Just wanted to share a short documentary on Heal The Snow with everyone...my music is actually featured in it too so let me now what you think.

Hey everyone...I wanted to tell you about a really cool organization that is dedicated to helping ski areas and companies within the industry become more environmentally friendly. The organization is called Heal The Snow, and their first project was the Shred Wagon. I will attach photos so you can get a better idea, but the Shred Wagon is basically a mobile hostel powered by solar energy and bio diesel. It's purpose is to travel from resort to resort and provide affordable lodging for ski bums who can't swing resort prices, all the while keeping it environmentally friendly. It's a great alternative for young skiers and the Shred Wagon followed a lot of Freeride and Big Mountain competitions throughout the winter. It even came to my last race series in Mammoth, California where I got a chance to hang out and play some music for a couple hours. Their website is www.healthesnow.org, so check it out and let me know what you think!

Well...the season is finally over and I'm happy to say that I won another Downhill in Mammoth, California, my last race of the season! The conditions were great for being Spring, the snow was rock hard, the sun was shining, and the wind was calm. It's great to end my comeback year with a win...hopefully it will set the tone for next year.

It feels like the Winter swept past me without warning but I'm excited to take a break. It's time to put the skis away, pick up my guitar, get on my surf board and enjoy some time off snow. I will be posting more pics and videos from the season soon, as well as some from our spring and summer camps. Have a great weekend...

Hey all...just wanted to let you know that I have been skiing fast and won my first downhill of the season in Mammoth, California. It was a two run downhill, which is quite unusual as they are usually only one run, but I won both runs and secured the lead by over half a second. Believe it or not, half a second in ski racing is a lot so I was pleased with my performance! It's great to be skiing fast again and I hope that my results will be proof enough the the National Team that I am rehabilitated and ready to get back onto the World Cup full time next season!

As I write, I'm sitting in my hotel overlooking "Narrow Gage," the run we are racing on this week at our National Championships in Sugarloaf, Maine. Although Sugarloaf is considered a big mountain on the East coast, it's fairly small compared to what we see in the West. Regardless, "Narrow Gage" is a great run for racing and has us going 70 to 80 mph in the Super G and Downhill. The course has a lot of flat sections mixed with terrain as well as two steeper sections and a long flat that takers you to the finish. The most intimidating section of the course is called "Headwall" where the run drops into an icy bowl as the hill falls away and eventually spits you out of a gully and into the fastest section where we are clocked at upwards of 80 mph. Even with a great course set and ready to go, the races were off to a shaky start due to bad weather. We sat around in our hotel rooms 4 days straight wondering if we were ever going to get chance to race. After getting pounded by snow, rain and wind the weather finally cleared and the temperature dropped considerably, which set the snow up perfectly for the speed events. Now here comes the good news!

Although its been a long and at times frustrating season I can finally say I've turned the corner and found the speed again! In skiing there's a fine line between skiing well and skiing fast, and I'm fired up to say that I'm skiing fast again with a 2nd place in the Super G at the U.S. National Championships. It was a tight race as I was only .11 of a second behind the winner Kevin Francis and just ahead of world cup winner Marco Sullivan. It would have been nice to win another National title but I'm pleased with the result and can't wait to find more speed in the Downhill tomorrow.

Once again Bode Miller has proved his critics wrong. After leaving the U.S. Ski Team to pursue his racing career privately, Miller arguably posted his best season to date winning the Overall, Super-Combined, and placing 2nd in the Downhill standings. He has won more World Cups than any other American skier and has shown that it's possible to be the best without the National Team's resources. As a former teammate I'm proud that he won on his own terms and is enjoying his career more than ever. The only accomplishment that alludes Miller's trophy room is an Olympic Gold...where he will have a shot in Vancouver 2010.

With only 3 races to go in the World Cup season, Bode Miller is leading the overall World Cup standings and has a good chance to win it all for the second time of his career. Unfortunately race organizers cancelled the last Downhill of the season in Bormio, Italy, which puts Miller at a disadvantage to maintain his lead. He was not very happy about the organizers' decision to cancel the race, and claimed it was strategy on the parts of the Austrian and Swiss coaches in order to give their athletes a better chance to overtake him for the overall crown. Both Didier Cuche of Switzerland, and Benjamin Raich of Austria are vying for the title as well. Check out what Bode had to say and the decision!

