2011 FIS Speed Ski Championships- Verbier Switzerland

It was a bitter sweet day for Team Canada at the 2011 FIS Speed Ski World Championships in Verbier, Switzerland yesterday.
Tuesday, April 19th was the first “Official” race day of the World Championships and only one of us made the cut to the top 25 racers that move onto the final day Wednesday. Neil Munroe from Silver Star was the top Canadian in 9th place with a speed of 194.60 km/h. Unfortunately, my last run to make the top 25 was not my best run and I missed the cut by a mere .46 km/h, finishing in 26th place with a speed of 184.55 km/h. Only the top 25 racers move into the final day and then the field is cut to top 15 racers after the first run.
The final top 15 men and seven women then race off the top for the 2011 FIS Speed Ski World Champion title. Speeds should reach 210 km/h in the final on Wednesday.
While disappointed to not make the final 25 in my last run, not all is lost. My speed of 184.55 km/h was a personal best speed ever in competition and the photos show exactly what went wrong and where. Live and learn, because tomorrow is another day is a saying that comes to mind.
Thanks to Kerry VanSickle (Neil’s wife) for all the great pics. Tough to be spectator today but will support Neil in any way I can. I will be on track again Thursday training for the Speed Masters Pro event which runs on Friday and Saturday.
Looking back on Tuesday it’s strange how sometimes irony shows up wherever you are. After the race run on Tuesday, my calculations had me in 25th spot and advancing to the final. Guess I miscalculated on the score board somewhere. A little overzealous I guess? Overjoyed that I thought I made the final cut of 25, I promptly bashed my shin on an aluminum picnic table frame just below boot top leaving it bloodied and bruised. While there is no question that I would have raced today if I made the final cut, my sore shin now gets a day off to heal.
It’s hard to believe that we had nearly 200 speed ski runs up to 194 km/h on Tuesday and the only racer injury was caused by a picnic table. Not feeling so bright to say the least.
On another note away from racing and injury, Team Canada has a new superstar amongst us. Gerald Allgaier of Sun Peaks, B.C who’s travelling with the team has been the work horse of the whole event. During set up week his unrelenting energy and enthusiasm was absolutely contagious and he wowed race organizers with his work ethic. When race day came Allgaier shifted to Race Sherpa mode and set the standard for the rest of the Race Sherpas in Verbier. Skiing icy mogul fields that make the skiing public shutter with 3 and 4 pairs of racers skis in his arms just put a bigger smile on his face. “I am having a blast, I’m getting tons of runs in and it’s like my own personal downhill,” said Allgaier with a chuckle. “The people are great, the organizers are fantastic and I’m being treated like a local. How can you not have fun when you’re in Switzerland with the best speed skiers in the world and you really feel you’re part of the speed skiing community,” commented Allgaier as he headed up to the top for another sherpa run.
Needless to say this isn’t an easy job for anyone but add in the fact that all this work is at 3,300 meters (over 10,000 feet) of elevation and Allgaier is 57 years old, his stamina defies logic.
That’s all for now from Verbier as I must now drive three hours to Annecy France to the Jonathon and Fletcher factory to make adjustments to my new speed ski suit. Unfortunately I had to use my backup suit on Tuesday because my new one is simply too tight. Maybe that made the .46 km/h difference in my speed but hindsight is always 20/20.
I will update on todays final of the Worlds Championships as soon as possible.