ALYESKA, AK (March 30) – Olympic giant slalom champion Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) earned the third national GS title of her career Monday, striking gold on the final day of women’s competition at the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships.

Mancuso, who arrived early Saturday morning on a red eye flight from her home in Maui, Hawaii, was hampered with the flu before landing in Alaska, yet also captured the combined title by skiing to second in the downhill and third in slalom. She now has 10 U.S. championship victories with title wins in every discipline but slalom.

“I’m pretty tired, but it feels good to be on podium,” said Mancuso, who also won GS titles in 2003 and ‘05. “U.S. champs is such a great event to come to because it’s always a lot of fun to see everyone and there isn’t too much pressure.”

“Julia did a super good job today, both physically and mentally,” said U.S. Ski Team women’s Head Coach Jim Tracy. “She came in here sick, then we had all the new snow and all the delays and she still went out there and charged. All the women did and I’m really proud of the racing I saw out of this Team.”

Another foot of fresh snow fell overnight at Alyeska and then continued throughout the day creating yet another race with incredibly challenging conditions for the athletes.

“I didn’t bring fat enough skis for all this powder,” said Mancuso, who now heads to Verbier, Switzerland for a celebrity ski event along with Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO). “It snowed at least a foot and a half last night, but they groomed really late into the night so it wasn’t too bad for the race, just a really rough base that got pretty bumpy.”

After Verbier it’s on to ski test and get her gear dialed in. Movin’ upwards and onwards.

Hey Everyone!

The World Cup season might be over, but things don’t seem to be slowing down… nope, once the vulcano dust clears up in Alaska, the guys and girls have Nationals in Alyeska. That will be the last official competition for the season.

Then off to Europe where I hope to be testing skis. It’s time to disect all the different areas in my game that need improvement, and my relationship with my gear is definitely one such area. Ever since the rule changes governing how wide skis can be and the sidecut, I’ve been struggling. To get skis that work well for me, I need to go through it scientifically and just ride a ton of them… skis, plates, boots, ohhh my!

Naw, it’ll be good though. Tough, long hours, but quite necessary.

Before the ski test I do the Carlsberg event in Verbier… if you can make it out there, come on over and say HI!

And finally, time to get my butt in gear and work my strength and conditioning program… no time to waste. The time is now!

Hope you guys are ripping it up wherever you are… enjoy the final weeks of snow.

Later!
Jules

Jules Skull Comp

Jules Iris X Comp

Julia Mancuso Edition POC helmets and goggles were raffled off all season and there were many happy winners! Below are the faces of some of their faces…

And there is some GREAT NEWS!

I just got off the phone with the people at POC and they tell me they still have helmets and goggles left to raffle off. So, if you still have a POC card, you can still win a helmet and goggle set! Click here and register your card to win!

Jules has been super happy about her POC gear. All season long, she’s been strapping on her Jules Edition Skull Comp and Iris X Goggles and she feels confident that they give her the protection she needs when she hurls herself down the mountain.

I also want to thank POC for being super generous in donating goggles for the annual Julia Mancuso Charity Auction. POC helped us raise over $8000 for Julia’s favorite charities. ROCK ON!

And in case you’re wondering what’s up with Jules… we just skyped this morning and she was just sitting at Heathrow in London waiting for her flight to Vancouver with connection to get home to Tahoe. She’ll be out there a bit and head up to Nationals up in Alaska. Shoot her your love and support with a comment and let’s see whether it’ll help her finish the ski season with a bang!

Alright, make sure you register your POC card!

See ya,

Stephan

Not sure anyone has ever answered that question, so here it goes…

After course inspection, the racers typically all hang out at a lodge at the top of the hill. If there is only one lodge up there, then we’re all packed in there and depending on how small it is, we’re packed in there like sardines. Image 70 girls all in one room, plus coaches, hangers-on, waiters, etc… a wild scene.

As the start time approaches, people start making their way up to the start area.

Once there, I have a quick meeting with my technician Andrea. He gives me some last minute info on the skis and perhaps we go over the course again. Shortly thereafter, I go inward and visualize the course with its optimum line, bumps, rolls, and jumps.

As my number gets closer, I do some active warm-up stretches to get the muscles firing. Tara, the US Ski Team Physio uses the stick that helps loosen my muscles one last time. I take off my jacket, Andrea lays down my skis, brushes the excess snow off my boots, and I click in the bindings. Andrea gives the bindings one last tweak, brushes off the top of the ski, towels off the base, and off I go.

Beep beep beep… see ya!