17.3.2010

Last weekend finished the World Cup season 2009/2010 by the final in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I was a bit disappointed with my 9th place in slalom because after first run I was second and I wanted to be on the podium again. I did big mistake just few gates after the start and it was no more possible to catch up with the time. Despite of, the whole season was great. Of course, many things could be better ... Before the season I want to fight about crystal globe for slalom and of course I wanted to be much more better in giant slalom than I was but I did one victory in slalom (Aspen) and especially I did the bronze olympic medal, what means for me a lot.

On Sunday there was a team event and our team won! It was really funny for us, we enjoyed the parallel GS and it was nice ending of the season. This week I spend some days at home and than I will be start in some more FIS races.

I thank all of you for watching me and keeping the fingers cross for me and I wish you beautiful spring days.

Yours Sarka


8.3.2010

After return from Whistler I spent at home only one day because already on Tuesday evening I had to be in Crans Montana due to supercombine on Friday. Unfortunately the race on Friday was canceled due to strong wind. I stayed in Crans Montana until Sunday and finally I had some days off. This week I will be train in Maria Alm before the World Cup final slalom in Garmisch Partenkirchen.

Greetings
Sarka


2.3.2010

The passed month was full of so great impressions for me. It started with our stay in ski resort Nakiska in Alberta - a such amazing place, beautiful nature and so pleasant people ... and it finished with my bronze medal in slalom. I am very proud of my team, which help me a lot to achieve a such success. The atmosphere during the olympic games was really great despite of the bad weather conditions. I thank very much all of you who kept the fingers crossed for me. Once again, thank you for all!

Sarka


26.1.2010

Cortina d'Ampezzo is such a beautiful ski resort! I love the nature around. This year was really nice weather almost whole week. Not like last year, when during three days came more than one meter of new snow! On Friday I did SG race. I had really fun in SG, unfortunately I wasn't to fast :-) On Sunday I got finally some important points in GS as well! Next week I spend in St. Moritz. The last World Cup races before Olympics Games. The first race in Whistler is already in three weeks!

Greetins,
Sarka


18.1.2010

The race weekend in Maribor is behind us. Actually it was the last technical events before Olympics and in the season as well expect the final in Garmisch in middle of the March. I am not satisfied with my performance in last two slaloms. It is nice to be almost every slalom race top 10 but my goals before the season were to be on the podium as often as possible and to fight about the slalom globe. Now I know that I can’t have the globe in this season because I am already more that 100 points behind Maria. Maria is this year in slalom really great again! Now I am back in Austria for training before the races next weekend in Cortina. I want to start on Friday in SG and on Sunday in GS. My last chance to get some points in these disciplines.
Please, keep your fingers crossed for me!

Greets,
Sarka


1.1.2010

I hope that all of you spent a wonderful Christmas and welcomed the New Year 2010. I spent the Christmas Eve at home in Prague. Just one day after, I went to Lienz in Austria for the next stage of ski world cup. Both races were very tough. The slope in Lienz is quite difficult and the course was very icy. After, we stayed in Lienz for couple more days. The first race in New Year took place in Zagreb. I look forward to Zagreb (CRO) every year because of great race atmosphere.

Greetings,
Sarka


15.12.2009

The weather in Are was quite warm. Surprisingly for this season. Actually, I am not quite satisfied with my performance at the weekend. My GS results are not like I wish they should have been. The 7th place in slalom was ok, but if I want to think about a crystal globe for slalom, I have to be next race on podium again. Whole weekend I was accompanied from Eurosport. It was fun and nice experience for me. I hope you enjoyed! I arrived at home on Monday evening. Actually I am quite tired. It will be nice to spend some days at home. At the end of the week, we go to Austria for some days ski training.

See you soon! Sarka


7.12.2009


Hello,

greetings from Reiteralm. After return from USA I spent few days at home. Now I train in Reiteralm in Austria. Unfortunately is quite warm and the snow conditions are not very well. On Tuesday afternoon we fly from Munich to Östersund. We will be train in Are before the races at the weekend. See you in Are!