I have some disturbing news regarding Austrian skier Mattias Lanzinger. For those of you who haven't heard, Lanzinger crashed in a World Cup Super G in Kvitfell, Norway and broke his left leg severely. The injury was so severe that it required immediate surgery, but there was no helicopter on site (a major mistake on Kvitfell's organizing committee), and he was forced to wait hours until he was finally transported to a hospital in Oslo...those few hours proved to be critical. During the delay he experienced massive swelling, which cut off the blood flow to his lower leg and caused poor circulation. Upon arrival he underwent emergency surgery but the doctors couldn't restore circulation to his leg and were eventually forced to amputate. This hits a little to close to home for me as I had a similar injury 3 years ago but was flown to the hospital quickly where my doctors performed surgery right away and saved my leg. Although it took me two years to recover I didn't realize how lucky I was until now.

It breaks my heart and makes me sick to my stomach that one of my competitors can no longer walk on his own two feet due to the ignorance, not only of the Kvitfell Organizing committee, but of the FIS (Federation of International Skiing). One of Lanzinger's doctors was quoted saying that if he was brought to the hospital right away the amputation could have been avoided. This is clearly a breach of safety regulations and has caused a great deal of controversy in the Alpine Skiing world. I certainly hope someone is held accountable for this tragedy as Lanzinger deserves some answers!

Out of respect for Lanzinger I am not going to post his crash but if you would like to view it here is a link:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V28GKbLN3pE

Off the subject of skiing, this is an email I received from a friend about a paralympic hopeful named Rohan Murphy. The video tells all...if you feel inspired by Rohan pass it along.

'Amazing awaits. It awaits in athletes like Rohan Murphy, a Paralympic hopeful and student athlete at Penn State University, who has one goal in mind: Competing in powerlifting at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China.



Murphy is defying the odds. Born with a birth defect resulting in the amputation of both of his legs, Murphy doesn't know the word "can't." He also doesn't make excuses.



Murphy's athleticism and can-do attitude is now being featured in a new Nike commercial themed "No Excuses." The video can be found on the attached web-link – www.usparalympics.org. Please join us in distributing the link to friends, family and business partners in an effort to identify and increase the number of persons with physical disabilities active in sport by making them aware of what's possible.'



Amazing awaits!

As some of you may already know I've been on the sidelines injured for nearly 3 years and started to make my comeback this season. Well I have good news...it's moving in the right direction! I have been on the Europa Cup tour, which is basically like the Minor Leagues of skiing one step below the World Cup. Our last competition was in a small Northern Italian town called Sarntal where I finished 8th in the last Downhill. This was a big step for me considering I haven't raced much in the past 3 years, and it showed me that I can still ski with some of the best skiers in the World. This result gives me a better starting position in the next Europa Cup, which is next week in Chamonix, France. I hope to bring you more good news then. Here's a pic from the start of the downhill...not a bad view from my office!

For those of you who don't know skiing very well today was the Hannenkahm Downhill, which is known as the Super Bowl of ski racing. It is held every January in Kitzbuhel, Austria and is considered the toughest course in the world. Unfortunately once again it has shown just how tough and dangerous it is. One of my closest friends, teammate, and college roommate Scott Macartney lost control off the finish jump going about 90 mph flying 30 feet in the air and landed on his head. It's one of the gnarliest crashes I have seen in a long time and is tough to watch so I will leave that at your discretion. I wouldn't post the video unless I knew he was doing well. I just received news that he is in stable condition at a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria and will make a full recovery. After he came to his first question was "how fast was I going" and "are my knees ok?" Scott is a true competitor!

I know all eyes are on football right now including Tom Brady and his record breaking season, but Bode Miller is about to break a major record of his own in Skiing.

Today Bode Miller won the 27th race of his career by over a second to beat out Swiss racer Dider Cuche. For those of you who don't know skiing very well, one second is a lifetime in ski racing, which confirms that Bode is still in top form. The real benchmark however, is that Bode is now only one victory away from beating the American record for World Cup wins held by Phil Mahre (now tied with Bode). This was Bode's second decisive victory this season as he continues to impress the World with his unorthodox and aggressive style of skiing. Although he is no longer with the U.S. Ski Team (by his own accord) all of us are happy for him and excited to watch him break Mahre's record this season.

Ok...go watch football now, if I weren't in Europe I'd be doing the same.

