I’m so stoked! It really was fun today! I won the qualifier here in Bardonecchia, Italy in January of 2002 for the Salt Lake City Olympics and then climbed onto the podium today in our last WC of the season. I’m loving this hill.It dumped over a foot of snow yesterday. At one point last night the falling snow was orange? I couldn’t believe it. I later learned that a windstorm from Africa blew sand particles from the Sahara that came down in the form of snow, turning it a orangish-yellow. I’ve seen plenty off yellow snow, but never orange. It was bizarre! Nuclear Italian snow! And, I thought it was from the Torino pollution? Finally we enjoyed a World Cup race in nice weather today with the sun coming out, making for a beautiful day. Nice way to end World Cup racing. I was beginning to wonder if we’d ever see the sun again on race day after a string of winter weather races this year.I raced one of my best friends on tour Gilles Jaquet in the first round, narrowly advancing. He got me on the first run; I went nuts on the second and caught and passed him at the finish line. I advanced to the semis against another top Swiss rider Simon Schoch in the second round. I shot out of the course in the middle in my first run with Sigi Grabner. I fought back to make up a second in the 2nd run, but it wasn’t enough as he had me by 1.2 on the first. I had two great races with Slovenian racer Dejan Kosir to claim the small final for third. It was an awesome day of racing. I was happy to get eight runs on the 2006 Olympic hill today to learn it even more. I’m off to a good start on this hill. I look forward to returning to Bardonecchia again next year for a February World Cup before 2006 Olympic Race!Special thanks to my coach Jeff Archibald and my teammates for supporting me and believing in me all season long. I was proud to get this podium for our team. I’m headed home to Aspen tomorrow to relax for a few days. I’m participating in NEPSA Film Fest on night of 18th in Aspen at Wheeler Opera House. I’ll be presenting a piece with my friend Joel on the 2003, 2004 Snowboard season. It’s free, so come check it out! US Nationals in Breckenridge next weekend, slalom on 20th and PGS 21st, last event of the season. Thanks for your support! Enjoy the pics.CK

Mathieu Bozzetto, Siegfried Grabner, CK. Photo Courtesy of FIS.

CK toeside turn Bardonecchia World Cup Finals 2004. Photo courtesy of FIS.