Sarka


1.12.2009

Hi everybody,

Training and travelling in passed ten days were tough. Last week we stayed in Silverthorne and went for training to Loveland or Vail. The weather and slope conditions were very well. Of course, I found some free time for shopping and relaxing as well. On Thursday we arrived to Aspen. On Saturday I fell down, fortunately nothing happened to me, but I was a bit disappointed from my performance in GS. On Sunday’s race I achieved my second victory in my career in Aspen. It was so nice to stand on the top of podium again. Thank all for keeping your fingers crossed!

Sarka


23.11.2009

Hi everybody!

The flight to Denver was ok. I flew from Prague via London and rest of my team from Munich via Chicago with all bags and skies. The plane from London was from half empty, so I could take three seats only for me and the travel was much more comfortable. Surprisingly all bags came with us as well, so we could start with training on Friday. Conditions for training are here very well. In the morning is quite freezy but later, when the sun is coming, is more pleasant. On Thursday we go to Aspen for next races at the weekend.

Sarka


16.11.2009

Hi,

it was so nice racing on a such beautiful place like Levi again. The slope was perfect and the people around great. The 8th place at the beginning of the season wasn’t bad but I know I can better. We came back to Prague on Sunday evening. We have two days for rest and on Wednesday we fly to Denver in Colorado.
See you there!

Sarka


5.11.2009

Hi,

Many greetings from Mölltal. The weather is beautiful but the conditions for training unfortunately not so good because of the new snow. We will go for two days for slalom training in ski hall to Wittenburg in Germany.

Sarka


26.10.2009


Hi,

the first race of the season is behind us. It was nice to feel the atmosphere again. Even if I didn’t finish the second run, I have a good feeling of my performance. I stay couple more days in Sölden for training. Next week I will stay few days at home and than let‘s go to another ski training, the last before the next race in Levi.

Šárka


18.10.2009


Hi,

at the beginning of the week we could feel that winter is here. The temperature dropped by 15 degrees and it began to snow. You cannot train very well on fresh snow so we shortened our stay in Pitztal and I left for Petrisau am Achensee where I relaxed for several days. I chose a wellness hotel and it was a great place for a good rest and regeneration. My friend and physiotherapist Dita visited me there that I don't feel sad. I will train on Pitztal since Monday and then we will go to our first rase of the season to Sölden.

Šárka


9.10.2009


Hi,

greetings from Pitztal where I have a training with my team this week. I am on the slope on a glacier in the morning and I do a light training and have a rest in the afternoon. Yesterday we climbed on Riflsee. A preparation for the upcoming racing season is culminating right now. The date of the first race is approaching very quickly, it is going to take place in two weeks. Nature saves snow this autumn but I hope it will change its mind soon. We would be all very happy if the weather was colder and the snow started falling. It would be a pity if we missed the opening in Sölden. I am looking forward to the races and their atmosphere after a demanding summer training.

Šárka


22.12.2008

I was very tired when I arrived to Barcelona and I was very happy to see Tonda who arrived in our car from Prague. He had driven 1800 km at a haul and he didn’t look much better than I did… We had a delay at the airport because as one could suppose our bags with skis didn’t arrive on the same plane. We were told that our five bags are still at the airport in Calgary and they would arrive one day later with the same flight. It was good news because sometimes the skis don’t arrive and nobody knows where they are…

We slept in Barcelona and we set to a journey to mountains (cca 140 km) the next day. My father and Tonda drove to Barcelona again because they went to the airport to get the skis. If we didn’t go for them, we would wait for them until now.

La Molina is a very nice resort in beautiful natural landscape. The World Cup was held there for the first time and I hope it wasn’t the last time. I trained for four days before the weekend races and I had to accommodate back to European time.

There is almost no snow in La Molina in the first half of December but the organizers were lucky this year and the slopes both for the race and for the training were well prepared. I would say that the course belongs to the more difficult one. I was on the 24th place in giant slalom on Saturday. I still fight with my old technique during races although I feel better during trainings. Slalom was difficult, mainly the second round. I was more than very satisfied with the fourth place.

We set on the journey immediately after the race. We had more than one thousand kilometers to drive to St. Moritz in Switzerland. Tonda went with us to Milan and so it was easier. Tonda flew from Milano to Prague and I and my father drove the last 150 km to our destination.

