Happy Holidays

Home for the Holidays.

December is almost gone and three more World Cups GS’s are in the books.

Overall I’m pretty happy with the way things went this month. I qualified and scored points on two hills that had given me so many problems in the past.

Beaver Creek was great this year! I skied two very solid runs and finished 25^th. I’ve wanted this so much over the years and to finally get those points in the USA in front of my family and friends was very special for me. Last year when I scored my first long awaited World Cup points was a special day for me, but success is so much better when it’s shared. Having my parents there made it a whole different experience.

Val D’isere was only a week after Beaver Creek and with a long flight to Munich and a 500 mile drive I was back in Val D’isere for the third time in one year. Last season Val D’isere got the best of me. December’s race ended with a DNF after the first split and February’s World Champs ended with a hard crash. I wasn’t looking forward to my third attempt on the Belvard but I tried to keep my head up because I was getting a World Cup SG start and wanted to make the best of it. Unfortunatly my ski fell off on the fourth gate and I went for a little slide on my back. I was bummed but knew I couldn’t dwell on it because the next day was the GS. After another sleepless night due to jet lag I was up and as ready as I could be for the race.

First run I made it to the finish and skied solid but I had some big mistakes and managed to finish 25^th and get a second run. My next trip down the hill was a fight from start to finish. I was tired and didn’t have the energy to charge down that steep nasty so I skied safe and scored some much needed World Cup points.

Alta Badia! The big daddy Gran Risa. The most classical GS.

Coming into Alta Badia this year I was really excited. I was skiing really well and felt super balanced in training all week.

This is the place where I was reborn last year and this year I was left with a bitter taste. I fell on the seventh gate. I made one small mistake followed by a bad recovery move and it was over, I was on my hip and sliding out of the course. I’m more than disappointed with the outcome of this race but I need to move on and start focusing on Adelboden.

I have three weeks until Adelboden and I plan on making the best of this time. First I’m going home to Carbondale for a short break and then back to Park City for training in the gym and race training on the 2002 Olympic GS hill. There are only 52 days until the Olympics and I plan on being there! Adelboden is the final race before the Olympic team is named and four of us are gunning for three spots. ( Bode, Tim Jitloff, Tommy Ford and Myself)

Happy Holidays,

Jake

Movember is gone

The prep period is officially over! Race season is in full swing now.

Today I raced a Nor Am on my home hill in Aspen, Co. It's nice to be back but it wasn't the best day. My first run I was a bit off the pace but still managed 13th place for the run with field packed full of World Cup GS skiers. Second run I had nothing to loose, i wanted to win and I was skiing like a bat out of hell before getting launched into the air on the steeper part of the course and instead of landing on my feet I came down on stomach crashing into the next gate. Oh well, I gave it my best and tomorrow is another day of racing on the same hill. Hopefully I can get a win on my home hill and roll into Beaver Creek with that winning confidence.

Beaver Creek is always a special race for the US Ski Team boys. It's our one chance a year to race the World on our turf and in the past we've always done really well. Hopefully this year will be the best year yet.

After Beaver Creek I will be heading to Europe and racing World Cups in Val D'isere on the World Championship from last year and then moving on to Alta Badia, Italy where I scored my first ever World Cup points last year.

Stay tuned for more. I've got to go due my recovery spin and get prepared for tomorrows race. Luckily I have my Massage Therapist Aaron Wartena with me so he can help mend my beat up body from my crash today.

Take care,

Jake

Europa Cup SG tomorrow

Tomorrow will be my first Europa Cup Super G since January 2006. I'm pretty excited to be racing SG again! I hope I'm fast on the flats.

Training the last couple of days has been fun and a bit lonely. The US Ski Team didn't send anybody else to these races and since I arrived on Wednesday I've been on my own, no coaches, no other Americans on the hill. The British team has been nice enough to take me under their wing and give me training and represent me for the races. Spending so much time by myself really gives me a lot of time to think. Thats all I'm going to say on that, you don't want to know what goes through my head. Hahaha.

I'll let you know how the races go.

Back in the USA

I arrived back in the US last night and needless to say I'm a little disappointed in my performance at Solden. One of my goals this year was to score top 30 results in all the World Cup GS races. Kinda blew that one already. Mentally I'm in the right place but my skiing is still struggling a bit. My timing just isn't there right now and when you're a little off every gate it really adds up. When I say my timing is off I'm talking about my movement. Things happen so fast in my sport and when my timing is on I feel like everything is happening in slow motion, but when its a little off.... I feel like every gate is coming at me way to fast and I just can't catch up.

Next week I'm headed back to Austria for a Europa Cup Super G in Rieteralm. I arrive on November 4th and will train two days with Bode before racing on the 9th and 10th. I really want to make a big push this year in Super G so that I'm not only doing GS and right now I feel like Super G is going really well. Possibly better than my GS. I've only raced one World Cup Super G and I'm hoping for big things this year, World Cup points and maybe even the Olympics in two events.

For the time being I'm going to keep focused on the task ahead.

Catch ya later,

Jake

My first blog! Ever!

All the hard work is done and it's finally race season.

I arrived in Solden yesterday and I'm putting the finishing touches on my body and skis to make sure that everything is 100% for Sunday.

It's been a busy summer of training and having fun. We had great camps in New Zealand, Chile and Saas Fee. I feel like my skiing is in a good place to have a good World Cup season. Like last season I have to totally self fund my race season and I've had some great sponsors come forward to make this happen. Thank you

Let's do this!

Jake

Jake Zamansky Blog Coming Soon

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