Der Österreichische Lebensstil

I could definitely get used to the Austrian lifestyle.  I've settled into a pretty nice groove here at the University.  Although I haven't learned that much German, I have seen some spectacular mountains, enjoyed some delicious fermented beverages, and also put in some terrific hours in the gym.  I guess I've done a little bit of studying too, but that's for another day.

The fun starts for real next week.  I'll be on the glacier for the first on-snow autumn camp next weekend, and the plan is to be there just about every other week from now until the beginning of the World Cup schedule.  I am more than thrilled to make a return to full-time World Cup racing. 

Although I've had plenty of national level success recently, the last few years have been frustrating from an overall performance point of view.  To sum it up, I've felt like a formula 1 driver, behind the wheels of a pimped out minivan. No matter how hard to try to pump it full of fancy fuel, and maximize it's performance, it's still a minivan....

Maybe that's an exaggeration, but the root of most of my issues is that I just wasn't getting very many miles on race skis.  This season I'll have a teammate on the full world cup season for the first time since 2011-2012 ( Tanner Visnick), and a productive training partnership with the talented team from Great Britain.  We'll see if I am able to translate the extra preparation into a World Cup podium or two!

However, there is one more challenge to racing a full World Cup season, and that is the small issue of financing it all.  Rather than bore you all with the details here, I'll leave it at this: I am actively seeking a new lead sponsor!!  It won't take much to make this season possible, and my potential for success is as high as it has ever been.  If you or someone you know might be interested in joining me on this journey, slide over to my contact form , or send me an email ,  I promise you won't regret it!