It was a terrible weather in St. Moritz during the whole week. It was snowing, the wind was blowing hard and you couldn’t see absolutely anything. I had two trainings of downhill run and this year’s first combination on Friday. This time it was a combination of super G and slalom. I managed to stay among the first thirty racers and it was a first step for a good place. The slalom I did without troubles and I had the sixth fastest time in the finish. It was a nice place regarding the fact that I left out almost all combinations last year.

The weather didn’t get better during the weekend and the Saturday race was not very fair. The start was placed lower because of strong wind and bad visibility. Many racers didn’t finish the race.

After the race we could set on a journey and go back home after five weeks.


02.12.2008

We train in the Loveland resort like in previous years; it is about an hour and a half drive from Denver. The journey from Europe was without complications and even all our suitcases arrived on time…

During the first week I had to manage everything only with my father because Lukáš became quite seriously ill on the way from Finland and therefore he couldn’t travel with us. Dita arrived in one week and everything was immediately easier and joyful. Conditions for the training were good, it wasn’t freezing much as usually, the sun was shining every day and it was enough snow although there was only artificial snow on the slopes.

Unfortunately, several days before the race the weather got worse, the wind blew and it was foggy. It is not such a big deal with slalom but giant slalom was very difficult to pass in this weather. The usual thing in Aspen in that only the racing slope was prepared because of lack of snow and there is almost no room for training and warm-up before the race. The situation was the same this year as well.

I consider the slope for giant slalom in Aspen to be one of the most difficult I have had the possibility to race on in World Cup. Concerning profile, declination and sea level, I was glad because of the 17th place.

And what about my first winning? It was an example of how nothing can be planned. It is enough to do everything as well as you can, believe in yourself and your abilities and skills and wait for it to come. And questions of journalists when I’m going to win at last are the proof that the majority of them have no idea what the top Alpine skiing is about and they don’t understand the chain of events.

That day I felt a bit tired in the morning, it was snowing outside, the wind blew strong and the course was very icy. And I like when the sun shines, you can see well the field disparities and you ski on aggressive over-icy or artificial snow. Everything is normal, a warm-up, an inspection and start. Suddenly I’m standing in finish after the first round and I wave to a camera with a smile of a leading racer. The first round is always very important; it is very difficult to follow through losses in the second round. But this time I’m in advance of everybody… Everything is normal again; there is a break between the rounds, an inspection and start. I’m the last one, neighborhood of the starting area is quite empty. I try not to think and I just want to go down the slope as I know it. I’m in the finish, everyone is smiling at me and my name is shining at the top for this time. I did everything like many times before – with the feeling that I cannot do better during the particular moment, this time it was enough to win…


17.11.2008

The slope in Levi does not belong to the most demanding ones. The middle part, which is about fifteen gates long, is very steep (over 60% of downhill grade) but the rest of the course is flat and easy. The course was not very icy as it usually is. Despite this fact, the course remained in good condition for all racers and time differences were minimal. I was glad I was on the 9th place but I want to be better during the season. Competition in the disciplines is huge. Many racers that had been injured came back and this is why every race is a fight about best positions for all of us :-)

The journey there and back was complicated. Not only that we flew from München but in Helsinki we found out that our plane did not fly to Kittila directly but there was a stopover in Oulu! We were on the road from 3:30 am until midnight.

And moreover our plane got broken in Kittila on our way back (it was impossible to get started!). So instead at 1:30 pm we flew at eight o’clock in the evening and of course we didn’t manage to catch the flight to Prague. We slept in Helsinki and we arrived in Prague at about noon today.

Today afternoon was the time when we had to prepare and pack the entire luggage for five weeks on the road. We are going to set on a trip tomorrow at five o’clock in the morning… where? To München :-) From there we fly via Chicago to Denver, we will rent a car there and we will train in the mountains there for ten days until the race in Aspen (29th and 30th November – giant slalom and slalom).


10.11.2008

The first race of the upcoming season was not as good as I imagined. Now it is important to look at the video, find out where the mistakes were, beware of them next time, and forget about the race. We stayed in Sölden for the next three days.

We went for training to Austria before flying to Finland to another race of the World Cup; it is slalom this time. The weather is not the best one on glaciers in November but despite strong wind and fog, we had a high quality training some days.