After a short holiday break, a couple days of waist deep powder, and two concerts, its time to get back to business and head to the heartland of ski racing...Europe! For the next two months we will be traveling through Austria, Germany, Italy, and France racing the World's toughest mountains and get another taste of what the European Apres Ski scene has to offer! The stop I'm most looking forward to is Chamonix, France where I sustained a near career ending injury 3 years ago. It's time to face my fears and get revenge on the course that nearly took the sport of skiing away from me. As a downhiller fear is ever present, but it's also something that helps us realize what we're made of and gives us an adrenalin rush that puts smiles on our faces. For a long time I've been deprived of that rush but it's around the corner and I'm excited to share it with you soon!

In the meantime I feel compelled to show you my crash from 2005 where I sustained a tib/fib leg fracture and a broken hand. I was going about 70 mph when I crashed and ended up cartwheeling into the safety netting on the side of the course. I was immediately flown to the nearest hospital where I underwent the first of 8 surgeries to repair the damage. On the bright side of things I have a killer scar to prove it!

To be fast in Downhill, especially on the World Cup Tour, you need to ski out of your comfort zone. You need to test the limits of what your body and mind are capable of, and find the edge between sanity and craziness. Andrew Weibrecht, a young up-and-coming Downhiller on the U.S. Ski Team, showed us just how close to the edge of crazy you can go without taking a big spill. His run from the World Cup Downhill in Beaver Creek, Colorado is one of the most talked about runs in skiing right now and will continue to impress those that get a chance to watch it. I asked Bode Milller what he thought of Weibrecht's skiing, who we call "Warhorse," and he said it's his favorite guy to watch on the World Cup now. That's and impressive comment coming from the guy who is one of the most exciting skiers to watch in the history of the sport.

Warhorse's on-snow intensity is impressive, his technique is incredible, and his sanity....well, questionable. Here's the clip from his run down the Birds of Prey course so you can check it out. Keep in mind this is one of the most technical downhills on the World Cup circuit with high speed turns (up to 80 mph), huge air (120 feet out and 15 feet up off the Golden Eagle jump), and rock hard snow. "Warhorse" finished 10th in the race, his best career World Cup result to date.

As luck would have it we have seen all the elements over the last few days here in Lake Louise. Snow storms, wind, a little rain, and tomorrow they are calling for -20...brrrrr. Not only that, but we had a hellacious travel day getting up here. It was painfully slow but laughable at the same time so I had to write a song about it just to stay sane. I will give you the poetic version of "Just Another Travel Day" which started off in Beaver Creek, Colorado and ended in Lake Louise, Canada. I use some nicknames in the song but the storyline is true. Hope you enjoy!

-Just Another Travel Day-

we left a little early from the birds of prey

the weather was a coming so we made our getaway

19 was in the middle petite demage took the rear

while swampy's sweating bullets hoping the roads were free and clear

we pulled up to the counter at good old DIA

carrying ten bags a piece...and most were overweight

did our best sweet talking but it wasn't sweet enough

another sixteenhundred dollars and we were on our way up north

sat out on the runway in the freezing rain

when the de-ice machine man noticed a dent in the plane

the captain on that speaker said it shouldn't be too long

it was two hours later when we finally left the ground

slipped through immigration and to the carousel

to claim our bulky luggage and get on to the hotel

a few came up missing so we checked all our tags

to find the missing pieces left on DIA's tarmac

waiting at the curbside for the truck to show

the battery had died it was a chill 20 below

then we piled all our gear into a couple mini vans

three were sitting shotgun and i was pressed up against the dash

rolled into the husky for a bite to eat

where a trucker told us a joke through his four remaining teeth

our waitress turned and smiled her face was shining red

the joke directed towards her saying their romance was dead

woke up in the morning to a day that seemed to care

about our destination and the answer to our prayer

to load up on groceries and get an early start

but the check out machine went crazy and declined our credit cards

swampy's card said rearick, 19's was low on funds

so we cut the bill in half and threw it on Becky's mom's

stuffed into the mini where for hours we would sit

caught a road block in canmoore and storm that wouldn't quit

the winds were strong and biting which caused our late arrival

we pulled up to the inn roughed and tired short of smile

welcome to louise we're pleased you made it safe

but you're rooms aren't quite ready so you'll just have to wait