2012 World Cup – Austria, Slovenia
FIS World Cup – Austria and Slovenia – Taylor and Snyder represent the USA
Zoe Taylor and Cory Snyder represented the US at the first series of WC races this season. They were scheduled to begin in Rauris, Austria with Sprint Classic races on Friday and Saturday and then move on to Slovenia for two more Sprint Classics on Sunday and Monday. Unfortunately, the races in Austria were cancelled due to heavy snow and dangerous conditions. Zoe’s father Kenneth, is traveling with them as the team physician, driver and support crew. Following are their updates about their experiences throughout these events, video and results.
Complete Results: click here>>
Photo Album: click here>>
Monday, January 23 – Cory – We have finished a good day of racing here in Bohinj, on our tiny little ribbon of snow. Zoë had a mixed bag day, falling over in the skate in the first run (unknown causes), so she got to start first in the second run, as the women are now flipping the top 15 of the first run. She laid down a great run to move up a place to 13th for the final result. She skied very well and is satisfied, not happy, with her day! I had a fast first run, but I narrowly missed the jump line, so I started the second run in 18th position. I had a much better second run, penalty free on a tricky jump, so with that I am very satisfied! Placed 16th for the day. I hope that I can continue to ski well as we move on to skiing at Kvitfjell Norway, where I spent a lot of time last year! This is team USA, saying adios to the pleasant town of Bohinj Slovenia!
Today’s top finishers:
Men: 1st -Tobi Mueller, GER, 2nd – Joergen Holst, NOR, 3rd – Bastian Dayer, SUI
Women: 1st: Amellie Reymond, SUI, 2nd – Sigrid Rykhus, NOR, 3rd: Thea Lunde, NOR
Sunday, January 22 – Cory – We are here in Bohinj, Slovenia, where there is…no snow, but yes believe it or not we are racing. We were not able to race in Rauris where we had too much snow, and here where we have almost no snow we are racing. Literally as soon as you leave the race piste you are on dirt. The skate section is about 2 meters from edge of where the snow ends, on a corn field. I’m talking there are corn stalks sticking up as soon as the snow ends. Its pretty wild. It is below freezing, mostly, but there is just no snow. So we are racing on this little tiny ski trail .(see photo below) Its a wild world out here. Anyhow the racing by me was terrible. I did not ski well in the first run at all, call it nerves whatever you want, but it was terrible. I stepped it up for the second run and skied mostly better. We will see tomorrow if I can step up the game. Phillipe Lau laid down two killer runs to absolutely smoke the competition. I don’t think anybody can catch him right now! I’ll do my best to tomorrow, bib 19!!
Administrator: Zoe took 13th place. Complete Results of the Slovenia Races: click here>
Saturday, January 21 – Cory – The last two days we have had races in Rauris, Austria, from which we had spectacular views, as well as some sweet free-skiing! Unfortunately friday we had 12 cm of heavy heavy heavy heavy wet wet wet snow. So we inspected for the first run, but we didn’t even make it to jump practice before it became apparent that there was far too much coming down to see, let alone run a race. So we went home, dried out stuff out and prepared for today. The race organizers spent the night working on a preparing the piste to race today, but even with all their hard work, we only made it through 5 racers 3 of which crashed violently, before it became apparent that the conditions were far from ideal to race on, specifically the surface which was very soft, and highly inconsistent. It was bumpy, chunky, and just about everything else you can think of that would not be fun to ski on. It was a great day, but not quite the kind of nice day to race on unfortunately. So we are now in the little baby town of Bohinj, Slovenia, where you there is barely enough snow to cover the race hill! None the less the snow is hard and consistent so we will go for it tomorrow and hope for the best!
Friday, January 20 – Ken –The world cup races today were cancelled due to dangerous conditions, heavy wet and warm snowfall. Despite the long travel and costs to get here, I completely applaud the coaches and especially the technical deligate’s decision to keep the safety of the racers paramount.
Thursday, January 19 – Zoë – Great day of training in Rauris today, both Cory and I are getting pumped for race day tomorrow. It’s great seeing all of the other athletes and coaches. We got a good feel for the course as well as the jump and the rap. The jump landing is pretty flat but we’ll huck it and the rap is nice and smooth. Skis are sharp and fast, we’re ready to ski fast, tomorrow should be a good day for the US.
Wednesday, January 18 – Cory – Zoë, Kenneth and I have safely arrived in Rauris, Austria, after taking numerous planes, trains, and automobiles, and more than my fair share of sketchy train stuff in Munich, but we are all here and ready to rock! We all went freeskiing today on a strikingly beautiful day here in Austria. We took a little dabble on the race hill, taking a chance to peak at some of the tricky terrain features that the hill presents. Tomorrow we have official training, so we have a good opportunity to get a good feel for the course! Race day on friday, get excited!!