On Wednesday morning, we are going to set on a journey to Finland. The FIS travel company provides flight tickets for all skiers mainly because of excess luggage; we need at least 100 kg more per person. Although we had always flown from Prague, we were told we had to fly from München this year and I do not really understand why. Even though it takes about fifteen minutes to get from home to the airport, we have to wake up at 3:30 am to set on a journey to München. From there we fly to Helsinki and we continue to Kittila – an airport about ten minutes far from Levi.


10.10.2008

Zermatt didn’t belong to the most successful tours. It was a nice weather during the first four days and I could enjoy the beauty of the mountains. I don’t train very often with the view on Matternhorn… :-) The weather got worse on the fifth day, it was raining and we weren’t allowed to go to the glacier. I didn’t mind it at that moment, I was happy to have one day off after a good four-day training. Unfortunately the lifts stayed closed for four days in a row. The sun was shining on the fourth day but no one from the very busy and important lift people wasn’t able to tell us why they don’t switch the lifts on… On the other hand I had the possibility to get to know the beauties of Zermatt, to train in the fitness center and to go for walks in the neighborhood… but if you go skiing somewhere, you aren’t very eager to walk :-)

On the way back I had to stop in München where I shot TV-spot for Milka for the following year together with four other competitors from the World Cup. It was a new experience for me and I had a very demanding day. The final TV-spot will last 20 seconds but we worked on it from 8am till 10pm… I’m very curious how it will look like. All the scenes are shot several times that they can choose and edit what they want. Of course I was nervous… You keep saying a memorized text in front of more than twenty people, a big camera is focused on you, you have a microphone in front of your mouth and you are full because you eat so much chocolate… it’s clear that your tongue doesn’t always obey you and it doesn’t say what it should say :-) And moreover I’m not sure that it will be me who will speak in that TV – spot … it’s common that they dub you.

After one week in Prague we went to the mountains again. This time it was just five-hour journey to Hintertux in Austria. It was snowing two days before we arrived so the training wasn’t the best one because new but adjusted snow isn’t our cup of tea. After I returned home, I could enjoy really nice autumn. It is nice to watch various combinations of colors and shades what nature can make especially in these days. The only thing I don’t like is shortening of days, I don’t like waking up in the dark… When you wake up in the summer and the sun shines to your room, it’s a completely different feeling.


06.09.2008

The first ski camp was really successful. We were skiing for seven days and the sky was cloudless every day and the slopes were frozen in the morning and this is ideal for the training. There was not much snow but it was enough for us not to destroy skis and had a high-quality training.

My physiotherapist Dita traveled with me for the first time and she did not let me relax for the whole day :-). We did exercises together every day. I learnt many new compensational and stabilizing exercises and their right performance.

It was a very demanding week and I came back very tired. The following six days were set for repacking my luggage and relaxation. We had only a light training with Tonda and I could get more energy for the following camp which begins tomorrow. We are heading to Zermatt in Switzerland that is almost one thousand kilometers far and we want to spend there two weeks.


22.08.2008

Days of main conditional training are slowly declining. At the end of August I switch to time when I spend a greater part of the training on skis if the weather is nice.

We set on to skiing in July for the first time this year. There were great conditions in Italy. We have a great chance for a good training in five days out of seven spent there. What more can you wish for…  This glacier ranks among the more demanding one. Not because of slopes where we have our trainings but because of the altitude where we stay. We stay in the hotel 3000 meters above the sea level and slopes for the training are even 300 m higher. A body regenerates more slowly and you are tired earlier.

I spent the major part of July and August in Prague. Training days and free days regularly changed and I enjoyed the time when I did not have to travel anywhere and I could plan two or three weeks in advance in my diary… that can never happen during winter :-) But like all the other months, these two passed very quickly… it is usual when you have something to do every day and it makes you happy.

The training during summer is demanding but Tonda makes it very diverse and interesting, even the stereotypical training in the fitness becomes fun… Except for skates, bike, running, fitness, trampoline and many other activities, I had kayak on still water in my training plan for the first time this year. I rode in Trója in Prague. The biggest problem for me was to ride straight… :-) Every arm works separately and you need them to work simultaneously and this was a big problem for me at the beginning… Nevertheless, I began to like it a lot.

