Here is a little glimpse into the life of me!  I will let you know about important or exciting events, or if nothing is happening at the time maybe a story or two.  

During the ski season I am going to post the results of all of my world cup events on this page.  So I'll keep you well informed on how I'm doing.

So here's all of the latest and greatest from my life!



7-5-08 I love you Clay!!!!!!!

Words can't express how I feel right now.  As I write this I am in complete shock and I can't feel anything from my head down to my toes.  I have just lost one of my most beloved friends, greatest coaches, and life mentors in a plane accident.  The only thing that even makes me feel less sad is the fact that he was up flying in Tahoe, his favorite thing in life.  If there is any way to exit this earth, I guess it is doing what you love. 

I really don't know where to go from here.  I can't face the fact that in a couple of weeks he won't be coming out to Salt Lake to coach me or show up at our house with that big goofy grin and crazy hair to share a steak dinner and a glass of wine with all of our friends.  I can't imagine never being able to hear his voice on the other end of the line and him telling me how proud he is because his athletes kicked some serious butt at their competitions.  He won't ever brag to me again about how wonderful his family is and how much they mean to him.  I just can't figure out how I will get by.  I am so selfish in my thoughts of him not being here any more, but he was such a big part of my life and I can't let go.  Not yet!!!!

Clay, I can't tell you how much you meant to me.  From the time I met you when I was 3 years old on our big wheels I knew you were going to be a friend for life.  You taught me so much in athletics, not just skiing but biking, roller hockey (which I never was any good at), hiking, and cliff jumping into water(always screaming and plugging my nose the whole way down).  Besides just being an athlete you made me a better person and I thank you for that.  You made me keep my head held high when I didn't want to, you wiped away my tears when I was sad and frustrated, you made me fess up and take the blame when I made a mistake and was at fault, you made me smile and think positive when I didn't think there was any hope, but most importantly you made me believe in myself when I didn't think I could. 

Thank you  Clay for everything you have done for not only me, but your friends, your family, your athletes, your community, and those people you impacted when you didn't even know it.  You have changed our world and made us better people and I can't tell you how special we all are because of you!!  I will hold you in my heart wherever I go and think about you often.  When I see something that I think might make you smile or laugh I will let you know.  I will try to take care of your family and be there for them the best I know how. 

I really don't know where to go from here but I guess your advice would be to just pick up my head, wipe my tears, think about the good times, and keep on going.  I don't know if I can follow this advice just yet but I'm sure going to try. 

Thank you for being my best friend and one of the most important people in my life!  I love you with all of my heart and I will miss you every day for the rest of my life.  God bless you!!! 

6-30-08 Back on the Water Ramps
It seems there are just a bunch of firsts for me again, and this time it is back on the water ramps!!  I went up to the Utah Olympic Park today and hit the mini jump 12 times and had a blast.  My knee felt like a million bucks before, during, and after, which is an excellent sign!!  I threw some warm up t sets and then moved on to some helis!  I just had a nice little session and hopefully next time I can move on to the bigger jump and work on my backflips and d spins.  I want to take it slow but it's so hard for me to hold myself back, I just have to keep reminding myself that I am still healing.   It's so much fun to actually be getting back in the swing of things and do what I love.  I've been watching my little brother jumping for the past couple of weeks and he's jumping so well, it makes me proud.  Well I just wanted to let you in on how my training progress is coming along.  In no time I'll be back on snow throwing all of my tricks, and that just makes me smile.  Until then......  Shannon :)
6-2-08 First Day Back on Snow
Hey everybody, long time no talk.  Well I just had my first day back on snow since my knee injury.  I can't tell you how nice it was to finally  be back gliding along on the fluffy white stuff.  I went up today with a bunch of my friends and we had a blast.  We were up at snowbird, the snow was great, and the sun was shining.  We took a bunch of runs up in Mineral Basin and then headed down to the bottom for a little apre ski.  I couldn't believe it because there was so much snow I didn't hit a rock all day.  It's June 2nd for goodness sake, we really did have an amazing snow year!!  I'm just so sad that I didn't get to ski any of this epic snow all season long, just had to listen to my friends ranting and raving about it!! 

My knee was absolutely perfect and it was like I hadn't taken the last 5 months off.  My boyfriend Matt said it was going to be the only day he was going to be able to beat me down the mountain and let me tell you, that didn't happen.  So all in all a great day and the smile on my face is from ear to ear.  I absolutely missed being on the snow and it felt so good to be back.  Mt. Hood, Chile, and Switzerland, here I come!!!!
3-15-08 Warm and Happy
Well I have to tell you that this winter has been a bit rough on me.  I mean, it has snowed in Utah practically every day since my surgery (great for skiers, bad for rehabers) and the sun has not shown itself in true Utah style.  And being a California gal I truly NEED the sun and warm weather!!  So for a little rest and relaxation a couple of friends, my boyfriend Matt, and I headed down to St. George, UT for a little time in the sun.  I am three months out of surgery so I can almost do the fun stuff again, but not quite yet!  While everyone went out and rode their dirt bikes, I headed off on my first road bike ride since surgery.  I think I had a smile from ear to ear for the entire time.  I have really missed being on my bike and it was all the more special to be WARM!!!  I just had my ipod on, cruizing on the bike path, and looking around at all of the beautiful scenery!! 

The next day we wanted to hit the links and when we started calling there was not a tee time to be found, but my friend Curt bribed the poor guy behind the desk with $50 and bam, we were playing golf!  Well I can't really say I was playing golf, I was using my putter on the green, driving the cart, keeping score, and pulling the pin for everyone.  But again, the sun was shining and I was finally wearing a tank top!!!!  I feel bad for anyone who was looking because I am sure I blinded the poor people with my pale reflective skin! 

Now I am back in Salt Lake and it snowed again this morning, boo!!!  I am really looking forward to the U.S. Freestyle Championships though.  They are going to be in Deer Valley on my favorite course this next weekend.  Our team has done so well this year and it will be nice to see them all again and hang out.  I hope they didn't forget about me!!! 

Well anyhoo, I just thought I would let you know how I'm doing and how excited I am about summer.  I just know the tulips will be blooming soon.  My knee is feeling great and I'm getting closer and closer to being back in the game again.  Thank you so much for everybody's support, I can't tell you how much it means to me.  Hope all is well and I'll talk to you soon, Shannon :)
2-9-2008 Chillin' in Killington

Hey everyone, how are you?  Well it feels like forever since I've written here (and I guess it is) but I wanted to let you all know how things have been going since my surgery. 

I am about 6 weeks post-op and it's been going great.  I have been keeping busy in Salt Lake City with all of my friends and family that came out to visit.  I have been doing rehab with my good friend Julie and she has been helping me tremendously!!  It's kind of crazy going through rehab because you really have to teach your leg and knee to do everything again.  For the first couple of weeks you can't even go all the way around on a stationary bike, so when you do it's almost like winning a silver medal at the Olympics.  You feel like everything is going to be ok again!! 

So with six weeks of getting my flexion and extention back (very technical terms for knee bending and straightening) I am now actually in Killington, VT working with Bill Knowles at I Sport.  He is one of the most amazing people I have ever met.  His knowledge, his expertise, and just plain being a cool guy makes him the one and only person I want to work with when it comes to getting my knee better and my body back in shape.  He helped me last time with my knee so I knew he would help this time.  So I'm here for almost two weeks and I'm going to be busy busy busy! 

At this point in rehab things are still healing so we have to take it pretty slow.  I've been doing a lot of swimming, biking, pilates, body weight squats, and things like that.  I'm not sure what he has in store for me but I'm sure it will bring me back faster and stronger than ever.  I'll keep you posted on all of the fun exercises!!

I thought that when I left Utah it couldn't possibly be snowing anywhere else in the world because all of the snow is there but here I come to Killington, and boom it's snowing here too.  I think the snow gods are just plain mocking me right now.  I'm sitting at the computer watching all of the skiers come down and watching it dump.  I've seen some near misses by all of the beginners coming down, I really do have a good seat for crash spectating!!!

Well I just wanted to say hi and thank you to everyone who has written me and given me your support, I don't know what I would do without you.  I hope all is well where you are and hopefully the snow gods will visit you!!!  Ta ta for now, Shannon :)
12/24/2007 Surgery Went Great!!
I just wanted to give you all an update on how my surgery went.  I have received so many phone calls and emails in the last couple of days and I'm so sorry I didn't answer any of them.  I have not felt well (threw up a couple of times) and so I just wanted to be sit in my own post surgery misery!!  I had surgery on Friday with Dr. Cooley (the best surgeon in the world) and he said everything went great.  He gave me a new ACL, from my hamstring, and there wasn't as much damage to my meniscus as he originally thought.  He still had to go in there and trim up the torn part, but at least he didn't have to sew it up or anything like that.  So all in all, my knee is in good condition. 

After my surgery they gave me a little bit too much morphine for the pain and I barely got to the car before I threw up!  I bet you really wanted to know all of this so that's why I am sharing!!!!!  Today I am feeling much better and am able to move around a little bit, before I was pretty much just laying on the couch watching movies and reading my new books. 

I am using this thing called a game ready that circulates cold water all around my knee while doing compression at the same time.  It is an incredible machine and I don't have nearly the swelling that I did with my last surgery.  So if you ever have something like this you should check it out at gameready.com.  I am really impressed by it. 

So that is all for now.  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.  My family and Matt, the bestest boyfriend in the world world are here for the holidays and I can't tell you how much it means to me.  My Mom put up all of my Christmas decorations and it is so festive!!!  I love you all and wish you a happy holidays.  May your Christmas be very very white!!! 

12-18-2007 Out for the season! Boo hoo!!!!
It is always hard for me to tell you these things, but it is something I must do.  I am so sorry I didn't write any sooner but it has taken a little time to settle in on my feelings.  I had such an amazing summer and fall of training and I was really ready for the season to start.  My d spin was the best it has ever been and I was totally confident about my skiing.  But things kind of took a turn for the worst at our fall camp.  I took a pretty nasty crash about halfway through our days on snow when we were skiing at Winter Park.  I was just going into my d spin and I caught my tip on one of moguls entering the jump.  I don't quite remember plunging my head into a mogul at top speed but I guess that is what happened.  So to make a long story short I had to be taken down to Denver by ambulance to get a CT scan to make sure I didn't break my neck.  The great news was that I was totally fine, it was just a pretty bad case of whiplash. 

I just had to not move my neck for a while and see how it felt to make sure I could compete in our first World Cup in Tignes, France.   I was really good with the rest, icing, massage, and ibuprofen and when I got back to Salt Lake I wanted to be absolutely sure there was no ligament damage or things of that nature so I went to get an MRI.  All clear, I was off to France.  Yeah!!!!!!

It was feeling pretty good and I still had a couple more days of rest ahead of me.  The travel over was a bit rough, but I knew that was going to happen.  When we arrived in France we literally got out of the van and it started to snow!  And by snow I mean dump, I hadn't seen it snow that hard in a long long time.  So the day before our first official training day we got a pretty sick pow day.  It was chest deep and untouched, my favorite kind!!! 

