4 Years of Preparation For 4 Minutes of Racing

It was four years ago that Cory participated in his first Special Olympics British Columbia Provincial Winter Games in Alpine Skiing. He finished third in each of his 3races: slalom, giant slalom, and super giant slalom.





The two racers who beat him are no longer competing but it won't be an easy step up to the top of the podium as Cory has at least two very good competitors who have also worked hard to improve since 2007.




Over the last four years, Cory has worked on a plan we developed shortly after the 2007 Winter Games. That plan was to obtain better coaching, more race experience, improve his equipment, and maintain his fitness.


Finding better coaching started a few months later, when in July 2007, he attended Bob Vial's Hurricane Race Camp on Mount Hood in Oregon.




And later, in December 2010, he even worked under the eye of Rob Boyd, a former Canadian Olympic ski racer who won a World Cup downhill race which took place exactly where the two of them are standing now (the start of the Dave Murray Downhill run at Whistler):





Of course, since 2008 he's been a Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports Blue Streak, training on Grouse twice a week and working first with Carley Stobbart (in pre-Blue Streak jacket days)




And now with Roy Sperling:





With Mark Anderson, from Whistler Adaptive Sports Programs at Whistler in 2010:




And most recently with WASP's Luke Hadley...




WASP's Chris Kent:




And WASP's Sammy Kent:






So it certainly seems that the better coaching part of the plan has been achieved.

And as for his equipment, from one pair of Head Monster recreational skis...




To a wax-room full of Volkl Racetigers, the longer set for Giant Slalom and Super Giant Slalom, and two sets of Slalom (one set is slightly damaged so we use those when snow conditions are poor...commonly known as "rock skis")




And now two pairs of Atomic race boots:





For fitness, Cory bowls twice a week, plays basketball every week and does weight training once a week as well.

So he's followed his plan and now it's almost time to put it to the test. But first some final days of training:

A Gatebusters slalom session with Luke Hadley on the Olympic run at Whistler:







In slalom, Cory has been working hard at getting his skis as close as possible to the gates, and he does a good job of that right here:




The next day, it's a Kokanee Slalom race on Raven/Ptarmigan at Whistler and this time it's under extreme weather conditions - minus 25 degrees C and winds gusting well over 50 kms/h. Cory wanted to train under any conditions so that he'll be ready to race under any weather conditions. But this was extremely cold.





And for his final training session before the Provincial Games, we headed to Cypress Mountain where he looked really good in this run following his rival Jesse:





So our next update will include the results of his racing on Friday and Saturday and we'll know by then about his chances to be selected to Team BC to race at the National Games in Jasper in 2012.

4 Years of preparation for 4 minutes of racing.

Treating Those Skis Like Gold

With 2 weeks to go now until Cory's participation in Special Olympics British Columbia Provincial Winter Games, and those 3 qualifying races he'll be competing in, we'll take a look at some of Cory's behind-the-scenes work that he hopes will carry him to the top of the podium and a chance to compete at the National Games in Alberta in 2012.

Besides the 3 times per week training and racing, Cory makes sure his skis are always in top condition by tuning and waxing them after each use. Having raced yesterday at Whistler in his fourth Kokanee race, it's time for another tune and wax.




First thing to do is use large rubber brake retainer bands to hold the ski brakes in place and out of the way:




Then a gentle brushing with a nylon brush to remove any dirt, wax residues, etc.





First is to sharpen the edges in order to remove and burrs and nicks. Race ski edges are not square, they are bevelled according to the racer's abilities. Cory uses a 3 degree side edge:




The sharpening stone on the opposite side:





And it's simply a matter of sliding the multi-tuner along the side edge of the ski. This is everyday tuning and 3 or 4 times per year we bring the skis into a ski shop for a machine tune:




A similar procedure for the base edge, the part of the edge that lines the base on either side of the ski, but with the base edge, Cory uses a 1 degree bevel, or an 89 degree angle:

With the sharpening stone in place:

And again it's simply a matter of sliding the multi-tuner back and forth and let the sharpening stone do its work:





Once the edge sharpening is done, a quick wipe to remove and bits of metal:





Then it's time to wax. Using an iron specially made for ski waxing,




it's a matter of dripping wax onto the ski, making sure to provide enough wax to cover the ski and to ensure the iron is not so hot that it damages the ski:




And then ironing the wax into the base of the ski, again being careful not to overheat the ski base:




This leaves a flat layer of wax on the base, that needs to be scraped off.






The idea is over time and repetition, the wax penetrates the base and provides a longer lasting layer of protection that allows the ski to glide more effectively over snow. The type of snow and its temperature determines the type of wax to be used. Warmer temperatures that create more moisture require a softer wax while colder snow with less moisture requires a harder wax.

