BREAKING NEWS! My blog no longer resides at this address. but don't worry, i've only moved over to a new site. Here is the link, Morganpridy.wordpress.com

Come on over and check it out,

Morgan

Intermission: Sitting in transition

     Here I am. My boots are off and for now I’m glad about it. Not because I get sore feet, or because I would like them to be warm for just a little while or anything like that. I’m happy because for now it’s the time of year where I go out and do other things; I take some time for myself, I wander around… pretty much aimlessly aaaand then, well and then it hits me that I wish I was skiing instead. I realise that I need a hit, something to get me through until the snow flies again. So I do what I can to subdue the feeling of longing and relentless craving I have to put my skis back on the snow and get going again, and going fast.

   

Luckily in my case there are powers that be, and they have a great plan laid out to curb my addiction for skiing, if only for a while. The solution is to move to Calgary… Yes, I know what you are thinking, why in the world would people make you move to a place that makes you want to shoot yourself? And I’m not talking about in the foot either. The answer is; because a barren waste land is the perfect environment to train in… okay, I’m kidding. It’s not as bad as I make it out to be, it’s just hard to leave the best place on earth for the big city especially when I’m home so seldom to begin with (whistlerites know exactly what I’m talking about).

 

Anyways, back on topic and in so many words. Training in Calgary for the summer, you can’t put a price on team atmosphere when it comes to working hard. As for how this fits into my “skiing is crack” metaphor, imagine a drug not quite as good as…. You know what, let me stop right there and start that rant over. Okay. As for how this fits into my “skiing is like your favorite food” metaphor, imagine your second favorite food (the gym for those not following closely) and eating it all the time. It’s great, and you enjoy it, but it’s not your favorite. So when you are finally offered your fav, you jump at the opportunity and it’s never tasted so good. That’s what the summer is to me, a series of enjoyable meals that have been placed between me and the winter time. I’m hoping I didn’t lose anyone.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for following me through the ups and downs of race season. The Blog will be around for the summer, so until next time.

-Morgan    

Chapter sixteen: Norway and unseasonal temperatures

Although I don’t think of myself as a writer, I am one who writes and by that logic I am susceptible to writers block. Another way to phrase it could be I am susceptible to procrastination but I like to think of it as a simple inability to write on command. Since I last spoke with you a lot of things have happened and a lot of days have passed by. I’ll start from the top and you can take a trip with me through the last few weeks. Let’s begin with that World Cup start. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the intricacies of downhill racing I’ll give you a quick run down. Before the actual race the whole field has to have at least one training run down the track, it is a race simulation but the results are essentially meaningless, so that’s where my story will pick up. On my first time down the track I had a whole set of thoughts running through my head, yes I was stoked, yes I was nervous, yes I was amped, but one thing was on the front of my mind: How will this part run? Will I go huge off that jump? Is that turn gnarly? A set of questions concerning how I will make it to the bottom and in what condition I will arrive there. Not so much fear, because I signed up for this, it’s what I want to do, but more the sense of not knowing and at the same time knowing there is only one way to find out. Anyways it turned out, that part ran fast, I went massive on the jump, and the turn I was thinking about… it really was gnarly. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Come race day I finally felt like I was racing “just another race”. It was a good head space and I am happy how it turned out, I left Norway feeling like I had taken a step in the right direction. That covers the Norway section of the title… sadly I still have to get to the Unseasonal temperatures part…

Just over a week after arriving, Norway took a break from exporting fish and shipped me to eastern Canada for what I thought would be National champs. Turns out I thought wrong… really wrong. The sun came out and it brought its friends; rain, thunder, lightning, mist, and clouds. Now apparently they had a bit of a falling out with Cold temperatures because it’s nowhere to be found and to give you an idea of what that means, we are losing 30 centimeters of snow a day. So despite the relentless work of our volunteers and coaches that bordered on the insane, our hopes of racing speed melted away into the Saint Laurence. This means two things, well no that’s not accurate. This means a whole bunch of things but only a few worth mentioning. One and two are that Erik and my big brother Conrad both earned Nor-am titles and world cup spots! Big big ups to them! The other things that it means are that downhill is finished for the year, leaving me a little shy of my goals and a little uncertain of future endeavours. I wanted very badly to put it on the line this week and finish on my own terms and it hits me right in the heart I won’t be able to. But this is an outdoor sport; there are so many aspects that are out of my control it would be immature to get pissed about it. I’ve taken a moment to let it go, there are a whole lot of races left for me this season so I will only be looking forward and put everything I have into each start.

Norway doing its best Canada impression, I'd say its bang on.

Going up.

Start hut and the rising sun #suchabeauty

Checking out the course

Casually burning down the house with the boys. #Thatcan'tberight...

Popular spot for tanning... in the winter

Traveling a long road, the destination is still unknown.

First World Cup action shot!