Our first training day arrived and it was still snowing and kind of foggy.  The course workers did not do a very good job of keeping dye and pine bows on the course so it was VERY tough to see!  But I felt that I had missed so much skiing that I really needed to get after it.  I took a couple of mogul runs and then decided it was time to get up to speed on my jumps as well.  I really wanted to go in, but there are some things you must tough out as an athlete and this was one of them.  So I hiked the top jump a couple of times doing backflips and I was now going to throw my d spin.  So I skied into the top jump, threw my d spin, landed, and hit a mogul funny on my left knee.  Instantly I felt a not so good thing going on in my knee and I knew I had blown it out.  They took me down in a sled (the 2nd time in two weeks, boy did that suck!!) and I was done for the season.  I have a completely torn ACL, partially torn MCL, partial meniscus tear, and a deep bone bruise. 

I wanted to go home the next day so our head coach Flash was kind enough to take me all the way to Geneve (about 4 hours one way) and put me on a flight home.  It again, was a rough trip home but I got here safe and sound.  I got an MRI and saw my Doc and now I'm set for surgery on Friday the 21st. 

I've just been doing PT and trying to get my flexion back before I have surgery.  I can't believe I have to do this all over again but the only thing I can think about is that I have the ability to make a full recovery and there's a lot of people who get injured every day that will never be able to do what they love again.  It makes me sad and I am very grateful that I will be able to ski again!!!

So there you have it, the full story!  I'm just chillin' at home and my family is coming out here for Christmas so that will be wonderful.   Thank you for everyone who has written to me, it truly means more than you know!  I wish I could be out there skiing but I'll just have to wait until next year.  Then it's only a short while to the next Olympics!  I hope you are doing well and I wish you the happiest of holidays!!!  Shannon :)
11/12/2007 We need to do a snow dance!!!!
I don't know about you people out there, but we need some snow.  I went out to Colorado for the past four days to just get back on my skis before our official Fall Training Camp in a week and a half, and was surprised to find how little snow there was.  It seemed like three weeks ago we were going to have a HUGE winter and now I'm wondering where all of the storms went????  I guess I get a little antsy this time of year because I want to have great training before our official competition season starts. 

We started our first two days at Copper Mountain.  It is pretty funny because we pay to use this little course (and by course I mean 30 moguls with an air somewhere in the middle) and it dog legs right so badly that you can't even see the jump when you start!  And the racers out there have the entire run!!!  It's a bit frustrating to be on the U.S. Ski Team and being pushed around by some 15 year old Canadian regional team racers, but we made the best of it.  After those two days, the racers needed our little lane so they groomed it over and we were out of luck.  We went to working on some flat drills and just plain having fun at Breckenridge the next day and then at A Basin after that.  We even got free pancakes on the opening day at Breck (gotta love that!!!).  Thank you guys.

For us, the snow didn't really matter.  Our team got together and we made the best of it.  We went to the Breck Rec. Center and had some pretty fun games of Knock Out and Wally Ball.  I am usually not very good at these games and am pretty frustrated playing them, but I must say that my apre ski game skills shined!!!  Our team really has a fun group of people and make me laugh harder than I've laughed in a long time. 

These past couple days of skiing was an excellent way to get back on my skis and remember how to do it.  It never fails me to have a nightmare before my first day on snow, that I can't ski moguls anymore!!!   But thankfully I can and I am looking forward to some more snow so I can work on my jumps. 

I hope you will join me in doing a snow dance of your own.  Sing a snow song, do a happy snow dance, or just get with your buddies and tell great skiing stories and I'm sure it will come sooner rather than later. 

I hope all is well and when the snow does find you, it's DEEP!!!!

9-23-2007 I'm an official Race Car Driver!!!!
Yes, that's right folks.  I'm a race car driver!!  I finally got my license this weekend out at the Larry Miller Motorsports Track.  It was such a fun weekend and now I can finally race instead of just practicing.  Each day we had two practice sessions, a qualifying session, and then the race.  The race was pretty cool because we did a rolling start and we followed the pace car around (just like you see on TV).  I don't think my adrenaline level has been that high in a long time.  I get nervous skiing but this is unlike anything I've ever experienced. 
I raced my miata and there were around 12 other Miata drivers out there, so our class is really competitive.  I'm not quite good enough to really be in the lead yet but as I get more time in the car, there is no doubt I can be a contender!  The people that race miatas race at the Miller Track every weekend and I don't get out there nearly as much as I want to.  I have ski training to do, working at the Home Depot, and it's just a little too expensive for me right now!
I was trying so hard I think I flew off the track 20 times all weekend and I think the fastest I spun off was at like 75 mph.  Kind of scary, but I'm ok!!! 
So I just wanted to share my good news with everyone and hopefully sometime in the near future you can come watch me race.  It is so much fun, I wish some of you would come out there and try it with me.  I absolutely love to race and wish I could do it more often.  Ta ta for now, Shannon :)
9-9-2007 Cruise to Alaska
Yes that's right ladies and gentlemen, I went on a cruise.  I didn't think I was quite the cruising type but it turned out I was totally wrong, I am a cruiser at heart!!!!!!! 
My mom, dad, brother, boyfriend, and good friend G.W. and I all went on a cruise to Alaska.  We went up to Glacier Bay, Juneau, Sitka, and Katchican.  We saw some beautiful glaciers, bald eagles, whales (and their tales), and lots of trees!!!  At Juneau we went on a float plane ride over some of the glaciers and it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  It was so different than seeing the glaciers that were falling into the ocean, the ones we saw in the plane were like 80 miles long and just looked like a frozen river in the middle of nowhere.  It was absolutely breath taking!!! 
Matt and I went on a couple of hikes and it was crazy because the forests there are rain forests and look almost like the ones in Maui (minus the tropical birds).  I always thought it was going to be like Tahoe but it was completely different.  I was amazed.  If you ever have a chance to go to Alaska I highly recommend it!
Oh yeah, and besides all of the beautiful stuff we saw, we ate a lot. I think I gained 7 lbs. in a week!!!  I guess that is what happens when you eat 8 meals a day!!!!! 
I also got seasick.  I don't know who gets seasick on a 550 ship in calm water but that was me.  Seasick aboard a floating city, pretty humiliating really!!
Well anyways, we had a great time but it is finally nice to be home for a little while.  I finally get to sleep in my own bed.  It is something I miss very much when I am gone.  That's all for now.   Ta ta, Shannon :)
8-29-2007 Great Chile Camp
Wow, did we have a great Chile Camp.  It was by far and away the best camp we've ever had down there.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  It snowed the first night we got there and so for our first day of skiing we got a POW day!!!!  What could be better than that!  After that it was bluebird every day and it stayed cold so the snow never got into the freeze thaw cycle that sometimes it does down there. 
I was skiing really well but the thing I was most excited about was my jumping.  I have been working really hard on the water ramps and it transfered right over when I brought it to snow.  I did about 50 d spins and I skied out of 49 of them.  I couldn't have asked for anything better than that. 
The only thing that was a huge drag was the food.  It was DISGUSTING!!!!!!!  They had lost their cooks from the last couple of years and who they hired will hopefully not be there next year.  One night they served us this slimy meat that just didn't look right.  Well, we found out later that it was liver!!!  Good thing I didn't eat it. So I pretty much survived on water, cereal, and chocolate!!  Hopefully next year it won't be so bad.
So if you are wondering what we do down there for fun besides skiing, I have to tell you that there is not much to do.  Our internet only worked sometimes, we have no T.V., 1 phone for the entire building, and no shopping or town to visit.  So it gets pretty boring sometimes.  But I did get addicted to Grey's Anatomy.  We had the first two seasons down there and we watched them on our computers.  I think I watched the whole first season in one day!!!  So that's what we do, sit around and pretty much do nothing in our off time.  It's called "recovery". 
Well that's about it.  Overall it was an amazing camp and I am super excited about how I skied and jumped.  Hopefully that will mean better skiing this winter.  I hope you are all having a great summer because winter is right around the corner!!!!
Ta ta for now, Shannon :)
7-4-2007 Happy 4th!!!!!
Well hello, again.  Long time no talk.  I have been having such an amazing summer sometimes I forget to write.  I am now back in the full swing of training again and it is going great.  Sometimes being in the gym is the last place I want to be, but seeing my body get stronger and stronger is always super rewarding.  I've been doing a lot of yoga lately and I absolutely love that!!!  I haven't gotten to drive my race car as much as I would like, but hopefully I'll get a little more time later in the summer.  I've just been too busy.  I'm still working at Home Depot in the paint department so if you are ever in town and need some advice on what color to make your new kitchen, swing on in!!! 
We actually have an on snow camp coming up in mid-July.  We ae going to go up to Mt. Hood and it should be fantastic.  I've been working my bum off at the water ramps so hopefully it will transfer right over when we get to the snow.  Matt is coming up there with me and we are bringing our dirt bikes so it'll be skiing in the morning and riding motos in the afternoon.  Sounds like a perfect day if you ask me. 
It has been really hot here in Salt Lake and I hope it's not this hot where you are!!!  Hopefully it will cool back down a little bit.  But I don't mind the heat that much because I am always in winter and pretty much always COLD!!!!
Well anyhoo, I just thought I would check in to say hi and let you know how things are going.  Have a wonderful 4th of July, don't do anything I wouldn't do!!!!  Talk to you soon, Shannon :)
5-5-07 Pow Day in May
Usually after nationals I am about as over skiing as one can get after a really long and tiring season.  But I have to tell you that we have the most hard core coaches and they wanted us to go up to Snowbird and have a little fun that last couple of days.  

At first I was pretty against the idea of dragging out all of my ski stuff but once the whole team got out there and we started to make some trams I was having a blast.  They got 6-12" over night and it was one of the best pow days of the year (for me anyway).  I got some pretty amazing untracked runs but the best part was being out there with my team and just having fun.  We hang out so much during the season when the pressure is high and it was nice just to strap on a pair of fat skis and rip it up! 

But now I have officially put away my skis.  Oh wait we have another on snow camp in Colorado on June 1st!!!!  So much for that idea.  Well I hope all of you are either past the ski season and moved on to hiking and biking or are enjoying that one last pow day like myself.  Have a good one wherever you are I'll talk to you soon, Shannon :)
4-25-07 Just Hanging Out
Well hello there everyone, it's been a long time since I talked with you.  Things have been pretty crazy here in good ol' Salt Lake City.  Most of you can figure out that when we are done skiing I really want winter to be OVER and spring to suddenly appear.  It hasn't quite happened here because it has been snowing on and off for the past couple of weeks.  I have been a little bit mad at that but oh well, some people still want to be skiing (crazy!!!). 
But a whole bunch of other fun stuff has been going on.  I started back up working at the Home Depot again.  I wouldn't quite call this super fun, but it's nice to see all of my associates and some of the regulars that come in from time to time and chat with me.  So if you are ever in Salt Lake and need some paint, please don't hesitate to come in and say hi!  
Now on to the FUN stuff.  I took a couple of days and went down to Moab and we rode motorcycles.  It was the first time I had actually been down there without my mountain bike and I had the best time.  My legs needed a little bit of a break and riding a motorcycle is the perfect thing for resting legs!!!  We saw some beautiful stuff and rode some cool trails, but I think the best thing was that it was WARM down there!!!!
This past Friday I had my screw taken out of my knee, that was pretty exciting.  I really can't believe how big that thing is.  I knew it was in there but it really was enormous, I'm glad to finally have it out!  
Also this past Monday I went out to Larry Miller's race track and got in a whole day of racing.  It was the first time driving our new porsche (well new to me at least) and I think I am still smiling from ear to ear.  It was a bit crazy trying to go faster and faster and I spun the car going about 70 mph, that will get the heart pumping, and I also put it off the track going about 80.  But that's all in how you become a better driver, at least that is what I keep telling myself.  
I also got to go to San Francisco and visit some of my good friends.  I saw Julia Mancuso while I was there and it was great to see her.  We did her show that she is hoping to get on Sirius radio, I think there was a lot of giggling going on.  
Well anyhoo, I just thought I would say hi and let you know how life is going.  I am here in Salt Lake working away and enjoying the warmer weather.  I hope it is nice where you are and your spring is great.  Have a good one and I'll talk to you as soon as something cool happens to me.  Ta ta for now, Shannon :)
3-25-07 US National Champs (duals)
Well well well a 2nd place is a pretty good way to end the season.  I mean, you always want to win, but if you're not going to win 2nd is the next best place to finish!!!

