The 2023/24 season has just concluded, marking what felt like one of the weirdest endings to a season in my career to date — barring when the pandemic hit. I wrote previously about feeling eager to continue racing and using the remaining competitions to keep practicing my race mentality. I certainly did my best to maintain that attitude and use all my opportunities, but it seems Mother Nature was set on fighting us just about every step of the way. Like so much of the season, my spring-time racing stops were all marred by some kind of issue with weather and conditions. Of the 13 planned races on my schedule, 5 were cancelled and many others went forward with less than optimal snow conditions. It may not have made for an ideal send-off into summer, but I’m happy to say there was still a lot of positive progress to note.
I’ll start with a synopsis of where I’ve been over the last month and a half. Following the final World Cup races in Kvitfjell, I flew directly from Norway to Lake Placid for a pair of Nor-Am super G races at the 1980 Olympic venue in Whiteface. Both races were held on the same day, which unfortunately followed a night during which temperatures never went below freezing. At first I was surprised that we were even going ahead with those races given the conditions, but I came to realize that was the reality now that I was no longer at a World Cup. The only option was to accept it and do my best to stick my nose in it anyway. As I waited for the second race to finish so we could tear down the B-nets, I overheard a funny conversation between two young American athletes. I was standing just outside the nets where many of the athletes were exiting the fences if they had blown out of the course higher up. Two guys running with later bibs came through the exit and proceeded to share how hard each of them had hit the nets after getting rocked by a particularly bumpy turn. Clearly lucky they had both escaped without injury, it of course became a debate over who had the more spectacular crash.
Following those races, I went straight back to Stoos, Switzerland, where another set of Europa-Cup super G’s were to be held. We attempted to spend a couple days free skiing and exploring the mountain, but that proved nearly impossible with the thick fog hanging around both days. At least my coaches were pumped that they got to ski around with borrowed poles for once — a rare luxury in the coaching lifestyle. The sun came out for our first race day, but with it came warm temps and high winds which forced the cancellation of that race. On the second morning, I didn’t even make it through my breakfast before our race was cancelled as the rain pounded down outside. I shared a sheepish look with my serviceman across the breakfast table, for he was less than stoked about the emerging pattern of prepping my race skis just to pack them up again the next day. After that week turned out to be a total scratch, we picked up and headed for for the next Europa-Cup speed series in Verbier. We managed to get three races off successfully despite dealing with everything from warm temps to high winds, a dump of fresh snow, and heavy fog through that week. It didn’t make for the best or most fair racing, but hey at least we were back doing something. I then met up with my teammates who were prepping for World Cup finals, and spent a week training with them before they headed to Saalbach and I finally flew home to Vancouver for the first time since the New Year.
My week off at home flew by, and I must admit I was starting to feel the end-of-season fatigue begin to catch up with me. I managed to squeeze in two days of skiing on my home hill in Whistler for the first time in nearly two seasons, but then it was time to hit the road again for the final push: Nor-Am finals in Panorama. Our team has had several epic spring training camps in Pano over the years, so knowing how good the conditions can be there got me fired up for the stacked race week. Alas, this was not to be another one of those years. It started so well with hard snow for our first downhill training day, but the next day the conditions were already deteriorating quickly as the race began and rain clouds loomed over the valley. We managed to pull off that one downhill race before the weather shut us down for the next five days, bringing the Nor-Am speed season to a dreary end. It was the perfect storm of events beginning with heavy rain melting the race hill down to the grass in places, then heavy snow falling on top of the unfrozen slush, insulating it so there was no hope of refreezing with the warmer temps. We got slightly luckier for the two GS days, and with the help of a heavy dose of salt the snow stayed just hard enough to get the two races off. It was a seriously rough ride in those courses, but once again it was nice to be racing after a long stint of thumb-twiddling on cancelled days.
In the end, there are many positives to reflect on despite what a mess the schedule turned into. I definitely think I improved my consistency with the race approach I spoke about previously, keeping a simple focus and trying to push the comfort zone every time. I feel like I’m much more in touch with the race pace that I had before injury, and my performances were much more consistent through the end of the season. The results were a mixed bag because of the quality of conditions, but I’m happy to have finished with two Nor-Am podiums as well as my first National Championship title in downhill. The latter came as a surprise since there was no mention of a national title being on the line in that downhill race, and I only became aware of it as the awards ceremony began. Perhaps not exactly the way I had imagined it, but I’m still proud to be able to put that title on my resume.
It’s finally time for a rest after another action-packed season. Just as every competition year does, this one proved to be trying in all its own unique ways. I’m looking forward to taking the next few weeks off, reconnecting with friends and family, and filling my time with the active hobbies I enjoy rather than sticking to a training program. I owe a huge thanks to everyone who has supported me through this past year, from my home community to my sponsors, team, and the volunteers. Here’s to continuing the progress next season, but for now enjoying some time away from the slopes. As always leave a comment if you’d like to learn more.
Cheers,
Brodie.