The ski racing season has come to an end ! It was an exciting weekend of slalom racing at Loveland and it all came down to Sundays race to decide the Slalom Championship for Rocky Mountain.http://www.rmmskiracing.org/
Saturday went according to plan as I finished 2nd behind Richard. As expected I was 10 points ahead if him going into Sundays race. All I had to do was finish 2nd on Sunday and the medal was mine. Finish 3rd and Richard and I would tie for first place. Of course that would be OK also!
But there was one scenario that I had not considered!!!! and that was skiing so slowly that I would be in 4th after the first run and giving it all away!!! Yup, there I was in 4th after the first run to a fellow named Novak and down by 8 tenths of a second. Ouch!! Oh well, the only thing to do was go all out on the second run and at this point salvage the tie with Richard. Sooo, with caution thrown to the wind I gave it hell and had the fastest time on the second run ( ahead of Richard even) and managed to secure the 3rd place by beating Novak by over 2 seconds! Whew, that was a close one!The final results were just as predicted. Richard and I tied for the class 8 (60-64 yr) Slalom Championships.
And for anyone who is interested, here is the lastest from the Telluride Watch newspaper.
Now for the really big news of the weekend!!! The Kugler clan made their way on Saturday to Loveland to watch Gramps ski and play in the snow. Unfortunately the weather wasn't overly cooperative as most of the day was a mini blizzard. Zoe and Akex made it for a short time all bundles up in their snow suits. They looks so cute. Mike ( bless him) ( I wonder if Brooke knows how lucky she is?) ended up taking them back to his folks house for their afternoon nap.
Elizabeth, however, was another story. She and Brooke hiked up to the finish line and managed to catch a glimpse of Gramps' second run. The most rewarding part of the day was hearing that little voice say " Good Job Gramps!!!". She then proceeded to continue the congratulatory remarks to every person that followed. " Good Job #196" etc etc.
Oh and guess what!! Elizabeth spent the rest of the afternoon actually skiing!!! That's right 3 and 1/2 years old and tearing up the beginner hill. I couldn't believe the concentration and balance she displayed on her first day ever. And--- Not one fall!!! Needless to say we have a future racer in the making!
Gramps and Elizabeth hit the hill.