Today was pretty crazy because the snow conditions changed so drastically.  It has been such a great weekend for weather.  Friday and Saturday were so beautiful and then it had to go and snow on us.  And it wasn't that nice snow, it was sticky and wet.  The snow that I HATE!!!  I took about three turns in morning training and almost quit because it made my body hurt so bad.  But I stuck with it because I knew that it was warming up and hopefully by the time we actually got around to duals it would be nice again. 

I finished the morning in 2nd place and I was on fire in duals.  It was some of my best skiing of the weekend and I thought there was no way I could lose.  Every run was better than the last and I was really confident going into the finals, and skied against Shelly Robertson.  She is a really good dualer and has won nationals twice before, so I knew it would be a battle. 

But it was pretty much over before it began.  I came out of the gate a little off balance and never got it back.  I crossed my tips before the top jump and tried to save it in the air but that didn't work and when I landed my skis just got out from under me and I flew across the middle line.  It was one of those slow motion crashes that you can just feel happening and you are trying everything in your power to prevent, but nothing is working. 

So that sucked pretty bad, but I am just so happy with ending the season with two podiums at nationals.  I couldn't have asked for a better season and the best part about all of it, is that I am HEALTHY and INJURY FREE!!!!! 

It is now spring and I am going to take full advantage of it.  I'm going home for a week to try and get rid of this cold I've got and then we're packing up our motos and heading down to Moab for a week.  I'm hanging up the skis for a little while (well, unless there's a powder day) and taking out the mountain bikes, motos, and all that fun stuff.

Thanks so much for following my season, it has been pretty fun for me letting you all know how I did and how I felt while I was doing it.  Have a wonderful spring and I'll let you know the next time I do something really really fun!!!  Chow for now, Shannon :)

U.S. National Champs (Duals)
March 25, 2007
womens results
1. Shelly Robertson
2. Shannon Bahrke
3. Jillian Vogtli
4. Heather McPhee

mens results
1. Sho Kashima
2.Jimmy Discoe
3. Landon Gardner
4. Jay Bowman-Kirigin
3-23-07 US National Champs

Oh my goodness, what an honor to have, 2007 US National Champ in single moguls!!!!!!

It was a pretty crazy day out there, I finally got off the hill after drug testing at 6:30 pm  We got up and at em at 7:30 am and had to leave for the mountain and 8:15.  When we arrived there they told us that the course was a sheet of ice and they were going to postpone training for an hour.  I could have slept for a whole other hour!!!!!!  So we just sat in the lodge and chatted it up with the other girlies.  We finally got out on the course at around 10 and it was awesome.  The sun had started to bake it and it was slowly turning into slush.  There were 49 women in the competition and I ran 42, which is really late.  But I put down a really good first run and was in 1st.  My legs felt really heavy in the gate but as soon as I pushed out of the gate they came alive again, which is always nice. 

The weather out here has been absolutely beautiful.  It was about 60 degrees, the sun was shining, and the snow was softening by the minute.  The best thing about Killington is that you can watch the event right from the base lodge.  My parents came out for the event and some of their friends Jack and Barb.  They had enough bells to ring for everyone, I love those guys!!!!!  So inbetween runs I just chilled with them on the deck getting a sun tan and watching the boys rip it up. 

After all of those people had skied that course it almost became unrecognizable.  The ruts were so deep and the walls of slush on both sides got enormous.  They were running really behind schedule so we didn't get a lot of training time for the finals run.  I had a little panic attack because the course was so different but I just had to calm myself down. 

It has been a long time since I was the last girl to run and I wanted to stay in first place.  So when I pushed out the gate I really went for it.  My jumps were not my all time best but I think they were pretty good.  But I think the best thing about my run was my middle section.  I put that thing down.  My skiing felt so smooth and fast, just the way I wanted to ski it. 

It was really nice to be on the podium with Jillian and Heather.  Jillian has had a rough go this season and it was nice to have her put down an awesome run too. 

The men put down some pretty sick runs, every time I watch them they truely amaze me.  Holt Haga, a new member to the team skied an almost perfect run to win the event.  It was really tough for them because the sun started to go behind the mountain and there was nothing but shade on the course. 

All in all it was a great event and hopefully duals will be just as good.  We have a day of rest today and then we go again tomorrow.  Have a wonderful weekend.  Ta ta for now, Shannon :)

 

2007 SPRINT U.S. FREESTYLE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bear Mountain - Killington Resort
Killington, VT - March 23, 2007
Men's Moguls (16 made finals)
1. Holt Haga, Boise, ID, 27.63 points
2. Nathan Roberts, Park City, UT, 27.22
3. Dave Babic, Washington, VT, 27.00
4. Landon Gardner, Missoula, MT, 26.83
5. David DiGravio, Farmington, ME, 26.60
6. Jay Bowman-Kirigin, Salt Lake City, 25.80
7. Cody Tempel, Missoula, MT, 25.58
8. Jeremy Cota, Carrabassett Valley, ME, 25.22
9. Robert Burden, St. Mary's, PA, 25.07
10. Glenn Engelmann, Santa Cruz, CA, 24.78
--
Women's Moguls (16 made finals)
1. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA, 27.17
2. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, NY, 26.41
3. Heather McPhie, Bozeman, MT, 25.88
4. Eliza Outtrim, Steamboat Springs, CO, 25.51
5. Shelly Robertson, Reno, NV, 25.05
6. Whitney Henceroth, Dillon, CO, 24.50
7. Kayla Snyderman, Winchester, MA, 23.85
8. Mikaela Matthews, Frisco, CO, 23.10
9. Kristen Sweeney, Falmouth, ME, 22.59
10. Brittany Loweree, Point Lookout, NY, 21.38
3/10/2007 My little bro Rookie of the Year
I could not be more proud of my little brother Scotty.  He was voted Rookie of the Year for the World Cup Tour this season.  He got this enormous trophy and a lot of bragging rights.  It is a huge honor to be named this and I am just so stoked that he won it.  It was actually pretty cool because we had 3 Americans win the honor.  My little bro for mens aerials.  Heather McPhee won it for women's moguls and Jay Boman-Kirigin won it for men's moguls.  So the U.S. Team  future is bright when all of us old folk finally decide to retire and they take the torch.  Congrats Scotty, I love ya!!!!!!!
3/10/2007 World Champs (dual moguls)

Oh my gosh 2nd place.  I couldn't be more pleased.  Today was the day that I was hoping to have had in singles, oh well.  My qualifying run was one of the best runs I have put down all year.  Everything just seemed to fall into place.  I was sitting second going into the night duals event, so that was great.  In duals the rules say that the higher ranked skier after qualifications gets to pick the course they want to ski.  So going 2nd that meant I got to pick my course the whole time, except for if Jenn made it to the end, in which case she would get where she skied.  And it ended up happening just like that. 

I don't know what happened because duals is not my strong event.  I seem to always get knocked out in the 1st or 2nd round, and this year it has been by my teammates.  But I was pretty fired up after finishing 4th yesterday and wanted to prove myself.  I had to ski against Marina Cherkisova from Russia in the first round and I put down a great run and won. 

In the 2nd round I ran against my teammate and friend Jillian Vogtli.  She is one of the best dualers on our team and she beat me in France at our last duals World Cup.  So I knew I was going to have to put down a great run to beat her.  I had two really nice jumps and my skiing was great, the only thing that I lost was time.  I was fast in the singles event, but duals are a whole other story.  So I think I beat her with a score of 18 to 17.  Phew, that was close.  It always sucks to take out a teammate, Jillian I'm sorry!!!!!!

In the 3rd round I had to race Margarita Marbler.  This round was to decide who made it into the top 2 or for 3rd and 4th.  I was in the gate and I was sure as hell not going to compete for 3rd or 4th place.  So poor Margarita, she never had a chance, I was pissed off from the very beginning.  I think that was my best run of the night because I wanted to make it into the top 2.  I skied a very fast aggressive run, with two good jumps, and beat her across the line.  Poor thing, now she'd have to duke it out for 3rd. 

So then it came down to Jenn Heil and I.  I think right out the gate she got a great start and put a couple of moguls on me.  So I was chasing the whole time.  But I skied really well and it was pretty close.  She beat me across the line so I pretty much knew she was going to win, but I think I gave her a pretty good run for her money.  I was just so excited to make it to the final two and win a medal at Worlds.  I couldn't have ended my season on a better note and I am very proud of what I accomplished. 

So there you have it, a silver medal at worlds.  There are some pretty cool pics on the usskiteam.com in their news articles, check it out.  Anyhoo, my boyfriend Matt is over here and so we are going to take a couple of days for vaca and head on over to Venice.  After that we are going home for a week and off to Killington, VT for U.S. Nationals. 

Ta ta for now, Shannon :)

2007 FIS FREESTYLE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Madonna Di Campiglio, ITA - March 10, 2007
Women's Dual Moguls (16 made finals)
1. Jennifer Heil, Canada
2. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA
3. Margarita Marbler, Austria
-
6. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, NY
7. Shelly Robertson, Reno, NV
9. Heather McPhie, Bozeman, MT
--
Men's Dual Moguls (16 made finals)
1. Dale Begg-Smith, Australia
2. Guilbaut Colas, France
3. Ruslan Sharifullin, Russia
-
7. Sho Kashima, South Lake Tahoe, CA
13. David Digravio, Farmington, ME
3/9/2007 World Champs (single moguls)

Gosh darn it, 4th place.  Well I can't be too sad because 4th is actually pretty good, but you know 4th place.  So close, yet so far!!! 

Well it is always interesting when you come to Italy.  They work on their own schedule and sometimes, well ok mosttimes, it's not a very fast.  When we arrived it was pretty interesting because the mogul course hadn't even been built yet.  And when they started to built the mogul site it intersected the jumping site about 3/4 through the course.  It was interesting and I didn't know how they were going to fix it.  It took them an extra day of building but the site was finally ready. 

I always love coming to Madonna di' Campiglio because it is absolutely beautiful and the food is always AMAZING!!!  So when we were just chilling at our hotel I was a pretty happy camper.  The layout of our events were great because we had eventing training and both of our events were night events, which I love. 

But the snow conditions were about as crazy as I have ever seen them.  The snow was in a freeze thaw cycle without the freeze, so it was the most mush I've ever skied in.  Usually that is so much fun to ski because it's user friendly and if you crash it doesn't hurt.  But this was out of control.  The night before the competition training got so bad that the coaches thought about just pulling us out because it was too dangerous. 

