15th St. Petersburg FIS Slalom World Cup

15th Place today in St. Petersburg Parallel Slalom FIS World Cup. My goal was the finals and I got it done. I’m stoked on my slalom riding now. After two solid qualifying runs, I battled my good friend Roland Fischnaller from Italy in the first round tonight under the lights. In my mind he’s the fastest slalom rider on the flats. I arrived at the finish line after the first run with a .04 lead, but discovered later that I’d been penalized for having run over one of the short stubbie gates halfway down on my toeside. I knew it was close, but thought my feet had passed legally around the gate. I was given the one second penalty. I fought back in the second run trying to make up the difference, but it wasn’t enough. I’m bummed because I was feeling it. I had two solid qualifying runs and was on fire in the finals, but got shut down in the first round. Damn! My bad luck continues, but I reached my goal of advancing to finals, so I’m happy about that and am determined to change my luck at next weekend’s PGS World Cup in Lake Placid, New York. My next goal is to stand on the podium in Lake Placid. I’m on track and looking forward to a great week of training leading up to the race March 9th. Simon Schoch from Switzerland won today, Italian Roland Fischnaller second, Philip Schoch third. Austrian Doris Guenther won the women’s slalom, Italian Carmen Ranigler second and Swiss overall World Cup leader Daniela Meuli third.I did a speed tour of St. Petersburg yesterday on foot. I saw amazing things. I’ll post some shots in the days ahead. Thanks for checking in and for your support. I’m traveling to Albany, New York tomorrow. Long journey ahead. Best wishes,CK