I'm having trouble loading the footage at the moment, but videos will be up in the coming days. Thanks for stopping by and following my story as it unfolds.

Morgan

Chapter fifteen: Good times and guest appearances

 Home at last! Sitting in snowy Whistler and enjoying a little rest before preparing for the next leg of my journey. This is only going to be a short one, there isn’t a whole lot to say and I don’t even have any sweet pictures to attach to this chapter. Firstly I want to wish speedy recoveries to Andy, Phil, and Erik. The three of them crashed out on podium worthy runs last week while pushing the limits. From what I hear they will be back soon and skiing fast again. I’m excited to have the team back in action. Secondly to wrap up the trip, Aspen had plenty of ups and downs. Like literally I went up the chair and down the mountain a whole bunch of times… yeah fine… I guess that statement could have a metaphorical meaning too... a meaning along the lines of each day was a rollercoaster of expectations and results. Dealing with the hopes and thoughts that creep into your head when you know you have a shot to do something great and then when it doesn’t turn out how you pictured. I started the downhills on a high, my roller coaster was on the way up and I thought the ride was going to be amazing. Despite what the training results say, I was the fastest person to make the whole course, something that I had never done before. I am used to doing training and planning on being fastest by race day, not being fastest and then slowly going insane inside my own head thinking about being able to win… then thinking about not thinking about it… then thinking about getting my head back in the game…but not so much that I over think it. So you see how it’s a tricky position to be in for the first time? It’s also tricky because from that point on being anything but first come race day seems less than stellar, and when I crossed the line outside the top five, my heart broke… then moments later I did the mature thing and destroyed my poles… and moments after that I did the safest thing I could think of and whipped the helmet I would be wearing all week into a ditch. Now on a side note you pretty much will always look like a tool when you have to go pick up the equipment you just threw everywhere during a tantrum in the finish area. So if given the chance I would avoid it all together. From that point though, in a way, the pressure was off and I could start to rebuild and do the work I needed to be faster. Come the third day I did what I could and only thought about my game, the things I could control in order to make it happen. With a clear head I find it easier to have a run flow together. I reached for the finish without expectations, instead I had hopes, and I mean I always have hopes for it to go well but it was just that. I saw my bro and the boys before I looked for the time and I saw what any racer wants to see. Not the shrug or the “what happened to you” look, but smiles and celebrating. It wasn’t a win but it felt like one. The short of this whole story is that I skied myself into a spot at the next World Cup in Norway! I’ll be a first timer there and I’m stoked to get the opportunity to race it. Thanks for sharing that little moment with me and I’ll be writing again from overseas.    

Canadian sweep #boom

Thanks for stopping by


Morgan

Chapter Fourteen: finding an easy way to forget

It may come off as an immature way to look at a crappy day, but when you step back and look at the bigger picture it makes a little more sense. Right now my bigger picture isn’t so bad; it’s a far cry from a masterpiece that’s for sure, I mean I don’t expect a call from the Louvre anytime soon. What I have right now, what my big picture is, is like art that your kid drew back in preschool. If you don’t have kids then think of it like one of your pictures that used to be on the fridge. It might not look like much but you will have an appreciation for it despite what anyone else thinks. So that’s what I’ve got so far, the potential to do much better things. Putting all the metaphors aside what I have is a good series in Vail under my belt and something to actually build off. Today I planned to keep the wheels rolling and start putting some momentum on my side; of course things didn’t really go to plan… Okay, writing “of course” makes is sound like a pre-determined fate but what I mean is if every day went to plan I would never lose, but then again, no one would ever lose so it’s hard to be mad when it’s the same for everyone. Anyways, things not going to plan mean I skied pretty freaking bad. Tippy and then my brain switched off for a while and then when I came around it was wayyyy to late. So those are the things I want to forget, those are the things I can live without and definitely the things I don’t need floating in my head. It’s like a bad pitch… so what, I hit a batter… I still have 99 more before the games through. The rest of these days have been full of the things I need to remember, all the things that make me fast. So the thought in telling you this is that it’s all down on paper and therefore out of my head… I’m not sure if that’s exactly how it works but I’m trusting that it will help. 

Right after this photo was taken we made a rule. Two person max in the kitchen 

The start of a Colorado sunrise 

The owner of the house, or judging by the furnishings... the late owner... 

oh yeah, our whip is a beast.

Well vimeo is being a bit of a pain right now, so all I have for you is this gem of Erik and Phil doing a lovely duet on the piano, I would suggest cranking the volume. I think it's better loud. http://vimeo.com/36581533
Alright, race footage is to follow. Thanks for stopping by


Morgan

Chapter Thirteen: A nothing blog from C.O.