Anyhoo, I had a really nice run in qualifying and was sitting in 4th place.  Which is a great attacking possition so I was pretty happy.  My finals training went really well too and I knew that I had what it took to get on the podium.  I came out of the gate ready to ski and I just set my heli a little too hard and I landed on the tails of my skis.  It wasn't a major mistake but enough to keep me off the podium.  The rest of my run was great and my time was right up there as well.  I was pretty bummed just because I made one stupid mistake, but sometimes you just get over anxious!

It was actually nice to see someone else win for a change.  Kristi Richards had one of the best runs of her life and is now World Champ!!!  And one of my good friends P.A. won for the men, and I don't think I have seen a bigger smile in my whole life.  So all in all it was a great night and I know I can do better in duals!!! 

2007 FIS FREESTYLE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Madonna Di Campiglio, ITA - March 9, 2007
Men's Moguls (16 made finals)
1. Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau, Canada, 27.17
2. Dale Begg-Smith, Australia, 26.65
3. Nate Roberts, Park City, UT, 26.63
4. Pierre Ochs, France, 26.54
5. Dave Babic, Washington, VT, 26.12
-
11. David Digravio, Farmington, ME, 23.97
12. Jay Bowman-Kirigin, Salt Lake City, 23.75
30. Sho Kashima, Zephyr Cove, NV
--
Women's Moguls (16 made finals)
1. Kristi Richards, Canada, 25.37
2. Jennifer Heil, Canada, 25.25
3. Deborah Scanzio, Italy, 25.12
4. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA, 24.86
5. Stephanie St. Pierre, Canada, 24.58
-
6. Shelly Robertson, Reno, NV, 24.53
8. Heather McPhie, Bozeman, MT, 23.68
15. Michelle Roark, Winter Park, CO, 7.80
3/3/2007 Norway World Cups

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this up on my site.  It has been a crazy end to the season. 

The last time I came to Norway was when I won the event and because I won, I won the overall world cup title.  It was an amazing end to my 2003 season and I had high hopes of doing well again.  But it was not meant to turn out that way.  It seemed almost from the beginning that it wasn't going to be a good trip.  We had just gotten back from Apex and we spent a day at home (which is always nice) but that left us only 1 day of training when we finally got to Norway, and then back to back mogul competitions.  Now I don't know how many of you have ever gotten over jet lag in a day and then had to compete your best, but it's pretty tough.  And to throw into the mix a huge snow storm hit Utah when we were trying to leave and make our connection in Chicago (we made it by the smallest of margins). 

But anyhoo, we are athletes and we have to make the best of the situation we are given.  The course was really difficult because it was in one of those wonderful freeze thaw cycles and when we skied in the morning it was still frozen.  The top jump was super difficult and not very many people were landing it.  But despite all of that I had some pretty good training and felt confident going into the competition. 

The first day of competition I had a pretty good qualifying run and boy did that course take some prisoners.  For our final run the course had softened up a bit and we were going for it a little more.  I had landed my top jump in finals training and was taking my heli bigger and bigger.  So on my finals run I thought I had it.  I did a big jump off the top and then all of the sudden I was out of the line.  I couldn't believe it.  I didn't even know what happened and I was done.  So I finished up the rest of my run, which was awesome, but I think I ended up in 10th place.  A huge deviation doesn't help the overall score!!!!!!!

On the 2nd day of competition, it was pretty much the same.  I had a solid first run.  And in training I was landing the top air perfectly and then on my final run I landed the top air and almost blew out AGAIN!!!  But I'm pretty stubborn and I fought my way down pretty out of control (but to the crowd I guess it looked aggressive) and I finished with a solid 4th place. 

Both days were really difficult and I don't think I have seen that many people flail and fall on a course during competition.  Now a days we are on such easy courses that when we are really faced with a tough, technical course a lot of people freak out.  I don't know what happened to me, but I was skiing it great in training.    Hopefully when we come back in the future I'll be able to ski it the way that I want to. 

We are off to Italy for World Champs!!!!!!!! 
2-24-07 Apex World Cup
Wow, I had such an amazing day today.  Well I should say that I had such an amazing week.  It all started off with our powder day up in Whistler and it just carried over into training for the next couple of days and ended today with two great runs. 

The course here in Apex, Canad is a pretty easy course because it is on a flat pitch, the ins and outs of the jumps are really long, and the moguls are your standard machine made ones.  So the difference, and what sets all of the competitors apart are speed and air, because everyone's turns are about the same.  So I came into this event knowing that I had to go big on the jumps and just charge out of the gate and try to get the fastest time.  Every time I went down the course I felt better and better and I just had this feeling that today was going to be a good day.

I've had a rough couple of contests and I wanted to prove to myself that I deserved the #2 bib (#2 ranking in the world).  I have been wearing it for a while and I had just not been skiing up to my potential.  So, needless to say, I wanted to be up on that podium again. 

It has been really nice to ski here because the snow has been the soft, fluffy stuff, like it's suposed to be.  All of the places we've been so far have been on man made, yucky stuff.  So it was nice to actually be skiing on snow that fell out of the sky. 

I had a great morning of training, except my helis weren't going as well as they had been in the couple of days prior to the event.  But my backlips were big and floaty and my skiing felt fast and aggressive. 

I ran number two in the start order and I knew I had to put down a great run, not just a solid one if I wanted a chance to win the event.  I came out of the gate on fire and put down one of my best first runs of the season.  I was in third place afther the qualifications and I went back into the lodge and just got ready for the finals.  When I was in the gate for my final run, the fog was rolling in and out and they put me on a short hold and then said go, then no, then go, then no, then ok you can go now.  but it didn't faze me and I went out of the gate charging.  I hit the top air pretty big and landed really well and got right back into my turns.  As I was skiing the middle section all I could think about was how much fun I was having.  Every turn was almost effortless and I was just like go go go, this is why you love mogul skiing.  And I went into my bottom air really fast and threw a huge backflip, landed and skied a great bottom section.  I knew I had put down something special.  I had big airs, dynamic turns, and I was the fastest down the course. 

I thought I might get the win because my run felt so good, but sometimes the Olympic Gold Medalist and the winner of the last four world cups in a row, Jenn Heil, puts down a even better run.  She beat me today but man did I feel good.  I am just so excited to ski like that again and feel like I really deserve to be back on the podium and wear my #2 bib.  I know it sounds cheezy but today I proved to myself that I could do it. 

Now we have a crazy travel schedule ahead of us.  I am staying to watch my little bro compete in aerials tomorrow and then we go back home for about 18 hours, then it's off to Norway.  We have a day of training there and two back to back competitions.  So that means we get a whole day to get over our jet lag, that should be a piece of cake!!!!  Oh yeah, and I hope our bags make it!!!  So best wishes to my bro tomorrow and I'll talk to you when I'm a zombie in Norway.  Ta ta for now, Shannon :)

P.S. I'm sorry I couldn't get the results on my page but you can go to usskiteam.com to get the results and don't forget to watch my run on skidebosses.com in a couple of days!!!!!
2-20-07 Blackcomb Powder
So the one complaint I have about being a mogul skier is that I don't get to ski fresh powder all the time.  I know boo hoo, poor me.  But sometimes skiing rock hard moguls day after day can be pretty demanding on the body and can make you forget why you love to ski.

After Japan we flew into Vancouver to go to our next world cup in Apex, Canada and we actually got to spend a little time there.  We decided that we were going to go up to Whistler and get a day of freeskiing in.  It was kindof crazy because we flew in and then we did a little bit of shopping  (I bought a cute pair of silver sparkly shoes!!!!!) and ate a huge cheese burger, no more rice,  before bedtime.  Then we got up early the next morning and drove 2 hours up to Whistler and we skied Blackcomb.  I knew it was an amazing ski area but I've always heard horror stories of it raining and being foggy for weeks at a time.  But oh my goodness did we hit it right.  It was snowing and it was just good great run after great run.  It wasn't very deep but it was that buttery goodness that you just live for.   We were just going to take a few runs but we ended up skiing all day and now my legs are very very tired, but ooooooh was it worth it.

After we skied the whole day we had to drive another two hours back to Vancouver and pick up all of our stuff and then continue on to Apex, which was another 5 hours.  We finally got into town around 1 a.m. Linked with a little jet lag from Japan, I'm hoping to sleep all day and recover for our training in Apex. 

So now you have it.  You must go up to Whistler/Blackcomb and check it out.  It is absolutely amazing and I hope to go up there again and ski some freshies!!!! 

Now back to the hard moguls, talk to you soon.  Shannon :)
2-18-07 Inawashiro Duals Cancelled
Well it just seems about par for the course.  Yesterday was absolutely beautiful for the single mogul event and we woke up early this morning to snow falling again.  That would have been ok but the fog rolled in right along with the snow.  And it's weird because these mountains just seem to trap the fog in right on our course. 

We have been doing different training sessions with the boys and girls on competition days this season and it has been working out great.  Usually the women train first, compete and then the men do their training and they compete.  For finals we all train together and continue as usual.  But today (to make it fair) the men had to go first.  So they got all of their training in and a couple of the men skied their run and that is when the fog came in to stay.  They put the event on hold and after about 10 weather delays (about every half hour) they were going to make a final call for the event at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.  At about 3:55 the fog lifted and they said they were going to continue with the event, but it was going to be a one run contest, not duals.  It was absolutely crazy because 17 of the men had gone in the patchy fog and now all of the other guys, who had been hanging out on the hill and then going in, and then coming back out only to find out that it was postponed again, had to ski their run.  I don't think it was a fair event but that's just how it was.  Our guys did not fair so well, Jay Boman-Kirigin was the only one to put down a solid good run and placed 4th. 

So after the men's craziness they said the girls were going to ski too.  So we went up and did our 20 minutes of training.  The sun was pretty much setting and they said it was just too dangerous to run us so they cancelled our event.  The course was actually really nice and I had some pretty good training.  Oh well, maybe we'll make it up in Apex. 

So now we are heading off to the airport for a very long travel day to our next event in Apex, Canada.  I think we are going to take a day and go ski some powder up in Whistler, I can't wait!!!  A day of fresh pow pow, that's what dreams are made of. 

I hope it is sunny where you are and there is a lot of powder.  Have a good one!!!!!  Shannon :)
2-17-07 Inawashiro World Cup

Well, that was a bad day I would like to forget.  This course has been tricky all week.  Every day has been different conditions and a different element to overcome.  I had some really good training days leading up to the competition but I just felt off all day. 

The snow was really packy slick and firm all in one.  It is one of the toughest conditions to ski in because it's so fast but if you set one wrong edge, it just sends your ski shooting somewhere you don't want it to go.  But the sun was shining and every minute the snow kept getting slushier and slushier. 

I ran 12 and put down a pretty consistant run.  I did not ski my best but I had been having trouble with the top air and I just wanted to land it.  I put on the brakes after my heli and just skied a solid top to bottom.  I ended up 8th.  I was pretty bummed, but hey, what did I expect with a ho hum run. 

Going into the final run I switched lines because when I watched the men it looked like I could make up a little bit more time in the far right line.  So I skied it a couple of times and really like it.  By finals, the snow had turned to complete slush and it seemed like it was at least a coulple of inches deep. 

I pushed out of the gate and from the very beginning I just felt a step behind.  I went off the top air, my heli was a little tilted, and I landed with one of my hands behind me.  And from there it was just downhill.  My middle section was a little sloppy and I was going pretty fast into the bottom air and accidentially slung my backflip.  I landed in the backseat and drug my hands.  But I had a really fast time and that is something I have been struggling with, so I was pretty excited about that. 

