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July 2nd-July 9th
On the way to Copenhagen, Denmark I sat on the plane between 2 Australian guys who said when they saw me they thought I was Danish—they thought it was funny when I opened my mouth and I had this ridiculously strong Texas accent. Once I got to Denmark I realized why they thought I was Danish. I’ve never seen so many blonde people in all of my life! Everyone there is pretty much blonde with blue eyes! Crazy! I hardly noticed any ugly people there either, which is a shallow thing to say…but seriously where do the ugly people live in Denmark??
When I arrived in Copenhagen from London Heathrow my ski did not make it with me. I tried to remain calm because these things happen, but when half of my flight was in the claim line for lost baggage I knew I was in trouble. Due to the red alert in the UK because of the terrorist attack in Glaskow airport and recent attempts in London the security was crazy in London. Often times during high security alerts when they are going through every bag individually bags get backed up—according to BA 25,000 bags had been backed up and it might be 10 days or so before they could
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 At The French Masters with June Fladborg
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even find my ski bag. This was very frustrating because in only a few days I was leaving Denmark for Bordeaux, France for the French Masters (now Malibu Open). Luckily, June Fladborg and Ray Stokes were very helpful in tracking down similar bindings and gloves to mine at a ski shop in Denmark and one of the Danish Ski Team members, Mai, offered to let me ski on her Goode 9600. At least I would get to compete.
Other than losing my ski I enjoyed Denmark and seeing the Danish Team’s training site. Denmark is a very pretty place although I was only there for a short stay. The people are also very warm and friendly and most people speak English very well—many with hardly any accent at all—this amazed me! June lives in a beautiful summer cottage in a village about 45 minutes outside of Copenhagen. June Fladborg—the top female jumper in the world has become in the past 2 years my closest friend in skiing. We just click and she has really been with me through my difficult break up with Glenn Campbell (another pro skier from the UK). I admire June’s strength. After losing her mother this winter to cancer June is pressing on (as her mother would have definitely wanted her to) and she is still competing and maintaining her status as the best female jumper in the world. June’s coach and the Danish team coach, Ray Stokes (Australian), coached me a bit when June and Ray were training in Florida in the spring, and I looked forward to skiing with Ray in Denmark. Unfortunately, my ski never came, but Ray was very instrumental in my trying to compete regardless. The Danish Ski Team is probably one of the best funded teams in skiing. They are so lucky to have the resources they do. They train at Vallencbaek Ski Club, just outside of Copenhagen, which is a great place to ski. They all have access to full physical therapy, doctors, and massage therapists at the Danish House of Sport where all the Olympic athletes train in Denmark. I went to this center with June and it was state of the art! I wish I had access to such resources!
On Thursday morning we left Copenhagen for Bordeaux, France for the French Masters (Malibu Open). This would be my 4th trip to Lacaneau Ocean—which is just outside of Bordeaux on the ocean. The tournament is held at Geraldine Jamin’s ski school which has held the French Masters for over 10 years. Lacaneau is a world class ski site, but it has never been my luckiest place. I have never made the cut at the French Masters—I’ve always fallen early and missed the cut. This year was already not looking promising because I would be trying to compete on someone else’s ski, but I tried to remain positive even though I also had not trained in over a week. When it was my turn to compete I felt slightly more nervous than normal because I didn’t feel prepared, but I knew I could do it.
The cut was 5 @ 11.25 meters (38off), which would be challenging for me in this situation. I made it through 12 meters (35off), but only got around 2 at 11.25 meters (38off), which meant I would end up 10th and only 6 women would advance to the finals. I was not displeased because I did my best in the situation, but it was frustrating because with my equipment I know I could have made it through this year and maybe even won the event because I have been skiing better than ever in my life! It has been over 2 weeks since I lost my ski and finally today it arrived at my home in Texas. I was surprised to see that it was not broken…first set back on my old ski and I’m already feeling my skiing coming back! I am ready to have some great tournaments!
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