What do Mikaela Shiffrin, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Petra Vlhova, Alexis Pinturalt, Sofia Goggia, Corinne Sutter, Marco Schwartz, and several other World Cup ski racers have in common? They all sustained serious injuries that ended their seasons prematurely (except Mikaela who has missed several races so far due to a knee injury). As my title suggests, [...]
Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed quite a bit of concern expressed in the ski racing community about whether Mikaela Shiffrin, the G.O.A.T. of alpine ski racing, still “has it.” She was beaten in two of the first four World Cup events this year (including an uncharacteristic 6th in the opening GS in Soelden [...]
One of the first questions that I ask racers and coaches I work with is: Should you race like you train or train like you race? By far, the most frequent response is: You should race like you train. This answer seems perfectly reasonable if you think about it. When you train, you’re relaxed, feel [...]
Technology is playing an increasingly more important role in the lives of ski racers both on and off the hill. This influence is, no doubt, both helpful and detrimental to their athletic, personal, family, and social lives. This article is the first in a three-part series exploring how technology impacts racers, coaches, and parents, and [...]
I'm excited to announce the publication of my latest book, The Science of Alpine Ski Racing by Taylor & Francis, a leading publisher of professional books and journals. This book was co-edited with Jimmy Pritchard and written with some of the leading sport scientists in the world. It explores every aspect of alpine ski racing performance [...]
In my last article, I explored the psychological challenges of having a fast first run and then trying to duplicate it in your second run to have a fast race. In this article, I focus on the inverse, namely, having a poor first run and wanting to salvage the race (even if it’s just a [...]
I’m spending the winter at our cabin near Sugar Bowl while my daughters attend the winter-term program at Sugar Bowl Academy. I’m knee deep (literally and metaphorically) in the ski racing life as my daughters experience the many challenges that our sport presents to them. It has brought back many memories from my own days [...]
I’ve been involved in U.S. ski racing for—Yikes!—more than 50 years. I started as a “Chipmunk” at Mad River Glen, then moved on to the Valley Junior Racing Club (at then Glen Ellen, pre-GMVS), Burke Mountain Academy, Middlebury College, the University of Colorado, and even two seasons on the old pro tour. Since then, I’ve [...]
I recently received an email from George Steffey, a USST D team member and Stratton Mountain School alum, who is organizing a fundraising campaign to support rising USST athletes. I met George last fall at Copper and found him to be not only highly committed to his ski racing goals, but also a really good [...]
Last week, I introduced a common scenario among ski racers in which, after a great first run, they ski much slower the second run. I explained what caused this sudden drop in performance and how this problem could be solved so you can have as strong a second run as your first run, the outcome [...]