It was such a weired competition because hardly anyone skied a clean run.  Those that were on the podium had great runs but in the mens competition almost no one skied a clean run, they either blew out or just had a run full of bobbles.  But my teammates Michelle Roark (who did an amazing 720 off the bottom air), Nate Roberts, and our rookie Jay Boman-Kirigin skied great.  It was a good day for the Americans, just not me.  Oh well, I've got to put down another great run sooner or later.  I'm just hoping it's sooner!!!!

We've got duals today and we've got a nice blanket of snow falling and a layer of fog on the course.  Should be a fun one!

Oh yeah, and I found out about this great sight where you can watch all of the top three runs of the day (it takes a couple of days for them to post, but it's pretty cool.  It is www.skidebosses.com.  So check it out!!!!

Ta ta for now, Shannon :)

 FREESTYLE WORLD CUP
Inawashiro, JPN - Feb. 17, 2007
(16 make finals)
Men's Moguls
1. Nate Roberts, Park City, UT, 25.78
2. Jay Bowman-Kirigin, Salt Lake City, 25.75
3. Yugo Tsukita, Japan, 25.14
4. Dale Begg-Smith, Australia, 24.48
5. Maxime Gingras, Canada, 24.33
-
7. Dave Babic, Washington, VT, 23.81
12. Sho Kashima, Zephyr Cove, NV, 17.93
-
19. David Digravio, Farmington, ME
--
Women's Moguls
1. Jenn Heil, Canada, 26.42
2. Michelle Roark, Winter Park, CO, 24.37
3. Stephanie St. Pierre, Canada, 24.10
4. Nikola Sudova, Czech Republic, 23.93
5. Miki Ito, Japan, 23.68
-
7. Shelly Robertson, Reno, NV, 23.58
14. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA, 21.64
15. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, NY, 21.26
16. Heather McPhie, Bozeman, MT, 17.95
18. McKenzy Golding, Reno, NV
2-15-2007 Snow snow and more snow

We are here in Japan and I have not seen it snow this hard in a very long time.  It seems that all season we have been plagued with no snow and all of all the sudden 2 feet. 

The course here in Inawashiro, Japan is one of the most difficult on tour because it is so stee at the start.  When you are in the start gate it feels like you are almost dropping off of a cliff.  But it is one of my favorite courses of the year because it adds a little something different than the left right left right consistancy of our regular courses. 

We trained yesterday and it was really tough out there.  It was pretty much snowing sideways and the fog rolled in and out.  But I felt like I did what I needed to do out there so I was pretty happy.  With this new couple of feet on the course it should be pretty interesting.  We have today left of training and then we have our single mogul competition tomorrow and then duals on Sunday.  I hope all goes well, all I can say is that it's going to be a tough rodeo!!!!

Ta ta for now, Shannon :)
2/5/07 - La Plagne, France

Bonjour from France!

France received some snow lately and we were able to reschedule our world cup in La Plagne.  We only had one day to train, but the event went well.  I finished 5th - the top American woman.  Jenn Heil won, but I kept the leader's bib by six points.

I was super stoked with my skiing in the middle section.  I had the 2nd best turns and lines score, but had trouble on my second air.  I feel that my skiing is the best of the year.  My heli on the first air felt really good, as well. 

It was an awesome event and feels good to get back to competing instead of just training. 

Results for women:

1st - Jenn Heil - Canada

2nd - Debby Scanzio - Italy

3rd - Marguerite Marbler

4th - Kristy Richards - Canada

5th - Shannon Bahrke

7th - Jillian Vogtli

9th - Shelly Robertson

11th - Heather McPhee

16 - Hannah Kearney

20 - Michelle Roark

22 - McKenzy Golding

For the men - little Sho Kashima - a fellow Far West skier was the top American with a 4th. 

 

 
1-15-07 More Events Cancelled
Well I thought this season started out bad with all of our early world cups cancelled, but it's only getting worse.  We are suposed to be in Lake Placid and there just isn't enough snow there to host the event.  And the temperatures there have not been cold enough to make any snow.  And after that we were suposed to go to Madonna di Campiglio for World Championships, and that has been pushed back to mid-March.  So now our next possible event is almost three weeks from now in the Czech Republic, but word on the street is that they don't have enough snow either. 

Maybe this year is just going to consist of like 5 events.  That is so weird.  Hopefully that is not the case, but at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised. 

So I am just going to stay here in Salt Lake and train.  I'll take a few days off and then get right back on the horse.  Since the course at Deer Valley is kept up I think that is where we will be training. 

So if anyone wants to come to Salt Lake and ski with me, come on, let's do it. 

I'll let you know when I hear something new.  Have a good one, Shannon :)
1-13-07 Deer Valley Duals World Cup
Skiing at night is one of my favorite things to do, but skiing at night competing at Deer Valley is something that you only dream about. 

Duals events are a little different than regular single mogul events.  We actually have a single run during the day and then from that run, they take the top 16 to dual off at night. 16 against 1, 15 against 2 and so on.  And then it is like a tennis format to determine the winner. 

Today was one of those days that you didn't really want to be outside let alone competing because of the frigid temperatures.  I knew the east coast got this cold but I can't remember a time when Park City was like that.  So, needless to say the course was as firm as it was cold that day. 
I ran 2nd in the morning event and skied an ok run.  It was really weird because the sun was shining, yet the light was terribly flat on the course.  I pushed out of the gate and could barely see.  So I just wanted to make it from the top to the bottom without falling and make it into the top 16 to dual it off at night.  It's a lot of pressure because so many of my friends and family were going to come out and watch so I didn't want to disappoint them.  I did what I had to do and I was in 4th place. 

We qualified at 1 in the afternoon and duals didn't start until 6 o'clock that evening.  So I went over to my teammates condo (Shelly Robertson) and hung out, ate lunch, and watched a little TV.

I drew Margarita Marbler from Austria.  She has been skiing great this year so I knew it was going to be tough.  I skied faster than her the whole way down and I did a great heli off of the top jump but going into the bottom jump I shut down my speed way too much and I knew that if I threw my backflip off the bottom jump there was a chance I was going to catch my tips (broken jaw was all I was thinking about), so I actually changed my jump on the way up it and threw a lame twister spread.  I was pretty embarassed, but sometimes you have to do that to save your run.  And because I shut down my speed so much she was able to pass me in the bottom section and she beat me across the line.  But I guess I had enough of what it took to win and I beat here with a 19-16 score.  Wow, that was close!!!!

So my next dual was against Hannah Kearney.  She has been skiing amazing these last couple of weeks and I knew this dual was going to be tougher than the one before.  I pushed out of the gate with a little more fire and did a big heli off of the top and our skiing in the middle was pretty much turn for turn.  We were so close I couldn't tell who was ahead.  So when we came into the bottom jump I almost did the same thing, but I did a backflip this time.  Sometimes your jumps just arn't on and there's not much you can do about it.  So I kindof slung it and she beat me across the line by a mogul.  I was psyched with the way I skied but pretty bummed because of my bottom jump and the fact that she beat me across the line.  She ended up beating me by a score of 18-17.  That one hurt!!! 

So that was the end of my night, I ended up 5th.  Not too shabby!  I had a great time being in the crowd with all of my family and friends.  It was so nice to be up on the mountain with all of them.  We cheered loud, and had a fun time dancing to the band after the event, The Whalers.

So all in all it has been a great start to the season and a wonderful weekend.  We head off to Lake Placid this week and compete there.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll talk to you soon.  Ta ta, Shannon :)


FREESTYLE WORLD CUP
Chevrolet Freestyle International
Deer Valley Resort
Park City, UT - Jan. 13, 2007
Men's Dual Moguls (16 make finals)
1. Guilbaut Colas, France
2. Vincent Marquis, Canada
3. Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau, Canada
4. Pierre Ochs, France
5. Dale Begg-Smith, Australia
-
6. Nate Roberts, Park City, UT
9. Dave Babic, Washington, VT
11. Dave Digravio, Farmington, Maine
20. Jay Bowman-Kirigin, Salt Lake City
23. Landon Gardner, Missoula, MT
25. Michael Morse, Duxbury, MA
29. Sho Kashima, Zephyr Cove, NV
48. Tim Preston, Campton, NH
--
Women's Dual moguls (16 make finals)
1. Kristi Richards, Canada
2. Jennifer Heil, Canada
3. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT
4. Nikola Sudova, Czech Republic
5. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA
-
6. Michelle Roark, Denver
8. McKenzie Golding, Reno, NV
10. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, NY
11. Shelly Robertson, Reno, NV
12. Kayle Snyderman, Winchester, MA
15. Heather McPhie, Bozeman, MT
17. Eliza Outtrim, Steamboat Springs, CO
1-11-2007 Deer Valley World Cup (win #2)
Oh my goodness, I can't believe that I have won again.  I don't know what it is in the water I've been drinking, but it's pretty good. 
We arrived in Deer Valley after such a rainy competition in Quebec and boy was the course different.  Well for one thing this is the most difficult course that we face on tour and couple that with really firm and icy conditions, and it makes for some pretty tough training.  I was not skiing very well in the training sessions leading up to the competition but every day the course got a little bit better, so there seemed to be a little light at the end of the tunnel. 
The morning of the contest did not go any better and in fact I did a quarter of a heli.  Now for those of you who are not very farmiliar with a heli you go all the way around, and doing a quarter is just not going to work.  The in run of the jump seemed so difficult for me and no matter what I tried, it just didn't seem to work.  So needless to say that in my qualifying run I was pretty nervous. 
I ran lucky number 13 and put down a pretty solid run (my heli went fine) and was in 5th place.  I was really happy with that but knew that I had a lot more that I could do to improve my run for finals. 
When the men started to ski in their qualifying round it started to lightly snow and by the time they were done it was a full storm.   It is not very fun to compete in but it is really nice for the course.  Since this course started out so hard and icy it just put a nice little layer on the moguls and we were able to really charge it in the finals. 
My training went really before finals and I felt confident standing in the gate.  I just pushed out and skied just the way I had envisioned it.  I skied it pretty fast and I threw a really nice heli off of the top jump and had some of my best turns ever in the middle section.  My backflip off the bottom was pretty good, I just need to work on going a lot bigger.  Over all I skied a solid, clean, run with very few mistakes.  Those are the runs you train for all summer long and it was nice to ski like that here in Deer Valley.
So that's about it in a nutshell, I am pretty much still in shock after winning the first two world cups of the season.  It just seems like a dream because it really has been so long since I've been on the podium. 
Thanks to everyone at Deer Valey, you guys always do such an amazing job.  I wish every world cup could be held here.  Well we've got duals in two days so I've got to go up and train for them.  Have a good one and I'll let you know how that goes too.  Ta ta for now, Shannon :)
1-6-2007 Mont Gabriel World Cup (I WON)

Oh my goodness, I WON.  I mean can you believe it, I WON!!!!!  It has seemed like forever since I have been up on the podium, let alone all the way on the tippy top. 

Well first I have to say that this whole global warming thing is really not good for skiing.  Our first two world cups were cancelled this season because of lack of snow and I can't believe they were able to pull this one off either.  When we arrived in Montreal it was about 40 degrees, not minus forty like every other year.  And the next day it started to rain.  I have always cursed going to the east coast because of the bitter cold but it was down right balmy there.  I was walking around in a sweatshirt most of the time.  It was pretty insain. 

