Huge shout-out for the support of AST by my hometown paper Steamboat Pilot & Today!
Thanks!
Our Journey
Archive for September, 2009
AST is ready to roll
Monday, September 28th, 2009We finished up our final pre-season training camp on Friday, and the teams ready to roll for our first event in Landgraff. For a glimpse into exactly what this last camp was like, check out the awesome coverage we got from Thomas Boyd and the Oregonian last week!
I wanted to personally thank everyone that’s been a part of this venture with us, and remind you to keep up with AST throught the season!
Thanks,
CK
Personal Bests
Thursday, September 24th, 2009Soooo, have I mentioned how hard we’ve been training lately? We thought we were going to have more time on our hands at home to relax once Ian showed up and started tuning and waxing for us…wrong! It’s still non-stop action and activities all day long. We actually got in a debate about how many calories we might be burning during the day. With no real way to determine the actual number at the moment we’ve decided it’s probably somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 calories a day based on some internet research.
Today, we also had the privilege of having Jeff Greenwood (our ex-teammate and 2002 Olympian turned director/producer for GO211) tag along with a camera to capture some footage of a typical day for America’s Snowboard Team in Mt. Hood.
I think the highlight of the day came when we had a post-dryland gainer (running back-flip) session at “The Punch Bowl”, a local cliff jumping and swimming spot about 15 min south of Hood River. I can’t wait for you guys to see the footage, Chris’s first attempt was…well…nothing short of hilarious. The only thing that topped it was his second attempt, which was the closest he’s come to actually doing a gainer. So, even though he didn’t quite stick it he made some progress and that’s what we’re all about here at AST, personal bests.
AST on TV, again!
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009In case you missed it on our blog Monday, AST has been getting coverage through the Portland area network affiliates KOIN-TV and KGW-TV. We just wanted to give a huge shout-out to both stations, ana all the area residents. Thanks so much for supporting us on our quest for Olympic glory!
If you missed either of the storeis, you can check them out on the station’s sites. KOIN-TV or KGW-TV.
90 degrees and snowing?
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Well another day in paradise! Oregon has been in the midst of a heat wave, but luckily we still have plenty of snow and, of course, motivation to continue our amazing training at Timberline! Meanwhile, I got a message from my fiancé, Justin, today that Steamboat is getting snow… ohhh man I have a seasonal SHOCK coming my way, when I drive home this weekend! Gotta love our vast country, where it can be 90 degrees in one state and snowing in another!
We’re still out there ripping on our Slalom boards, preparing for our first World Cup in a couple of weeks and rest assured… we WILL be prepared. Rob still has us doing countless (we’re snowboarders, we can’t count that high… HAHA jk) runs a day. I think last week we made about 75 runs in the course and about 100 total. Clearly, we are getting lots of repetitions and engraining some FAST new habits into our technique. And mostly importantly, we’re still smiling! So cheers to some more great turns tomorrow and in the days, weeks, months, and races to come!
A day in the life
Monday, September 21st, 2009Check out this short video of us training for the Vancouver Games!
AST on KOIN TV!
Monday, September 21st, 2009The games are getting close, and people are starting to get excited. Check us out on KOIN TV!
Some of our best slalom ever!
Monday, September 21st, 2009Another great week of training at Mt. Hood for AST. Our coaches Rob and Ian pushed us hard this week. We made about one-hundred twenty-five slalom runs this week on the lower mile at Mt. Hood. It’s amazing how many laps you can get in a few hours with sleds. Mt. Hood has been super supportive in helping us create a sick training environment. Our cat and sled driver Chris rules. He’s fitting right in with the AST gang. He’s helping make the rides up entertaining. He’s now an honorary member of AST. I’m really proud of everyone on the team. I think it’s some of the best slalom riding we’ve all done. There’s a cooperative attitude amongst the team and a true team spirit I haven’t seen in years. I believe AST gives us all the best chance to ride fast this winter. The mornings at Mt. Hood are early and it’s sometimes hard to get going, but it’s absolutely beautiful early in the morning watching the sun rise and being the only people up there training.
I’m excited for one more week of hard training before Landgraaf. I’m having a lot of fun riding slalom again. This weekend I’m recovering at home in Sisters, Oregon with my family. I’m looking forward to relaxing, watching some football and getting on my mountain bike this weekend. We travel to Amsterdam in early October for our World Cup indoor slalom opener on Oct. 9th at SnoWorld in Landgraaf, Netherlands.
RSS…It’s a real condition
Thursday, September 17th, 2009First, let me start be reiterating what Josh said about how privileged AST is to be training at Mt. Hood right now. The crew at Timberline, especially our trusty ski patroller and snowmobile driver Chris, has been nothing but accommodating. Everyday has thrown us different conditions with a different set problems but they’ve rallied each day and helped us pull off the best summer training we’ve ever had.
Aside from the killer training on-hill, Ian and I discovered the primo mountain biking Hood River has to offer. We got a tip from our friend Justin at ShredAlert here in town on how to find our way up to Post Canyon, where there is an extensive network of trails. There’s anything and everything you could ever want in Post Canyon, crazy downhill sections, ladders, bridges, jumps…lots of uphill (which we found with Josh by accident today after Erica was nice enough to shuttle us up to the top for a couple of runs)…you name it.
It’s crazy how many activities you can fit in, in a day around here! If you’re not careful it can actually stress you out…it’s a real condition called Recreational Stress Syndrome or RSS for short. It can be debilitating and has been linked to depression, hypertension, indecision and watching hours of bad daytime TV. So watch out.
That’s it, that’s all for now. Be sure to check back tomorrow.
Camp 2 is here…
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009We’re back!!! After surf trips to the Oregon coast, weddings in Maine and some relaxing time in Colorado Team AST is back together in Hood River. Now two days into our second training session at Mt. Hood we’ve began preparing for our first World Cup in Landgraaf.
We are very privileged to be training here at Hood, with the mountain closed to the public and the lifts shut down. We now access the snowfields via snowmobile and snowcat! It was extremely comical this morning as we all loaded into the 1950’s cat and bounced our way up the hill eventually sliding backwards in our seat and squishing Chris in the back. If you remember playing corners in the back seat of your parents car as a kid with your buddies you should get the visual, instead flip the seat forwards and image all of us sliding to the back of the snowcat creating one big pile up of laughing AST snowboarders. What a way to start our day. And what a day it was, 24 slalom runs (18 in the course) a recovery bike ride and finally to finish it of a hour and half dryland session at the Hood River high school track. Thanks again to all. We are very privileged and thoroughly appreciate everyone’s support.
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