Come back from my come back!!

I did not blog in quite some time. 

Just after the world cup race in Alta Badia Italy I raced some more F.I.S races in Italy. At the last F.I.S. GS that I raced in Pampeago I partially tore my MCL ligament and pulled my groin quite bad. I have not skied in over a month. 

I came to Canada a few days ago and today I skied for the first time again in Mont Trembalnt QC. It was a cold day out on the slopes but it was great to rip some turns. My girlfriend Julie and I skied with Anna Goodman and her boyfriend Marco ( Marco Sullivan is coming back from a concussion, after a crazy crash at the World Cup downhil in Bormio ).  It was fun to ski all together and just enjoy the day. 

Mont Tremblant.

Julie is excited to go skiing.

Yea Julie!!!

Mike showing us how it is done.

Enjoying a hot chocolate with Mike and his friends. 

Mike the coach, sitting on the end in the black jacket. 

Mike is a good family friend of ours. He was born in Austria and came to Canada with his parents as a young boy. He has been skiing and racing almost his whole life. Mike was the ski school director where my Mom and Dad worked for a few years.  Five years ago, when I moved to Canada, Mike and his wife Donna took me up in there home in Mont Tremblant. They helped me out to get where I am and still support me along the way. Coming to the point, Mike and Donna are my Canadian parents. 

Marco, Anna and Julie... Chilling in ski racer position. ( leaning on the poles )

Trying to smile with frozen faces....

It was a great day to spend with my friends. 

Now I am looking forward to go ski racing in Mont-Ste-Anne in the next few days. It will be good for me to start slowly at the F.I.S. races and find my race mode again.

Talk to you soon.

Cheers. 

All the best Lup!!!

A few days ago I was watching the second DH training run in Bormio Italy on the internet.  The only not so pleasant thing watching a race online is that you do not see the racers come down, but you can only see there  time compared to the winners. 

Usually I don't watch much live timing, but this time I was interested because my close friend Louis-Pierre Helie was racing in Bormio and just a week before he had his best race ever in Val Gardena Italy. 

Louis-Pierre started with bib Nr. 56 at the world cup DH in Val Gardena Italy and had an outstanding run and finished 13th over all. That day he really stepped it up and had an amazing result along with the other Canadian Cowboys.  

Manny Osborne-Paradis finished 8th

Robbie Dixon finished 10th

Erik  Guay finished 12th

Louis-Pierre Helie  13th 

Benjamin Thomsen 16th

So now you know why I was interested in watching the Bormio DH.  I was hoping the guys would have another week like the past one. But it turned out to be different. 

I kept watching the life timing and it was finally Loui's turn to go. I kept my fingers crossed and I was hoping for a good result. 

Louis left the starting gate and shortly after, the race was interrupted.... It is really never a good sign when a race gets interrupted more then a few min. I did not know what was going on so I turned on the TV and there I could see the helicopter picking up Louis. I could hear the announcer saying that they would fly him to the hospital in Sondrio Italy. 

The diagnosis was a torn knee and a really bad concussion. Louis got noked out before a jump and flew through the air and landed hard. While still being unconscious, he slid down the icy track til he finally got to a stop. 

To start off, ski racing is a really dangerous and crazy sport and so much can happen in a quick second. But we all love to push the limit and at the same time try to keep everything under control but sometimes even we can not control the outcome. 

I spoke to Lup a few days ago and he is feeling okay. His head is a lot better and he was well up. He is flying back to Canada today and getting surgery on his knee soon. 

For whoever does not know this guy..... This is Louis-Pierre Helie.

Lup and my self on the podium. I hope we will be there together again soon.

I know how it feels being injured and trying to fight your way back. It is not an easy task but I know Lup and I know that he is strong and positive.

I wish you all the best Lup, keep your head up high even when it will get tough. You will be back in no time.  We are all behind you.

Talk to you soon.

Jeff