I have officially arrived in Austria ready for the Winter Youth Olympic Games after leaving here to go all the way around the world to compete in the North American Cup race series in Canada.

Firstly, I would like to say that Canada is amazing. Secondly, I really love Nakiska Ski Resort in Alberta and not just because I came third in a Super G Nor-Am race! The course at Nakiska suited me - technical with constant changing terrain and blind rollers. The second day of competition at Nakiska, I also made FIS points which lowered my World ranking despite making a mistake going onto the flats and loosing speed. The third day of racing was the Super Combined, first run of Super G I was totally out of it but pulled it back together in the Slalom leg which I managed to get the fourth fastest time.

The next day I was off to Panorama Ski Resort in British Columbia for 6 days of racing. The first day was Super Combined, unfortunately a few racers before me a course worker was seriously injured which resulted in a one hour delay. It was not only the delay that changed my race plan but with constant falling snow the course got slower as each minute passed. Then, the long delays caused the rescheduling of the slalom leg until the following day. This was not to be my day. However, the next day I had a really sweet Slalom run which pulled my result back up the rankings, again lowering my World rankings in Super Combined.

In the two Slalom races I improved with every run despite not having prepared for a steep water injected piste, which was equal to any Women’s World Cup course. The USA and CAN team slalom skiers had been training all week on the race piste, so it was difficult to get a good feeling in the race with no training. The final two days of racing were Giant Slalom, which I had awesome second runs but with ordinary first runs. However, I did improve my FIS points in GS!

Overall, the Nor-Am Bup was a great experience with some great learning opportunities in preparation for YOG and hopefully I have achieved a better start position in all four events because of my lower FIS points.

Travelling back by train from Vienna to Pitztal, gave me the feeling that I have come back to a whole new season. The long awaited winter Europe we have been waiting for is finally upon us.
Getting excited now, the Olympic torch relay goes through my village on Tuesday night. It is hard to believe there is less than 20 days until the Opening Ceremony.

Greta Small