Felt like writing but I really don’t have much to say, and I try not to speak if the only reason is to hear my own voice. I suppose this isn’t exactly speaking though so I don’t think it counts… I was going to write a “training diary” and describe in full the details of my days on snow but it seemed tedious just thinking about it. The skiing is going well, in the right direction as far as I’m concerned. Some days the progress is much slower than I would like and other days I need to remind myself to think technically about how to go faster and stop from just wishing it to be. Calm trumps aggravated in my case, so that’s another challenge to deal with daily. Not like being agro and hating the world and like kicking kittens or anything, more along the lines of keeping things in perspective and looking at it from the point of view where I will get the most out of it. Beyond that Colorado is pretty darn great… I know, that’s a few words away from saying “golly this trip sure is a blast, real nifty” but come on, if you’ve been here you know what I’m talking about. If you have not been here on the other hand it’s pretty much sunshine and blue skies, the water is sweet, puppies roam the country side, and everyone is polite. Well… okay no, that’s terribly misleading, but it actually is nice, especially from a skier’s point of view. The only quarrel I have is that it’s all sooo high up here. I mean you land in the mile high city and then drive UP to the mountains. I’m not exactly one for wheezing but I do my fair share of it here, the first few days always make me feel obese… stairs are challenging and I find myself breathing heavy when I am sitting watching movies (trust me I am much quieter if I have company, for those of you who found the heavy breathing comment creepy). Yeah, so on that note I think I’ll leave you for now.

Riding in style, Kelby was waving...but no lens is big enough to capture all of him

#thumbup

It wasn't that bad

...The actual view in our front yard

It might not look like much, but little guy keeps the beats pumping in our house

The team making use of our multi-purpose room. Its a combo, TV/phsio/dining/gym/internet cafe/nap room.

Races are coming up at the end of the week, and they will last for the rest of this trip, so future blogs will have more of a subject. Until then here are a few links for those who want to see some of my turns. 


http://vimeo.com/36117774 - Thats some GS training here in Loveland


http://vimeo.com/36117954 - annnnnd this, this is the end of a long slalom day, it might not seem like it, but it was a good day. Heres hoping you get a chuckle out of it.


Morgan

Chapter twelve: Question

This one’s been a long time coming because it’s not like I’ve had nothing to write about, I just haven’t written anything down is all. All the things about this trip that were noteworthy are still up in my head, but they get a little scrambled as the time goes by and have ended up being a jumbled mess that is increasingly hard to write down. Luckily for me I actually have pictures this time around so I think they will do just fine for most of the details. Moving on, I have been a little stuck the last few days on the last races of my trip. Not because they were awesome and I can’t stop thinking about how amazing I am, but because I’m not happy with them, with them and with myself. Now before I get into this whole thing I’ve been looking back and a lot of my blogs are about keeping my head up, or toughing it out and doing what I can to move forward. And this is okay because I’m writing about things I believe in doing, but I don’t want anyone to get the misconception that I just battle every day to no avail and that’s it. I go out and enjoy it and make it down a lot of times feeling great about the skiing, but it’s the times I struggle that I write about because putting it down on paper is just as much for me as it is for anyone reading it. It is a way I can debrief and organize my thoughts so the next day I am better. I don’t think there is any reason to over complicate things when they are coming easy to me so instead I try to find ways to take apart and reassemble the aspects I am having trouble with. So back to the start, I mulled the last two starts over in my head and came out with a question. How badly do I have to get beat before I end up beating myself? I don’t just mean beat by the competition, but by weather or illness or any factor outside of my control. What I came up with was that the moment I allow any of those things to influence how I go about the day and the plan I have in my head then I have already taken away the chance I had to perform my very best. For example if I look at a day with terrible weather and tell myself how bad it is instead of finding a way to adapt I will never be able to overcome it, it will continue to be an obstacle slowing me down. That brings me back to the last few days of racing. I had a lot of things in my head, an assortment of crap that I should have pushed out; instead it stayed there and left no room for the focus and determination I wanted to approach the races with. In short I didn’t do myself any favours those days and slimmed down my chances for a result. There was an upside though, these races ended up being the tough, terrible, painful days that make me want to get back to work and push harder than ever so they don’t happen again. It showed a little of what I need to do in order to really be good at this, and for that reason I will always accept those days as a part of my season.    

My plane to Europe... don't even ask how I took a photo of the plane I was on

#Thatsatree

Silhouettes of the boys, can you guess who is who?

Getting in on my first water party

Sometimes we get an alright view... 

When there is powder a little planning never hurts.

Welcome to Val D'isare 

Sometimes the van feels like space travel

My red sleds #sponsorshot 

My first time using a night club as a gym/tuning room

Cheering hard for the teams slalom aces 

...and then sometimes it snows

Sun shots always seem like good ones to end on

I hope you enjoyed this one. The next stop for me is Colorado and speed week in Aspen. Looking to park some arcs and put all the things i've learned into practice. Next chapter should be coming to you from south of the border, Thanks for stopping by.

Morgan