Special Olympics Ski Racing - January 2008 update and observations

Well, it's now the middle of January, 2008 and there's not a lot new to report. Some disappointing news though - there will be no Special Olympic races for Cory to participate in this winter. He was looking forward to using the new skills he developed at Hurricane Ski Racing camp on Mount Hood last July in a competition against the same athletes who participated in the Provincial Winter Games last February. Just to see how he would do.


But since some of them and a large group of volunteers are participating in the National Games in Quebec City in February, I'm guessing they found it rather challenging to set up a race weekend and travel to it as well as the Quebec City trip.



Cory of course did not qualify for the National Games, so he and the remaining athletes will not have a race to compete in until at least next year.


Cory has participated in two Gatebusters sessions, one GS and the other Slalom. He picked up some pointers from the coaches - looking further down the course in GS, and flexing his knee inwards more in Slalom. And we're planning on getting into a Kokanee GS race on Whistler Blackcomb on February 14th - so we'll update with the results after that for sure.

There's been no further problems with cold feet, those Liion Thermic warmers have been absolutely wonderful.

And those Volkl slalom skis he bought last summer? Cory just loves them - he's told me that if he can't ski in those skis, he doesn't want to ski at all! And he wants me to try to sell his old Head Monsters (old?? he bought them last year!).

So it's great to see that even a new racer like Cory can appreciate the value of great equipment - Volkl Racetiger skis and Atomic RT Ti 100 boots. Just need to convince him to get a pair of GS skis as well, for greater stability at higher speeds.

And interestingly, we just noticed last week that one of Cory's main rivals at Special Olympics has got himself a pair of race skis too - Rossignol 9s Slalom 155s. So Cory's not the only one with a eye on the top of the podium in 2011.


I've dug into our photo archives and thought I would post some photos from some of Cory's past ski adventures.



Here's one of Cory taken in December 2004 at the top of Sky Chair on our home mountain, Cypress Mountain, just north of Vancouver, BC. At this point, he had not yet started racing.











And a shot I took on the same day, through my goggle lens, kind of a cool special effect:

Same day, still at the top of Cypress Mountain, with my first pair of skis, Rossignol Carve something or other, can't remember the length and certainly did not know anything about sidecuts, radius, waists, etc.

Somewhere on Silver Star, I think, near Vernon, BC, February 2005:

That's Cory in the foreground, on our home mountain, Cypress Mountain, in February 2004:

On Cypress on March 2003:

Cory on the race course at the Provincial Games in February 2007, earning one of his bronze medals:

And his mum on the left and a friend cheering him on:

Here with his cousin, Justin, at a restaurant celebrating his 3 bronze medals:

One thing I should add: we've learned a lot about ski waxing, never even bothered with it until this year. We learned quite a bit from Sam and Max at Hurricane last July, and we've done a lot of internet research since.

So after just about every time we've skied this year, Cory and I have been waxing our skis. We start with a good brushing with a nylon brush (though it should be brass - have to get one of those). Then tune the edges using a fine diamond stone, just to de-bur and sharpen both the side and base edges. We used a rougher file on the edges at the beginning of the season to set the correct bevel (1 degree base, 2 degrees side) and since we're about half way through the season now, I just re-did that this week. But most times it's just to fine-tune and sharpen the edges with the diamond stone.

Then drip some wax using a wax iron (learning how much to use is trial and error) and iron the wax into the ski, then scrape while the wax is still warm. Then another wax drip, ironing the wax into the ski, and letting cool for about a half hour. A gentle scrape, then using the brush to remove excess wax and open up the structure (to allow moisture from the snow to escape). Then a polish - depending on expected temperatures.

Cory's been helping though I enjoy doing it so we get it done without any problems.