Anyhoo, back to the competition.  The day of our event it was raining cats and dogs and there was a lot of fog that kept rolling in and out causing delay after delay.  But there are those days when you wake up in the morning and you just know things are going to go well for you (let me just say, it's been a while for me).  It was a very strange day to have those feelings because of the weather outside but hey, I'll take what I can take. 

In the morning I had great training and my first run was a solid, well skied run.  I was in 4th place after the qualifying round and the 1st American.  I couldn't believe it.  Last season it was all I could do just to make finals and here I was sitting in 4th place. 

We had quite a long break inbetween our 1st and 2nd runs so we went back to the hotel and watched taladega nights.  I just love that movie, it makes me laugh.  "Well if you're gonna win, then how am I gonna win".  So anyways, after we watched that it was time to go back out and train for finals.  I skied really well in training and I knew if I skied a run like that I would be back in the top 5 again. 

So I was standing in the gate, my goggles fogging up, my mittens soaked through, and it raining harder and harder, and I pushed off to ski a great run.  I threw a heli on top and back flip cross off the bottom jump.  I went into first place but had to wait for the last three skiers to come down.  All of them faltered and had less than perfect runs but the biggest surprise was Jenn Heil, reigning Olympic Gold Medalist and World Cup Overall Winner, she fell after she landed her top jump.  She never does that.  And as I watched I was in awe and it didn't hit that I actually won for a couple more seconds.  I didn't win by much though.  .01 of a point.  That is the smallest margin in our sport.  But hey, I'll take it. 

So for all of you who have been following my career over the past couple of years and it has been less than desirable, I just want you to know that I am back.  My knee is feeling great, my skiing is where I want it to be, and most importantly, I am having fun. 

But I think the best part of the weekend had to be my little brother placing 8th place in the world cup aerial event the day after mine (His 1st top 10!!!!!).  He has worked so hard all summer and now is finally jumping with the "big boys".  I am such a proud sister and can't wait for him to reach his own success.  I love ya Scotty!!!!!

So now we are off to Deer Valley where we have an event on Thursday, January 11th and then a duals competition Saturday night.  So I hope if you are in town that you will come up and watch.  It is the best event we have all year.  It is one big party!!  Thanks again for everyones support and I hope this just means good things for the rest of the season!!!  Ta ta for now, Shannon :)

FREESTYLE WORLD CUP
Mont Gabriel, QUE - Jan. 6, 2007
Men's Moguls (12 make finals)
1. Dale Begg-Smith, Australia, 25.74 points
2. Guillbaut Colas, France, 25.59
3. Alendre Bilodeau, Canada, 25.55
4. Denis Dolgodvorov, Russia, 25.42
5. Nate Roberts, Park City, UT, 25.23
-
12. Sho Kashima, Zephyr Cove, NV, 22.91
15. Jay Bowman-Kirigin, Salt Lake City
23. Michael Morse, Duxbury, MA
45. Dave Babic, Washington, VT
52. David Digravio, Farmington, ME
--
Women's moguls
1. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA, 24.60
2. Sara Kjelin, Sweden, 24.59
3. Margarita Marbler, Austria, 24.46
4. Nikola Sudova, Czech Republic, 24.01
5. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT, 23.92
-
6. Heather McPhie, Bozeman, MT, 23.74
10. Shelly Robertson, Reno, NV, 21.34
13. Michelle Roark, Denver, 21.89
25. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, NY
12/17/2006 World Cups Cancelled!!

Well there is not a more disapointing way to start off the season by a bunch of cancelled World Cups.  Our first two events that were over in France have been cancelled because there is no snow.  It has just been a crazy start to the season because it seems that the only snow in all of the world is in the North West and Colorado.  We had some of the best fall training ever out at Winter Park and then I get back to Salt Lake and it was 65 degrees. 

So Rawles, our head coach, decided that we needed another training camp, and our team headed out to Park City (because they had a great mogul course going).  I love it when we train here because I can still sleep in my own bed.  So here we are and we finally got a great snow storm.  My teammate Shelly and I went up to Snowbird and had an amazing powder day.  I skied some waste deepers and had to stop to see a couple of times.  It's days like that that make me the luckiest girl in the whole world to have skiing as my job.  But tomorrow it's back to the mogul course.  They have a great course set up there for us and the training is good. 

I hope you all have a wonderful and happy holidays.  Hopefully the snow will start to come your way wherever you may be.  Ta ta for now!!!!
12/7/2006 Successful Camp

Hello everyone, I am now back in Salt Lake after a great camp in Winter Park.  We were there for about 9 days on snow and we had such great conditions the whole time.  When we first got there, we had no snow but then it dumped for a couple of days and made the mogul course very soft and user friendly. 

I had just a blast being out there and skiing like I was skiing really well.  So we were suposed to be leaving for Tignes, France on Saturday but because there is no snow there, they have cancelled the event.  There is still hope for another event over in La Plagne, France but we won't know for a couple moe days if that one in cancelled as well.  This no snow thing is really putting a damper on our competitions!!!!!

So I will just be back home for a couple more days training and sleeping in my own bed.  I think today I am going to put up my christmas tree!!!!  I just love the holidays. 

11/29/2006 Hello Again!!!!!
Wow, I think that I have been the absolute worst at keeping my site updated over the summer.  I just needed a little time to myself and not think about skiing, and I think that included talking on my website. 

Anyhoo, things have been going fantastic.  I am now in Winter Park for our official Fall Camp.  It just snowed last night and is still snowing as I type so the mogul skiing should be absolutely fantastic tomorrow.  We are here until December 5th and then shortly after that we are headed off to France for our first two world cups of the season. 

We have had some big changes in the freestyle aspect of the U.S. Ski Team.  Two of our coaches from last season have retired and we have hired on three new ones.  I am so excited about the change and the new direction our new team is moving.  Our retired coached will be missed terribly but we have new energy and zest that has been brought in. 

As for the summer time there was a lot going on.  Matt and I bought a new house together in Salt Lake City and we remodeled the whole thing.  Well I should say my Dad remodeled it.  It was such a huge project but now that it is done I can't imagine ever living without it.  Thank you Daddy!!!!!!!

I know that the summer before last I was really into riding my motorcycle, but I have found a new love for speed.  I have been out learning how to race my porsche on the new Larry Miller Speedway.  Matt and I now both have our own porsches so we can really race next summer.  It is so much fun and I can't believe I haven't been doing it forever.  Last weekend, right before we came out to Winter Park, we took our new porsche out to the Bonneville Salt Flats and I got that baby up to 170, it was pretty amazing. 

So now, I'm back on skis and happier than ever.  I am skiing better than I ever have in my life and hopefully that will transfer over into competition.  I promise I will be better about getting the latest and greatest up on my site.  I've got to go to a workout now so I'll check ya later.  Chow from Winter Park!!!!!  Shannon :)
5/7/2006 Rubbin is racin!!!!

Oh my goodness, did I have a weekend full of racing!  On Saturday I decided not to fully give up on mountain bike racing and give it one more try.  At my first race in the season (a couple of weeks ago) I completely fell apart and almost died on the race course.  It was quite possibly the most miserable experience of my life and I never wanted to do it again.  But Matt talked me into doing it again and so we headed out to 5 mile pass (near Salt Lake City) and that is all I can tell you about it because it is out in the middle of nowhere.  I entered the sport catagory again, we do two 11 mile laps.  It is very different from my 30 second mogul run and a lot more painful.  But anyhow I went out there and raced again and this time it went much better.  The group of girls in the sport class are very good riders and extremely fast, so I was extatic when I won.  I just had such a good day on the bike and it felt like everything was going right.  My knee hurt a lot (I think I have some kind of tendinitis) but my legs felt like they had endless power.  It was a lot of fun and so now I think I will do it the rest of the summer for fun.  Well maybe not FUN, I can't quite say that it is much fun to race a mountain bike. 

So then after that day we went home and went to bed and woke up the next morning at 5:45 a.m. and headed out to the new Larry H. Miller Speedway.  Now let's talk about fun.  I really think I have been competing in the wrong sport for the last twelve years.  Racing cars is the most addictive, adrenaline pumping, on the edge of disaster, and still needing more speed.  It is hands down the most fun thing I've ever done.  So yesterday we did this event called lapping days.  They break up into three different groups based on our driving ability and then we have 4 or 5 half an hour sessions to go at it.  I just had a smile on my face the whole time.  Well except for the times when I came into a corner a little too hot and I thoughtI was going to drive my car right off the track.  Then maybe Ihad a look of panic, but it is was quickly followed by a huge sigh of relief and then a smile when I saved it, BARELY, and continued on. 

The best part of the day was in the afternoon sessions I got to drive without an instructor and my friend Todd, my boyfriend Matt, and I all got to race together.  It was so great because we were all pretty much driving a little out of our league to beat eachother and just having the best time.  We were all pretty evenly matched so it was everything we could do to make up a little time here and there and then we would get caught and visa versa.  Oh man, it was fun!!!!

I am so thankful that my friends Robbin and Aaron got me into it.  It is just such a fun time and laid back atmosphere at the track and makes for a wonderful Sunday! 

So that's what I did this weekend and now I have to recover all week.  If any of you have any interest in either bike racing or car racing please get a hold of me and I will hook you up with the right people and get you started.  It is so much fun and I think everyone should give it a try.  Have a good one. 

5/4/06 Too much fun to write!!

Oh my gosh, have I had the best spring!  The weather has not been typical beautiful spring weather here in Salt Lake, it has been a little on the chilly side.  But that has not stopped me from enjoying it none the less.  I have not gotten in that many ski days after nationals.  I got one or two great powder days but I pretty much hung up my sticks for the winter.  Well, until our camp mid-May in Colorado that is. 

I have been doing some pretty cool stuff.  I started to race my car.  Not technically a "race" but race like conditions at the new Larry Miller Speedway they built here.  It is one of the most fun things I have ever done.  A bunch of my friends are in the porsche club and so is my boyfriend and they have these days where their club rents out the track and you can drive as fast as you want.  I felt a little out of place in my VW GTI but it did just fine.  I'll be buying a racing porsche as soon as we find a good deal.  Anyhoo, it is so excitng and such an adrenaline rush that I couldn't sleep for two days.  I am addicted and we are going to do it again this Sunday. 

I have also been riding my bike a little and doing a lot of yoga.  I am racing my bike but it is not even 1/100th as cool as racing a car.  I haven't been riding as much as I normally do so it is pretty painful but as the summer goes along I'm hoping to get a little faster. 

I am also house hunting.  My boyfriend and I are moving in together (I know I know, it's a big step!)  and so we have been getting our houses ready to sell.  The market has been going crazy here in Salt Lake and prices are going through the roof.  Great time to sell a home, but a terrible time to buy one in the premier neighborhoods of Salt Lake.  OUCH!

So that's a little of what I've been doing.  Not anything too exciting but just enjoying being home and doing some of the other stuff I love.  I hope you guys are enjoying your summer and if you know of a house to buy in the Salt Lake area, you know who to get a hold of.  Have a good one!!
3/26/2006 U.S. National Championships (duals)

Gosh, that was the most disapointing way to end a season.  I am just so glad this season is done and now I can take some time to take it all in.  I have had some really great moments this year but it seems like there have been too many frustrating ones for me to feel like this has been a successful season.  But it's over and now I can only look forward. 