Next week we are going on a glacier to Italy. It is time to transfer summer work to skis. I hope there will be good conditions for the training and we will do much work.


17.06.2008

Summer preparation is in full tilt and more than month and a half is gone. I’m happy about spring this year because it wasn’t hot and winter didn’t skip right to summer. We didn’t have to search for a cherry tree in bloom on 1st May like in previous years when almost everything was past blossom here in Prague :-)

During May and June we were at two skiing camps on glaciers in Austria. One of them took place on Hintertux where the weather wasn’t very nice. Even at 3000 meters above the sea level it was very warm and slopes had a minor chance to freeze and soft wet snow isn’t the right thing for a training.

In this season it doesn’t freeze so much on glaciers but when the night is clear, temperatures above the zero are fine for slopes to freeze and then the training has high quality. Hintertux has a disadvantage in the fact that if the night is clear and snow is hard in the morning, it’s already 9 o’clock when you get on the top and because the sun shines on the slopes from 7 o’clock, you have only hour and a half left for a good training before the snow starts to flow…

A few days ago we got back from another glacier, it was Kaunertal this time and it lies several valleys further. Our program is completely different here. Lifts work from 7 a.m. and moreover you can use a scooter for testing as well as for training on this glacier if you get up earlier. That means that in the evening you set your alarm-clock to 3:30 – this is a real awful number… But when it all comes right, slopes are frozen, you have a good training and you can enjoy great silence in mountains and a sunrise as well … you feel great because all this was worth it. It’s necessary to say that conditions aren’t always like that and it can happen that you get out of your car at the car-park and find you that it’s foggy and rainy… you get back to the car, drive down to the hotel, get off the winter jacket and race suit and you go back to the bed with a great feeling that you have two more hours to sleep until it’s 7:30.

Maybe further explanation to people who ask why don’t we just take the lifts at 7 o’clock like the majority of people… For example if you want to train a super G slalom, you need space and sometimes even two interconnected slopes. It wouldn’t be possible under normal conditions and moreover it’s safer like that because surprisingly you don’t meet many people at 5 in the morning on the slope (except for several marmots) :-)

Days off and training days shift regularly in Prague now. Even now I feel that I have done much work during the previous two months regarding skis and conditional training and I have four more months till my first races…


20.04.2008

It is always very nice when a change comes after a longer period of time when days seem to be similar. I really fancy skis, snow and racing but towards the end of March I begin to look forward to a moment when I put out skis and ski boots and I do not wear winter jacket and racing overall for some time. The more I am looking forward to them in May again.

One season has ended and immediately another comes up with a very pleasant beginning of relaxation. During five weeks I do not attend any trainings and I do not watch my daily schedule of food and sleep. I do whatever I like and I try to relax actively. I sometimes go to do exercises or swim and I regularly visit Malvazinky to undergo some water procedures and to do exercises with my physiotherapist.

At the end of March I went to Ramsau to do some cross-country skiing and to get to know winter from another point of view. I went cross-country skiing some ten years ago and that is why fist movements were quite uncertain… But I really enjoyed it and when there is a possibility in future to do it again, I would definitely go for it. When I wear ski boots and skis again, I will remember those comfortable cross-country skiing boots and skis…

We begin to train again at the end of April. I do it mostly in Prague except for some camps on skis on Austrian glaciers. The rest was very nice but as I said at the beginning, I am looking forward to the change again – it will be summer preparation in the following weeks.


17.03.2008

Organizers of the final race in Bormio dealt with bad weather in the beginning and therefore man and woman downhill was eventually cancelled. But the conditions for super-g were great. Four runs in downhill in Crans Montana were a great training for me and the reflection was visible in my Thursday run. I was very satisfied with the 18th place. It is a pity that there is a strict rule in the final race… only first fifteen gain points, not thirty like during the season. So I had a good feeling from this race and I gained experience for next races.

I rode the first run of the slalom very well and I enjoyed the feeling when you run into the finish and you are the fastest one. In the second run, the slope was worse and it was a fight for me to get down as fast as possible… Finally, I managed to do it and the third place was a nice ending of the season.

The last race was a giant slalom, the most interesting discipline for me. I appreciate my success in this discipline probably the most. Similar to super-g slalom, I almost reached the fifteen racers who gained points.

