Metz the Jersey boy

Wow... once again coach c has managed to take things to that entirely new level of disturbing. Have you no shame? Yeah, didn't think so. Awesome. I love this MB.

Wow... so Justin's mom thinks I'm a serial killer. This is a blow to my self esteem. lol Thanks for not thinking I'm a psycho dominant... lol. Justin- hmmm... should your mom be worried? Not unless you have a 20 something year old sister just kidding... probably not a subject I should be joking about. This is actually a pretty decent sized problem here. I feel bad for Justin not being able to go... but I'm definitely going to say that if anyone's parents are skeptical about them getting rides from people on this MB that they should just avoid it. I'd hate to see anyone's parents get upset over something like this. Well... It looks like I'm driving the Blue bus for Mountain Creek PASR day. I'll be up at Blue in the base lot at 8 am if anyone needs rides. Justin, I'll leave a spot open for you for a little while in case your mom changes her mind. If not, I can take 3. Does anyone else find it funny that I get to call my car the blue bus for the day?

Thanks for all the advice guys. My din was at 8 when I went down. I guess I'm just paranoid because I would have been able to avoid that fence if I had my skis or even one ski on my feet. I was still in my turn tuck when I hit the fence. Seeing as I'm 5'9" I'm pretty short to be cranking up my din, but I am 200 pounds. I lean hard forward in all my turns. real hard. I'm thinking of cranking it to 10. Also, like I said, I'm going to have my forward pressure checked. I feel much better again today. Instead of my entire upper body feeling like bruised and battered mush I just feel the individual aches now. I think I'll be making it back to the snow very soon. I can't wait. Until then I'm going to get strong... even stronger. See you all on snow soon.

First of all for Skimom- we're skiers. Normal doesn't apply to us. We are snow craving speed demons who love freezing cold weather. That alone defies normality. Doug- more cautious, yes. Slower- no. Because of the crash I'm going to be taking a full 9 weekends in the Camelback Adult Masters Program. If there is an error in my form then hopefully it will be uncovered there. That will cover any user fault that might have been involved. I'll be raising the din settings on my bindings as well as checking the forward pressure so that i won't pop out when i'm skiing as aggressively as I was on wed. If there was a mechanical problem, that should cover it. I plan on coming back faster than I ever was, and with more strength and precision. Often when muscles and bones are bruised they heal stronger than they ever were. I won't let one fall take away what I love most.

I'm feelin much better tonight... I think I'm going to have to challenge the dude in a couple weeks... hehe

Justin- you can catch a ride with me if you want. I've got a rack on my car now and I'll be able to fit 3 people if you know of others that need rides. since papasteeze is running rides out of camelback, I'd probably prefer to run them out of Blue so more Blue riders and skiers can come. If CB is closer for you, let me know. I'm up for anything.

Skimom- there are 3 dates left to race in Massachussetts... not as bad a ride for me, I realize, but still, closer than NH. I also think you can race the nationals if you buy a lift ticket at Loon for that day. If not, Loon is definitely worth the trip. Its a great mountain overall. Ski999- Yeah, there is definitely a long Nastar season ahead of us. i should be on snow for most of it, and I know I've got some fast skiing left in me when I get back at it. Still can't believe I went Sonny Bono...

I was warming up with some high speed runs down big pocono, and I'm not really sure what happened, but I lost my right ski. when I tried to turn on the left ski to slow down and control my fall I lost that ski and went skidding off to the right. I went back first into one of the metal poles holding up the permanent fence. Got a toboggan ride and an ambulance ride, 2 bruised shoulder blades (can't lift my arms barely at all) and 4 bruised vertebrae. One of the patrollers and some people came over and told me just how ridiculously fast I am and that they saw my ski just come out clean... it was a good ego boost until I had to ride down on a back board. Went into shock in the patrol shed and needed oxygen. Doctor at pocono medical said I've got to be full of piss and vinegar because I'm in the worst shape of anyone that came in yesterday and i'm the only one without a broken bone. He gave me clearance to ski in a week, as long as I'm feeling strong. I really wanna be up at the finals for this Mtn. Dew thing with everyone, so I'm going to try and qualify later in the year in Mass or something. No way I'm going to let this keep me down. I'll be back gunning for Nastar nationals in no time as well. Ski the dream.

Yeah, this is definitely not any kind of serious race series, but it'd be nice to get a free ticket to Loon. Its like going home... I haven't ripped down flume or walking boss in a while...

I entered the race, but took my bad crash around 10 am. Needless to say, I was at Pocono Medical center around start time. Wish I got to see everyone. Congrats skidude and everyone else who ran fast. Wish I could have been there with ya. I think I'm going to attempt to qualify for nationals once my shoulders and spine heal up at one of the new england races. Hopefully we'll all be up at Loon together.

hey guys, its all about getting back at it. I'll be on the hill again as soon as possible. Just mad that I missed this race today.

I have 2 bruised shoulder blades and I bruised 4 vertebrae. They're not letting me do anything at all for a week. Bet your arse that I'll be back on it the second I can. I'll let everyone know how things are going with my recovery. Coming back, faster than ever.

I wish i could say i had a good ski day. I was up at camelback, and I ended my day with a toboggan ride, an ambulance ride, and 8 hours at pocono medical center. Any CAT racers who saw a guy in a red spider jacket bite it hard after coming out of a ski and slide hard into the permanent fence on the right side of Big Pocono- that was me. doc says I can't ski for another week. Left some pretty blood on the hill though. Hope everyone had a great ski day other than me, and I hope someone from here did well in that race... I was off the mtn. before it even started. bummer. at least I got a t-shirt

Linebackers and running backs make great skiers because of their strength, explosiveness, and lateral movement ability. Many of the same exercises apply to both sports (plyometrics, wall sits, 10-40 yard sprints). Personally, I feel that any exercise that increases muscle stamina will help skiers immensely. Everything is about being able to get into and maintain a powerful position throughout the run

Skimom raises what I consider to be an extremely valuable point. I'm going to bend it a little here, but it is how i feel about the entire situation. If CAT is anything like some of the other teams I've been on in the many other sports I've played, the kids don't do the proper dryland training. They're not in the kind of shape they should be when they show up on the first day. I have a strong feeling that most of the drills and exercises that are being done so early are to get the kids in the shape they should be in. What this all boils down to is that people need to stop blaming coaches. If someone isn't improving then they need to train and practice harder. Its in each individual's hands.