The course today was absolutely perfect and the sun finally showed itself.  The course was all slushy and the kindof ego course we all dream about skiing in the spring time. 

I qualified 7th (again disapointing) and then lost in the 1st round to a great skier from Steamboat named Kat.  She ended up to go on to 4th place.  Good job!!!! 

The winner of the event was Hannah Kearny and Sho Kashima (from Tahoe!!!!!!!!).  They put on a great show and are now crowned national champions. 

I need to go home for a while, rest, recharge, and think about what the future holds.  I'll talk to you in a little while and let you know how I'm doing!  Peace out!!!!!!!
3/25/2006 U.S. National Championships

WOW, 4th again!!!!!!!!!!  At the beginning of the season when I got a couple of fourths to qualify myself for the Olympics I was extatic.  Now I am just plain frustrated.  It was a great event that Killington put on.  The venues were beautiful and very spectator friendly, which at nationals is exactly what everyone wants. 

The course was pretty good, a little flat for my liking, but all in all in great shape.  When we came out here we were so stoked to have a nice warm spring event but that just didn't quite happen.  It was pretty overcast and the snow a little slick and grabby.  But we made do and I think we surely put on a show for people to remember. 

My first run was really good except for my backflip.  I missed my takeoff a little bit and kindof slung it.  I was happy though to be sitting in 4th place.  And in finals I really went for it but it didn't go over so well.  The snow was just a touch different from the training we had just fifteen minutes before and it threw me off.  I was on my tales the whole way down and it just felt like I was a step behind.  My heli wasn't as strong as my first run but my backflip was better so there was some good to take away with the bad. 

It was a great showing by the U.S. Ski Team and also a lot of the younger kids coming up.  It's really nice to come here and see what the new talent is looking like.  We spend so much time on tour with all of the World Cup athletes that we often forget just how good and how deep the U.S. field is as a whole.  When some of the current members of the U.S. Ski Team retire we have a bunch of great kids who are more than capable to fill their shoes. 

We still have one more event left here (dual moguls) so maybe there is a chance that I can land on the podium at least once this year.  But if I don't, it's just nice to be back at nationals.  I haven't skied here for two years because of my injuries and I am so excited to have made it this far in a season without getting hurt!!!! 

Duals will be a great event and lots and lots of fun.  Talk to you soon. 

2006 SPRINT U.S. FREESTYLE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Killington, VT - March 24, 2006
Men's Moguls
1. David Babic, Washington, Vt., 26.69 points
2. Travis Cabral, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 26.36
3. Jay Bowman-Kirigin, Salt Lake City, 25.87
4. Tim Preston, Campton, N.H., 25.30
5. Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, Wash., 24.99
6. Landon Gardner, Park City, Utah, 24.88
7. Sho Kashima, Stateline, Nev., 24.43
8. Jordan Basile, Carnelian Bay, Calif., 24.42
9. Jimmy Roberts, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 24.41
10. Joseph Discoe, Rudgway, Colo., 24.34
--
Women's Moguls
1. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, Vt., 26.85
2. Heather McPhie, Bozeman, Mont., 26.05
3. Michelle Roark, Denver, 25.53
4. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, Calif., 25.05
5. McKenzy Golding, Reno, Nev., 24.91
6. Shelly Robertson, Reno, Nev., 24.59
7. Eliza Outtrim, Hamden, Conn., 24.48
8. Emiko Torito, Denver, 24.18
9. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, N.Y., 24.03
10. Kayla Snyderman, Winchester, Mass., 23.89

3/18/2006 World Cup Finals

Ok, well I have to tell you this was pretty much the most fun course of the year.  We have been pretty unlucky with snow this season but when we came to Apex, Canada we hit it just right.  It had just snowed here and it made the course amazing to ski.  I put down a great run for me and I came to the bottom and it turned out it wasn't so hot.  I hate when that happens!!!!!!!  You just feel like it was so good but then everyone else put up something twice as good.  Oh well, those things happen. 

World Cup Finals is a pretty stupid event if you ask me.  I mean it would be better if it was like a regular world cup but it's not.  They only invite top 24 (it used to be only top 12) and you just get one run.  Well that may not be quite as bad if they ran it in random order but they run you in reverse order of your bib ranking.  So if you are ranked 24th you pretty much don't have a chance at the podium.  Not to say it never happens, but just not that often. 

Anyhoo, it was a pretty fun event because of the snow conditions and it was the last world cup of the season.  I think I ended up 10th in the world and I am really proud of that.  We still have one event left (national championships) and that should be a great time. 

Talk at ya soon!!!
3/5/2006 Inawashiro, Japan World Cup

Hold on to your hats people, I skied the best I have all season today.  I was really dissapointed after my first run because I skied pretty good and only qualified in 15th place.  I did throw a twister spread on the top air (and yes, I'm really embarassed), so maybe I deserved to be scored that low.  It has been a huge struggle for me this year to have an exceptional 1st run, but I can only do what I can do. 

Inbetween semis and finals I got a call from my mom and it was so nice to hear from her.  She told me to just ski from the heart and she was proud of me anyways.  It is just so nice to talk to your mommy and know that no matter what you do, everything is going to be alright and she still loves you. 

So, after a couple of tears and a little training I stepped into the gate.  I threw the best heli off the top air in at least a couple of years and my backflip was not too shabby either.  My skiing was really aggressive and my time was right in there with the fastest girls.  I got the bottom and a couple more tears were shed because I had seen a glimpse of the old Shannon Bahrke.  I skied my way all the way from 15th place up to 5th!!!!! 

It was a great contest because the snow was super soft, there was not a cloud in the sky, and I was having FUN!!!!!!  There weren't any Americans on the podium, but once again, you can't be there all the time. 

So as I leave you, I am going to go home for a little while and take a break.  My tank is running on empty.  But we still have World Cup Finals in Apex, Canada in about a week and then also National Championships in Killington, Vermont shortly there after.  Goodbye for now, from one of the happiest mogul skiers on tour!!!!!!

Inawashiro Listel Ski Fantasio, Japan World Cup
3/5/2006
Moguls
Women's
1. Jennifer Heil, Canada, 26.19
2. Sandra Laoura, France, 25.93
3. Aiko Uemura, Japan, 25.56
4. Nikola Sudova, Czeck Republic, 25.48
5. Shannon Bahrke, USA, 24.82
-
6. Jillian Vogtli, USA, 24.81
7. Michelle Roark, USA, 24.79
9. Hannah Kearny, USA, 24.20
15. Emiko torito, USA, 20.98
16. Eliza Outtrim, USA, 14.52
-
20. Shelly Robertson, USA
-
Men's
1. Mikko Ronkainen, Finland, 25.29
2. Kai Ozaki, Japan, 24.87
3. Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau, Canada, 24.41
4. David Babic, USA, 24.08
5. Jesper Bjoernlund, Sweden, 23.86
-
8. Landon Gardner, USA, 23.38
-
24. David Degravio, USA
25. Tim Preston, USA

 
3/1/2006 Korea World Cup
WEll I think I have lost it for a little while.  I have not put down a really good run in a couple of contests now.  Maybe I have just lost a little bit of umph after the Olympics.  I think I have  put so much time and effort into rehabing my injuries and making it to the Olympics that I am just burnt out.  I've still got a couple of contests left so hopefully I'll find a little juice somewhere. 

My first run was ok and then I messed up my second run and ended up in 15th.

The judging at this event was horendous and we were all just sitting at the bottom wondering if they were watching the same contest that we were.  I skied like crap so I was judged fairly, but boy oh boy it seemed like not many other people were.  It just frustrates me to no end, but there's nothing we can really do about it.  I thought about throwing rotten tomatoes but there were none to be had. 

The course was really flat with long sharp moguls.  Not my favorite but I was having fun training it.  It was a little hard to get back in the moguls after 2 weeks of doing nothing. And by nothing, I mean eating three healthy meals a day and sightseeing in Italy. 

So not much more to say about this world cup so I won't tell you anymore. Oh yeah, Shelly Robertson and I went night skiing and had a blast.  I haven't done that in years and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a fun time and don't quite know what to do. 

Alrighty we're off to Japan.  Bye bye :)


FREESTYLE WORLD CUP
Jisan Forest Resort, KOR - March 1, 2006
Moguls (16 make finals)
Men
1. Dale Begg-Smith, Austrialia, 26.55 points
2. Gilbaut Colas, France, 26.44
3. David Digravio, Farmington, Maine, 26.25
4. David Babic, Washington, Vt., 25.91
5. (tie) Sami Mustonen, Finland, and Pierre Ochs, France, 25.79 each
-
28. Tim Preston, Campton, N.H.,
--
Women
1. Jennifer Heil, Canada, 27.45
2. Kari Traa, Norway, 26.93
3. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, Vt., 26.33
4. Stephanie St. Pierre, Canada, 25.51
5. Helena Soduva, Czech Republic, 25.28
-
9. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, N.Y., 24.88
10. Michelle Roark, Denver, 24.70
13. Shelly Robertson, Reno, Nev., 24.17
15. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, Calif., 23.77
21. Emiko Torito, Denver
24. Eliza Outtrim, Hamden, Conn.
2/25/2006 Long Travel Day
Now I don't know how many of you travel regularly but I just have to tell you about my frustrating travel day.  Now one would think, being on the U.S. Ski Team and also just coming from the Olympics that you would travel in style.  Well I have to tell you, that under no circumstances do we ever travel well.   Sorry to wreck  your visions of travel  pleasure!

 I am just exhausted from my Olympic experience in Italy and all I want to do is get to our next world cup in Korea and the most logical way to get there would be to fly straight there.  But oh no, that's not what I did.  I had to fly from Torino (with a flight time at 6:40 a.m.) to Korea the long way around the world, with my first layover in Rome.

Now because at the Olympics they give you so much stuff there is no way we can get it all into two checked bags and one carry on (I know boo hoo for me).  DSL was nice enough to let us ship a big box full of stuff home for free (thanks a million).  So with all that said I have three extremely large and overweight bags that are pretty much exploding right before my eyes.  The check in people in Torino were very nice and waved the baggage fee (bless their hearts).  But when I get to Rome and have to re-check in (because now I am on Delta, even though we are sponsored by United) the lady went on to charge me about $200 in all for my extra baggage, over weight baggage, and so on.  I really wanted to reach across the counter and give her a piece of my mind.  But that is not what a LADY does.  So I killed her with kindness by politely thanking  her and give her a U.S. Olympic  team Pin and sticker and thanked her for supporting our Olympic athletes!!!!

I get on the plane in Rome which is headed to Atlanta and I am in seat 39 J.  Wow, doesn't that sound lovely.  Well it is, especially when you are sitting next to someone that just doesn't smell right.  So I take my ambien trying to ignor the foul smell and the screaming baby in front of me and wake up in about six hours.  With a small layover there of about three hours I am back on the plane again to Salt Lake City.  The flight is delayed about 1 1/2 hours so I finally touch the ground in Salt Lake City at about 8:30 and get to my house at around 9:30.