Last races of the season were very successful and it is great that I can finish with a good feeling. I will begin the preparation for the next year from a better starting point. I am looking forward to it.


05.03.2008

The World Cup season is getting towards its end. A downhill run and a combination await us in Switzerland in Crans Montana as well as the following demanding week in Bormio, Italy where the final race takes place.

I will run the first combination of this year in Crans Montana. It is the third one already but we decided to leave out the combinations in Saint Anton due to very difficult downhill and in Whistler due to long distance. We got prepared for the following race in Arber. However, this race was eventually cancelled because of the bad weather, heavy rain and wind. I was not particularly happy because I like those slopes and I felt well.

The best twenty-five racers plus a junior world champion plus racers who are not among the best twenty-five ones but gathered more than 400 points in all disciplines can be in the final race. I will be in all disciplines except the downhill run and therefore I use the 400 points rule in super-g slalom. It is very pleasant and important to reach this number because then I have some advantage in the start rank. I undoubtedly gathered the majority of points in slalom, this year I am regularly among the first ten racers and I added some points in giant and super-g slalom as well.
I am really satisfied from this season, I will maintain the best group in slalom, I will be in the final race in giant slalom and quite unexpectedly for me I was placed among the best thirty racers in super-g slalom.

The season is at the end but anyway five important races wait for me. In last 14 days, I had the opportunity to training well, rest a bit and I want to use it in following days…


15.01.2008

Why the time has to pass so quickly? Half the winter is over.

I hope that you all spent nice Christmas and celebrated the New Year Day. I spent my Christmas in Benecko area. Traditionally. Except for the last year when I was in Prague, I have spent every Christmas Eve in the mountains with my parents and my brother.

Right before the end of the year, I raced in Austrian Lienz. It was not the most successful weekend for me. I missed two hundredths for a second run in giant slalom and it simply was not my day in slalom, that sometimes happens. It is not bad to go through a bad success from time to time, the more I appreciate success.

For the last day of the year, we had a plan to baptize of a slope in Aldrov – Vítkovice where I learnt to ski when I was a child and there was supposed to be a signature-event. I hurt my eye from a broken bottle splinter during baptism itself that was prepared by the organizers and the following week was therefore a very complicated one for me. Doctor Fialová from Vysoké nad Jizerou hospital took care of my eye-lid and doctor Rezek from Bulovka hospital looked after my eye. I got a dioptric lens for stitches in my lid would not irritate cornea and I could start skiing again. Fortunately, I had no problem with looking but of course, a scar in such a sensitive place is nothing pleasant.

Although it began to snow several days before races in Špindlerův mlýn, organizers did handle the slope in a very good condition. I am glad you came to see the races and support not only me but other racers as well. I was happy that there were more of you than two years ago and that you created a pleasant atmosphere for everybody. It is completely different to race at home than abroad.

Our next journey led through Prague to Austria (we had trainings there) and then to Maribor in Slovenia for the next stop of World Cup. It was a beautiful and freezy weather during the day before races but it got warm during the night and a high-quality icy slope had no chance to remain as it was. The course kept breaking and this is a complication mostly for racers with higher numbers.
We all fought with broken course in slalom but it was a very nice race anyway and I was happy from the forth position and I had a good feeling from both runs.

I want to race in two Super G in Cortina d´Ampezzo next weekend. I’m looking forward to a little change.


15.12.2007

Finally at home. A month on the American continent was a long time …

Before the slalom in Aspen we had much more pleasant temperatures for the training than in Canada. But since the second day it had been snowing and therefore we would better make use of free-ride skis than of our racing slalom-skis … Anyway during the night before the race the sky cleared up and the sun was shining during the slalom and we had a beautiful view from the starting point on whole Aspen.

Last week of our stay in the USA was very demanding. We never dropped below 2 500 meters above the sea-level and I began to feel tired during the last days. We all started to count hours to the fligh home. The more we were angry when our plane to Denver was delayed and we didn’t catch the flight from Chicago to Frankfurt – the difference was 10 minutes only (!). At first it seemed that we would need to unvoluntarily spend one more night in the States but eventually we managed to get to a plane to London which departed the same day. So we got to Prague only six hours later than we planned. We arrived home after 33 hours of traveling and we were quite shattered and without luggage that got lost somewhere in Chicago and they kept arriving during the following three days. I was only resting for two days and I let the others take care of me… I was sleeping and I tried to adapt to our time as quickly as possible before the trip to races in St. Moritz.


