Patrick Biggs' Blog

With 2 hours of delay, they were almost able to complete the first run of todays GS, but about 58 racers in, the fog came back and wouldn’t move. After holding another hour at the start, the jury threw in the towel and canceled the race. Tomorrow I’ll be starting 54 in the slalom. Conditions look good, so I’m expecting good things again from my high start number.

It was a good start to 2010. I had my top finish in several years at the World Cup in Zagreb finishing 17th. I’m really starting to find a good competition zone that is between energetic and relaxed that is letting some of my better skiing show through.

We drove over to switzerland today (about 10 hours). I’ll be racing in the GS and slalom this saturday and sunday. It’s my first time on the GS hill here in Adelboden, which in my opinion is the most challenging on the world cup. Looking forward to it!!

Happy Holidays everyone!

I hope this letter finds everyone in good health and good spirits. There’s been a lot transpire in the ski world over the past month. Some very good news, but a lot bad. The safety of our sport has really come into question with 20 season ending injuries in the first 20 world cup races. There’s a lot of discussion amongst athletes and the FIS as to why so many injuries. From my perspective, the FIS ski dimension rule changes have done the opposite of what was intended. The wider skis are more dangerous to ski on, period. It’s been disheartening to watch the Canadian team dwindle with the loss of five of our top skiers in the first month of racing. Just as in any sport, when injury strikes, opportunities are created for other team members to step up to the plate and grasp at the chance to prove themselves.

In the second World Cup slalom of the season, Monday in Alta Badia, I rebounded from a rather disappointing first race in Levi and finished a respectable 21st. On a rather unusual course set by the Croatians (pictures of the combos on my website) I had my strongest first run finish in years, coming through in 14th from start position 51. Unfortunately I struggled on the second run set by my own coach and moved back to 21st. It was a great day for Canada with four racers in the 30, with Mike Janyk being the fastest in 5th position. With the majority of the races coming up in January, I’m feeling confident that things are moving in the right direction. The consistency I’ve lacked in the past is now a thing of the past. With the consistency in place, I feel I’m growing more confident and faster with every run.

With the Olympic slalom only two months away, I’m still searching for two top 12 finishes in the World Cup to qualify. I have confidence in my plan. I believe it will happen.

Right now, I’m on my way back home to Ottawa for a short break before returning to Europe for the bulk of the season. The next race is on the 6th of January in Zagreb, Croatia.

A friend made up some Biggs fan wear hats. They will be available for $25 in two sizes (S/M flexfit and L/XL flexfit) while still around. Get them quick!

An interesting course set by Croatian coach Ante Kostelic had heads turning on the slopes monday. Ante has been known for pushing the boundaries of slalom sets for years, including his horizontal haipin at the 2006 Torino Olympics and his extended flush that took out a third of the field in Levi 2008. In Alta Badia this week he set two rather unusual combos including an offset delay and an in-to hairpin (these are not legal in the rule book, but because they can be considered a delay gate with the two poles close together, it flies). The tricky combos claimed quite a few victims, including top skiers Hargin and Matt who got disoriented and missed a gate. I took special care to spend the full 45 minute inspection memorizing this course to make sure I didn’t repeat a mistake i made last year in Wengen. A sketch below shows some of the combos described above.