To begin removing the wax, we use a specially made plastic scraper with a notch in one corner:








And simply scrape it across both the side edge and base edge to remove the wax:





Next, using the same scraper to remove as much wax as possible from the base:




Then brushing the base with a nylon brush. The will give the ski "structure", basically grooves in the waxed base of the ski that acts like tire treads and moves the moisture in the snow away from the ski base, allowing the ski to glide more efficiently across the surface of the snow:





Once the ski wax has been brushed (we finish with 10 full-length strokes of the ski with the brush), the wax is polished using a clean cloth. The amount of polish depends on the temperature, the colder the temperature the more polishing is required. Less polishing is required on warmer snow to allow for deeper structure to handle the increased moisture.





This leaves the base of the ski with obvious grooves - the structure - that will take moisture away from the base:




And that's about it. With Cory doing this after every training session or race, he hopefully will have skis to race on that will carry him to the top of the podium on March 4th and 5th.

We'll know soon enough.

More Training, More Racing, Encouraging Results

Cory's preparations for the Special Olympics Provincial Games in early March continued with 2 races at Whistler and some gate training at Cypress.

The first race was his 4th Kokanee race, a Giant Slalom on Lower Franz at Whistler Creekside. This time he did finish last in his age group, but still gained enough points to remain in 3rd place overall.

His coach for this race was Sammy Kent, who has now coached Cory a half dozen times or so. Sammy's been working with Cory to move his hips forward and to start his turns earlier as he goes through a race course.




The race course started with a steep pitch so Cory had a good look before getting in the starting gate:




Here's Cory in his first run, with good speed but he holds his turn a bit too long after the blue gate nearest the camera, and he loses some of that speed:







And in his second run, which looks good:





Sammy has also talked to Cory about being just as aggressive in his first run as he is in his second run down a course. He normally is a couple of seconds faster in his second run. Since the times are combined, not best of the two, it's important that Cory put two good runs together in order to be successful. But Cory's first run is 1:22:26 and his second run is 1:20:77, so he still has some work to do on that.

His next race was his first Masters Race ever, and it was also a Giant Slalom held on Lower Franz at Whistler.

Joining him for this race were two of his VASS Blue Streak teammates, including Jesse - his main rival from Special Olympics. So this race was to be a good test of Cory's progress and an indication of his chances of being at the top of the podium in March.

Chris Kent - a former Canadian ski team member - coached the Blue Streaks and spent a lot of time doing an extensive course inspection with them.











It was a cold windy day, but with clear skies and hard snow, that makes it ideal for racing:







Cory's first run, in 1:09:03:





And his second run:




And this time his two runs are very close together, with his second run in 1:09:60, just a half second slower. So he may be making progress in being equally aggressive in both runs.

But what was very encouraging is that he was faster than Jesse by almost 3 seconds in his first run and by close to 5 seconds faster in his second. Cory was very pleased with those results as it seems that all those early mornings and hard work seem to be paying off.

The Masters Races are open to anyone 18 years of age or older. Here presenting Cory with his first place finish (Cory and Jesse were the only two Masters under 30 years old), is an 80 year old Masters Racer....whose overall time was 4 seconds faster than Cory's!





The peak of Whistler, on our last run of the day after the race, down Peak to Creek, a 5.5 kilometre long intermediate run, the longest in North America:




The next night, a clear crisp evening, Cory trained with Special Olympics at Cypress in North Vancouver.




Cory's rival Jesse is training at Cypress too, and he and Cory stick together the entire evening, running the training course one after the other, and heading back up on the chair together. They may be rivals, but they remain good friends.

And Jesse is fired up! Perhaps driven Cory's performance at the Masters Race the day before, Jesse really pushes himself and really drives himself hard down the training runs. Cory responds and skis aggressively too:





Maybe a bit too aggressively here as he gets into some soft snow, but makes a good recovery and gets way up on his ski edges as he turns:





Really up on his edges on this run too, but a bit too bent over at the waist, which is something he often does when he's tiring, or in this case, looking for more speed:





So in spite of some very good results at the Masters Race, Cory will continue to train hard. Not only does Jesse continue to be a formidable opponent, there are one or two other Special Olympics athletes who have their eyes on the same prize. Since we don't know how their training is going, Cory will have to keep at it. Next up is a day of training with the VASS Blue Streaks at Grouse Mountain, then a Gatebusters day at Whistler, followed by two more VASS Blue Streaks sessions later in the week.


Ahh....the life of a ski racer.....a free Kokanee beer after each Kokanee race....





But then there's the post-race helmet hair!