02.12.2007

I first met Canada seven years ago when I was at the children races in Whistler, British Columbia. We flew to Vancouver and I can remember I was excited about the city at that time. This year we spent most of the time in Alberta. During the fist days we trained in Nakisca – we got there directly from Calgary. The resort was closed for public but one slope was covered by artificial snow for ski-racers and it was sufficient for high-quality training. Therefore I had enough space to accommodate to time change and train enough before races in Panorama.

We all are excited from Canadian nature and we carefully observe the landscape if there are some of the local animals. So far we have seen beautiful elks, deer and tons of squirrels … Unfortunately bears already sleep and cougars, lynxes or wolves are very rarely to see. Anyway I don’t know if I wanted to meet these animals face to face …

After eight days in Nakiska we moved 200 km further to Panorama. But we saw almost anything from this resort. Although everywhere else was a clear sky, the resort was covered with everlasting fog from splashing snow cannons – the organizers allowed to stop these cannons only for the days of the race. The racecourses in Panorama are very nice. The course of the giant slalom was an ice-rink because organizers poured water on it the evening before the race. Slalom track was more pleasant. I was very happy from both the races and I had a really good feeling. It’s great to reach such results and know about reserves and mistakes I can work on and improve.

Second races were Downhill and Super G in Lake Louise. It was beautiful weather and I had a great training on speed skis. Only frost could be more bearable, -28°C is too much even for me … It has not been warmer than -15°C since the third day of our stay. In such severe frost you have to be careful with toes in ski boots. Racing boots are very small and there is almost no chance to move your toes… I managed to do a great SG. I’m not very sure in this discipline as I don’t have such practice like in giant slalom or slalom. I myself was surprised by the 15th place. We don’t follow speed disciplines with high intensity as GS and Slalom and this place is a great success for me…

Tomorrow we are flying from Calgary to Denver. Slalom in Aspen awaits us next Sunday and then finally back home …


12.11.2007

Everything is as we planned. For a moment it looked like the opening slalom would be cancelled but eventually it was moved from Finnish Levi to Reiteralm in Austria. On the one hand I was a bit sorry. In Levi, the races were very nice and always amazingly organized with pleasant atmosphere and in beautiful nature. On the other hand we didn’t have to travel by plane behind the Polar Circle and we could go by car – the journey lasted only five hours…

I was glad after the race in Sölden that I didn’t fight with the hill like in the past and I was fond of it a little. A real winter started in Austria the week after and it was snowing a lot for several days. We all had to deal with snow and wind during the race in Reiteralm. The seventh place is not bad at the beginning and I feel that some better positions could come in future …

After coming home we had two days of a rest and a preparation for a tour in Canada and the USA that will last almost a month. This time we fly ten days before first races that we can get prepared for them and deal with the different time zone. On the 24th and 25th there is a giant slalom and slalom in Panorama. I believe that the organizers will prepare everything in time. The races have not been confirmed yet.


20.10.2007

The seven month from last race passed very quickly. However as every month …
It seems to be recetly when I took of my ski boots after second run in Lenzerheide with nice feeling that at least following month I don´t have to put it on.

Many obligations were waiting for me in April. But of course except that I had very nice rest time. I was in Greek and I spend a lot hours with regeneration as well. At the end of April I was realy looking forward to sommer training with my fitness coach.

During the sommer we were mostly training in Prague. In Juli we spent three weeks in Italien dolomite. I realy enjoed the camp. It was nice change agaist training in Prague and besides … wonderful mountains, lovely nature and delicious pizza… After homecoming a had feeling that around me is not enough space. Who visit oft the mountians must this feeling know as well…

With skiing we have started from the end of the August. The nature was on our side this year. At austrian and italien glaciers were very good snow conditions and except some days we had nice weather. It was wonderful Indian summer …

Next week is World cup opening in Sölden. Winter is already caming and is nothing what could the race threaten. I am feeling very good both by skiing and physically. I am looking forward to Saturdays season strart.