Julia Straps on Slytech 2nd Skin

We’re going to be seeing a lot of Slytech at the Vancouver Olympic Games in both the men’s and women’s GS & slalom races in form of arm guards and shin guards. You ask the athletes about why they use the Destroyer Guards, they’ll tell you that they love the off-white look of the pre-preg fiberglass and because of the reduced surface area of the 3 gills, they are the fastest off the gate, bar-none.

What you won’t see is what’s under the athlete’s ski suits. Back protection is absolutely essential in the world of ski racing. Injected hills (super hard and icey so that the later racers are not as much at a disadvantage) and super fast speeds (70, 80, 90 mph!) make for very dangerous conditions.

Without safety standard approved back protection the athletes would put themselves even more in to harm’s way.

Racers need to go with equipment they trust. When you look around the ski huts where the skiers hang before a race, you’ll see that a great number of racers trust Slytech.

Watch the Girl’s Downhill race TODAY, Tuesday February 16th at 11AM PST! Olympic Fever is all over Whistler, so catch a glimpse wherever you are! It’s lining up to be a nail-bighter. Will it be the favorite Lindsey Vonn with the busted shin (or so they say), or will it be the Victoria Secrets Vixen Julia Mancuso? Or will it be any one of the other powerhouses from Austrians to Germans to the hometown Canadians? You’ll just have to tune it!

Slytech Nervous Arm Guards for Super G

I was recently up in Squaw Valley, California with Slytech user Julia Mancuso At her pre-Olympic training on home turf.

The race department at Squaw was amazing, turning on the Exhibition Hill’s flood lights at 6am so that the team could setup gates for Julia. 4 event alpine ski racer and men’s US Ski Team member Travis Ganong was on hand to provide Jules a race partner. Sporting his nervous arm guards in Super G, he kept a really tight line and slapped the gates as he flew by. He’s freaking fast!

Travis has a lot of career ahead of him and we wish him all the best!

Interesting to see how the girls tend to give themselves a little more room around the gates of a Super G, versus the men take a tighter line, making an arm guard almost essential. Not sure hitting a gate at 70mph is a fun experience!

Custom Lights Arranged at Squaw

A Racer's Dream | Your Own Training Setup

Coaches Setting Up

Kicking out of the make-shift start gate

Just came back from rail sessions and found that i’m right on the website frontpage of the largest newspaper in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat.. Few reporters walked by and here’s the result:

http://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/artikkeli/Helsinki+saa+kohta+lisää+lunta/1135252530508 <http://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/artikkeli/Helsinki+saa+kohta+lis%C3%A4%C3%A4+lunta/1135252530508>

Hahaha! Pretty classic “sport photo” i must say… Way to go.

-naku

Uhhhh... What's It Say?

Not sure whether you’ve ever made it into your hometown’s paper, but it’s a pretty cool occasion. I personally found myself  on the cover of my hometown paper in 1991 for windsurfing in a tropical storm. The other stories around it talked about downed powerlines, thousands of homes without power, the FBI nabbing some killer and right there in the center was a color picture of me jibing (what you don’t see is me falling in afterwards… heheh).

You ever been in your paper? Leave a comment!

Were you able to check out the TRUTH IN MOTION broadcast on NBC yesterday? If not, you really missed something quite worthwhile.

Good news is, you can catch it again at the following times:

Universal Sports: Sunday January 31, 10-11pm
Monday February 8, 8-9pm
Thursday February 11, 9-10pm

While a lot of the story is about Ted Ligety’s road to Vancouver as he fights for top spot on the squad and his 2006 Torino Olympic Gold, the heart of the story really centers around the Slytech crazy man Jake Zamansky.

It’s Jake’s dedication to even just make the US Olympic Squad and qualifying or else be faced with imminent retirement that helps make this documentary compelling. Stunning visuals (thanks to funding by Audi) and the directorial work of Brett Morgan, make this a must-see for any ski racing fan. Check it out!

Jake Zamansky Audi Birds of Prey in Beaver Creek Photo © Eric Schramm