Now you may be wondering, I thought she was going to Korea.  Oh, the story continues.  So like I said I get home at about 9:30 and open my mail and find out the next portion of my ticket leaving to Korea is there and I leave at 6:20 a.m.  So that leaves me with about 7 1/2 hours at home.  YEAH!!!!!  I have just enough time to take out all of my stuff, throw it into the wash, and put it back into my bag.  But I also get to do some really fun stuff like pay bills, sort through the mail,  vacuum the house, clean my kitties water bowls, and sleep (just kidding, I didn't have time).  But I did get to see my adorable kitties so the short stopover was worth it.

Ok, so it's now 4:45 back on the road again to catch my flight which goes to Denver.  I'm going the wrong way around the world!!!!  And I get to Denver and then fly back over Salt Lake to Seattle and then to Tokyo.

Now when we get to Tokyo we still have one more flight to go on but I look down at my ticket and I see business on it (instead of 49 J) and I start to get a little excited. I walk on the plane and I am in 1A.  I was in first class, not business class.  My seat went all the way down!!!!!!  If I had to travel like this I wouldn't even consider it traveling.  I would just say it was like ending up in another country after an extremely long snooze on my couch.  It was wonderful and a great way to end my terrible travel day.  We finally get there and only have to take a three hour bus ride to the resort.  But I have to say, with all of this travel all of my bags made it, unlike most of my teammates.

Oh the luxury travel of the U.S. Ski Team!!!!
2/15/2006 Olympic spectating and Italian vacation
Now that I have had a couple of days to digest my competition I will now tell you all about what it is like to be here at these Games. 

When you first check in at the games you have to go to USA registration and get our uniforms, Olympic rings, sign papers, etc. etc.  and let me tell you, this process is the most fun thing a person can do.  When you first get there you fill out all the doctors forms, official paperwork, yada yada yada and then about half way through you get to go get your Olympic apparel.  So you go into this big room, they hand you a shopping cart and you go arounjd to every station and pick up about $3000 worth of roots and Nike clothing. 

You get everything from bags, to berets, to scarfs, to gloves, to Opening ceremonies jackets, sweatpants, shoes (they looked like wresting shoes), ski pants, and anything else Olympic you can think of.  It is for sure my favorite holiday!!!!  Too bad it only comes arount once every four years. 

We also picked out our Olympic rings (I upgraded mine to white gold with diamonds), I mean, did you expect anything less. 

And then I think the coolest thing we got were these little drawings from little kids.  They were pictures describing what the Olympics meant to them or just wishing us good luck.  I picked out three pictures that I absolutely loved and had them hanging on my wall in my room. 

After doing all of that we went up to our temporary housing in Sauze d'Oulx. We arrived a little early because our event was on the first day and we stayed up in a hotel in Sauxe d'Oulx (where our venue was) because the athlete village was a little far away to drive to and from every day. 

Our hotel was the cutest hotel and had the nicest people working there.  The only thing bad was the walls were paper thin and I could swear there were people in high heels moving furniture at one in the morning.  But after our event we had to move down to the Olympic village in Bardonnecia (I'm not sure if that is correct spelling). 

There were a total of three Olympic villages, which I didn't really like, because I really wanted to be with all of my friends, not just some of them.  But I didn't stay in the village that much becaue I stayed with my family up in their appartment in Sauze d'Oulx. 
We had a couple good nights of partying.  This little town is known for their parties and let me tell you, it lived up to the hype. We were at the clubs until 6 a.m. and at 5 is when they started to get really good.  I couldn't hang with the Italians, although I gave it my best shot. 
Other than the good apres ski times I got to go see a lot of events.  I watched Joey Cheek win gold in the men's 500 meter long track.  I watched the womens ice hockey team play Sweden.  Even though they lost I still love them all.  I went with my teammate Jillian and we were sitting in an all Swedish section and we gave them our best cheering ever and I think we would have gotten our butt's kicked but because we were at the Olympics, I think they considered that innapropriate.  I also went to some of the boarder cross, GO SETH!!!!!! and men's aerials. 

The reason I didn't see more events was because my family, my boyfriend, his mom and I went on a little trip of the Italian and French Riviera.  We had such an amazing time but most of all I enjoyed being together and eating all of the wonderful Italian food.  It was winter so it was pretty cold.  I was hoping that it would be at least sweatshirt weather but we had to wear jackets everywhere. 

We went to Monte Carlo one day but because it was Sunday everything was closed.  I think that was a good thing because the stores were way out of my price range, gucci, prada, etc.  So I just settled for window shopping. 

We went to the cosino and Scotty wanted to gamble but then there was a $100 cover charge just to be able to play and so his $20 spending limit didn't quite work out. 

The Medeteranian Sea was really cold (my mom said like Tahoe in the Spring) and so being the wuss that I am I only dipped my fingers in.  Yeah that's right I couldn't even get my little toes wet. 

There was so much more that happened but I don't want to waste your time.  But I do have pictures if you want to see them. 

All in all it was an amazing vacation and we had a great time.  I hope we can do it again but when the weather is warm. 

As for watching the rest of the Olympics we tried to stay in hotels that had eurosport so we could watch inbetween sight seeing, and we were pretty successful. It was nice to see a lot of events with out of the mumbo jumbo TV people in to fill time.   

We made it back up to Sauxe d'Oulx for men's aerials and then we left the next day.  It was one euro vacation and Olympic experience  I'll never forget!!! 


2/13/2006 Many thanks and smiles
I would like to say thank you for all of your support over the past years of my career and leading up to this Olympic games.  I hear stories all of the time from the people that I know and love about my support group in their home town, work, school, or many other places.  My uncle even has a group of surfers that keeps tabs on me. 

My little brother is now going to have to carry that Bahrke Olympic torch into the Vancouver Games in 2010 (No pressure Scotty)!!!!!

When I made my first Olympic team I didn't realize how many lives become involved in my skiing and it is the most empowering feeling one can have.  I just wanted you all to know that even though I didn't win a medal I went into this Olympic games completely prepared and with everyone's good thoughts in my pocket.  I do not have one regret about my season and my performance and by your kind words and emails I know you were behind me 100%

I hope to one day say hi to you all and give you a big hug.  So just know from the bottom of my heart, I thank you.  You have made my Olympic experience mean so much more and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Thank you, many hugs and smiles!!!!
2/11/2006 2006 Winter Olympic Games
Well now that I have been there done that I can tell you all about it.  I had one of the worst performances of the year here and I can not tell you why. 

It was not the nerves, I did not choke, I just had a bad day of skiing. Just like any other day you hope that the Olympics is going to be one of your best days of your life.  In 2002 that is exactly what happened.  I skied one of my best runs and won a medal.  Here I skied one of my worst runs and ended up 10th.  

It was pretty disapointing to me, but on the other hand I just have to look back at all that I have accomplished this year and be happy with that.  (1) I came back from a year and a half of injuries and actually made this Olympic team.  (2) I was really afraid to do the d spin but I talked with my coach Clay and we decided that I didn't want to be like every other girl and throw a heli and a backflip.  I wanted to push our sport with harder tricks, and when I threw my d spin and backflip I accomplished that.  (3) I also had one of my best runs this season at Deer Valley and came all the way from 15th to 4th.  It was one my favorite events ever being at night and having all of my friends and family there.  Even though I wasn't on the podium, I am damn proud of that run. 

So as I look back at these Olympic games, and they will most likely be my last.  I came there to do my best and I fell short.  But I walked in the Opening Ceremonies as part of Team USA representing my country.  That is an honor that so few athletes will ever experience.  I am proud of myself and I don't regret anything I did leading up to these games.  I did eveything in my power to give me the best chance to win.  I came up short, but hey, you can't win them all.  I am an Olympic Silver Medalist and no one can ever take that honor away from me. 

So now, as my event was on the 1st day, I am going to watch the rest of Olympics and cheer on everyone else.  I'm not going to be upset about my performance (although it will sting for a little while) but I'm going to be the best USA supporter there is. GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S.  I want to thank everyone that came out there to see me ski.  I had so many amazing people there and I can't tell you how much it meant to me to have you all there.  The Olympics is something that comes along once (or if you are lucky enough twice for a mogul skier) in a lifetime and I am so glad I got to share that with you.  I hope you all had a wonderful time and got to thoroughly enjoy Italy.  Thanks again and I love you all!!!!

P.P.S.  Mom, thank you so much for making all of those hats and scarfs, you guys looked so cute.  I know that took so much time, but you looked fantastic!  It was truely Bahrke style!!!!!!
2/4/2006 Spindleruv, CZE World Cup
Here we are in our last competition before the Olympics and it didn't go quite as planned.  I have been home in Tahoe working with my coach Clay Beck for a week on my jumps and they are finally making some progress.  But today it just seemed like I forgot everything that I had learned and was back to my old habits. 

The course was really icy all training and also in our first competition run, but in finals it was soft and nice.  It had been  snowing cats and dogs all day and it finally started to stick to the bumps. 

Alll in all I ended up 7th here.  Not much to brag about but it will be a good place to work from going into the Olympic Games.  I'm feeling great and ready to go for it. 

On a non-skiing side we are staying at this hotel way on the top of the mountain and we can see Poland.  I really had no idea where Poland was but there it is, right outside my window.  It's a little weird I have to tell you. 

But I think the thing that is even weirder and makes me a little angry is that our hotel has not had hot water in a couple of days.  And no hot water means no shower.  And no shower means a little bit of uncomfortableness for my roomie!!! 

There is cold water however and I have not been able to make myself jump into the shower.  The one thing I wonder to myself is that I grew up in Lake Tahoe (a super cold lake) and now I can't even take a cold shower.  WUSS!!!!!!!!  I don't know what happened to me, but I think my mom is a little disapointed. 

Anyhoo, we are off to the Olympic Games, I can't wait.  I am feeling very Olympic today!!!!!!!!

Freestyle World Cup
Spindleruv mlyn, CZE - Feb. 4, 2006
Moguls
Men
1. Alexandre Bilodeau, Canada, 27.36
2. Dale Begg-Smith, Australia, 26.44
3. Nate Roberts, Park City, UT, 25.95
4. Artem Balinteev, Russia, 25.65
5. David Babic, Washington, VT. 24.84
-
12. David Digravio, Farmington, Maine 14.34
50. Toby Dawson, Vail, CO,
-
Did not start:
Jeremy Bloom, Loveland, CO., Michael Morse, Duxbury, MA.

Women
1. Kari Traa, Norway, 26.44
2. Sandra Laoura, France, 26.13
3. Michelle Roark, Denver CO. 25.50
4. Nikola Sudova, Czecholsovakia 25.22
5. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, N.Y. 25.20
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7. Shannon Bahrke, Tahoe City, CA 24.82
8. Emiko Torito, Denver, CO 24.80
9. Shelly Robertson, Reno, NV 24.35
10. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT., 23.75
16. Eliza Outrim, Hamden, Conn.
1/24/2006 Watch Out Torino, Here I Come!!!!!!!!!

Well I just want to be the first to tell you all that I have officially been named to the 2006 Olympic Team going to Torino, Italy.  I can't believe it, I am just so excited.  It really came down to the wire but I'm in and I'm going!!!!!!

It is going to be pretty hectic between now and then.  I have a lot to work on so I am going back to Tahoe and work with my great coach Clay Beck and try to get my d spin bigger and better.  Then I am going to the Czeck Republic for one more World Cup and then it's off to Torino. 

I just can't tell you how much this all means to me after all that I have been through over the last couple of years.  Some of you have helped me so much and I can't thank you enough.  I get to put on that Team USA coat one more time.  You will be in my heart when I'm in that gat