Dammit, where the hell did the fun go? In all of this everyone is forgetting why we get on snow 35 days a year- because its a hell of a lot of fun. There's always more to learn, and there's always a better time to be reached. There are different schools of coaching, and frankly, I'm dying to learn what Ridge is learning right now. I'd LOVE to be able to get into a program where I'm getting race coaching every day. I may be 23 years old, but I've still got a dream. I know where I want to be in ten years, and if someone says I can't do it, screw them. i don't run 3 miles 5 times a week because its fun... I do it because there are people out there that are in better shape than me, that can ski faster than me. I don't like that. I don't like it one bit. This sport is all about attitude. No matter what coaching is going on, no matter whether there are gates on the hill or not, its about desire and love. You can learn so much about life from skiing- get forward, charge it head on, and be happy. I'd sell a kidney to have started racing at age 10, no matter what coaching was going on. Whatever they're doing on the hill, it works. Trust me. All the talent in the world won't get anyone anywhere. If there's anything that these coaches should be teaching these kids its how to want it more. too bad there's really no way to coach it. And another thing- I couldn't stand the way my football coach coached in high school. Didn't stop me from becoming all central jersey. Its not what is in the coaches head that matters, its whats in the athlete's heart.

yeah rob, I hate to jump on the bandwagon here, but even though I have limited experience with ski racing, i can speak from all-state experience in other sports. Football championships aren't won on practice fields with yardage markers. I never had a practice field with yardages marked. They are won in the weight room, running routes in the gym, running on the street, and with various plyometric exercises. The season is when you bring it all together. What i'm trying to say are that there are different aspects to skiing, and running gates is what happens when you bring it all together. Take the obstacles out of the way, let everyone learn how to carve and ski more powerfully and efficiently, and then drop in the gates. Its a much better formula for success. The way I see it, I have never even raced ASRA, but I feel like I've spent the past 20 years of my life training for the olympics. I've seen EXTREMELY limited time running gates but I truly feel like I can be one of the fastest on the mountain, any given day, gates or no gates. Its just something to think about. You can feel free to disagree, or agree, but I have to agree with a lot of the others. Gates are just a walk through before the real thing. Champions are built long before gates even appear on the hill.

Yeah, definitely think we'll be alright if we're in a group. If people need rides I'm willing to take people. If I get that ski rack I was asking for tomorrow I can take 3 people. Let me know if there's interest. It might only be 2 though. I have this chick rider who might be coming also. She's pretty hot, and she's a bartender at one of central NJ's most infamous bars. Everyone try and let me know by Jan. 5th if they're going. I'm going to head up there that weekend to finalize things with Mt. Creek as far as any discount we can get. The sooner I get 15, the sooner I get the group rate...

Doug- hey man, I don't know how to be anything other than super optimistic. I guess I look at it this way: I get out to the poconos twice a week to go skiing and I live about an hour and a half away, so why can't everyone make the trip out to jersey once a season? I'm not by anymeans implying that I'm better or more hardcore than anyone else just because i make the drive, cause I know people like poconooceancity drive even further. I'm just sayin, make the trip people! It'll be worth it, trust me. Dominant- Thats the way to be bro. I was just hyping the site to a bunch of people yesterday while i was in the ski shop. handed out 2 stickers... told a bunch more people. Hopefully everyone can think about that when they're thinking of coming up that weekend. Its going to be a sick time. I'll catch ya'll later EDIT: And by the way, did dominant and i mention that Creek has the best park within 400 miles?

lol, who said anything about karaoke groupies doug? I'm out to start my own following. besides, you can rap all you want, i'll win the ladies with some lionel richie or something. yes you're once, twice, three times a lady...

I realize its going to be completely ridiculous, but we're also there to support nipples and his high flying adventures. Look at it this way man, we get to go out on the busiest day of the year and spread the word about PASR. With all the people on that mountain I bet we can grab at least 100 more people for the site. I'm not much a fan of skiing on busy weekends either, but hey, we're still going to be on snow. And another thing- do you have any idea how many hotties are going to be out there that weekend? You're going to be bringing your freestyle a-game in front of how many chicks with some sweet prizes on the line... its like a mini x-games, only without fruity medals. Any day on snow is a good day.

Where do you go for karaoke? Just wondering what good places there are for after a good day of skiing...

Another update on the status of PASR day- Talked to Jose at Pelican Ski Shop today, and he was so enthused about what PASR is doing that it looks like they're going above and beyond donating some prizes and what not. Look for some sweet stuff to be appearing. Lift Tickets, gift cards, who knows what he'll do. Also, I'm still talking with the Mountain Creek people. We should be getting a discount. Even if its a small one, its still a discount. I'm getting souped up for it, and I know a few other people are as well. Hopefully it'll be a huge turnout. Nothing like seeing a group of 30 people tearing it up on the slopes together.

Alright, just for the record, the Tao of Steve is an awesome movie. Gotta love it. Yeah, i figured it out, its all about letting loose. I think doug and I need to hit up karaoke one night and do some Vanilla Ice...

Ski999- you going to go skiing in a santa suit and see if any naughty girls want some cole in their stockings?