Copper Cup NorAm PGS Win!

First win of the season today at Copper Mountain, Colorado! Today was giant slalom, the first of two NorAm Continental Cup races. It was a two run giant slalom race, old school style, instead of the normal parallel giant slalom. The run we usually race on, Ptarmigan, didn’t have enough snow, so we moved to Copperopolis and ran a two run combined time race. It was a super fun race hill with lots of terrain changes and one challenging break-over. The snow couldn’t have been better for racing. It was a strong field of racers, all the best North Americans were in the start. I was pleased to win against a strong field. I won the first run by almost a half second, in front of my teammate Adam Smith, and Canadian Jacey Jay Anderson, who had a solid first run from the sixteenth start position. The top sixteen finishers from the first run were flipped. I started sixteenth in the second run and came down just one hundredth of a second in front of Jacey Jay, winning the second run. It’s easy after having a fast first run to subconsciously back-off on the second. I was determined to ride aggressively on the second and not let that happen. I had a few sketchy turns on the second run, but stuck to my game plan and got the win. Great way to start the season! Hopefully the first victory of many this winter. I knew I would have to ride aggressive and smart today against such a strong group of riders. I had a great week of training leading up to racing today and knew I could do it if I raced my plan. I’m grateful for the support of my coaches and teammates who helped me get ready to ride fast. I’ve won this race seven times before and got third last season, so I was stoked to bounce back strong this year. Jacey Jay finished second and Adam Smith third. Canadian Caroline Calve won the women’s race.

Slalom tomorrow. Love to find the podium again. I’ll keep ya posted. Thanks for checking in!

CK

Copper Cup PGS 2007

Men’s Copper Cup NorAm PGS Podium 2007

First and Third today at Copper, CK & Adam Smith