Jit’s Journal: Down time in Liechtenstein

After a bad weekend at the World Cup opener in Sölden, I needed to get as far away from skiing as I could. However, my break would merely consist of one day before I was back on the very hill that I had raced on for the World Cup. This time around I was skiing slalom, and it was huge relief. Sometimes after you haven’t done something for a long time and you come back to it, you really enjoy yourself.
AFTER A BAD weekend at the World Cup opener in Sölden, I needed to get as far away from skiing as I could. However, my break would merely consist of one day before I was back on the very hill that I had raced on for the World Cup. This time around I was skiing slalom, and it was huge relief. Sometimes after you haven’t done something for a long time and you come back to it, you really enjoy yourself.
    I trained for two days on the icy pitch with the guys heading to Reiteralm for the World Cup, as well as with the French national team. The full-course icy slalom was just what the doctor ordered for me, and it wasn’t long before I was smiling again. After all was said and done, I was happy that I jumped right back on my skis after the races at Sölden and I left there feeling positive about my skiing again.
    After I finished my training in Sölden, I headed to Switzerland for five days of rest before my flight back to the States. While I was there, I had the chance to get in some sightseeing in and around Liechtenstein, which also happens to be home to the legendary Marco Buechel. Last year when I raced my first World Cup at Alta Badia, the first person I met was Marco. Besides my teammates and a few others, I really didn’t know anyone. Marco skied right up to me at the start and introduced himself and, in a sense, welcomed me to the World Cup.
   After we talked for a while and he skied off, I just thought, “Man, that is one nice guy. I didn’t see that coming.” Since then, the one guy I can count on to see smiling every time I see him at a race is  Marco. Being the positive guy that he is, it was no wonder when I showed up for his book signing and birthday in the town of Vaduz that I was welcomed with open arms.    
    Liechtenstein is a small country about the size of a major city; so if you are a big star, you are like royalty. When I arrived at Marco’s book signing, there was a line out the door. Marco jumped up from his signing table to greet me when he saw me and I said, “I heard this is where the king is giving out autographs, I must be in the right place!” He laughed and introduced me around to his friends and family.
    During the signing, I had a chance to escape out onto the streets of Liechtenstein for a while to see what the small country had to offer. I was not disappointed. The cobblestone streets, shops with cuckoo clocks and watches, were everywhere. Some of the old buildings, including the royal castle where the prince of Liechtenstein lives, go back 400 years. I took it all in and enjoyed being a tourist for a little while.
    At the end of the day, I headed up with Marco to his home that overlooks the majority of Liechtenstein. Filled with emblems and pictures of skiing from his many years on the World Cup, his home is what I would imagine a World Cup star’s would be like. His big yellow lab Jasper protects the home front and was fun for me to play with, because everywhere else I seem to go in Europe has cats and I am deathly allergic to them.
    In a way, it kind of reminded me of home. We cheered to his birthday, his 36th, and the rest is history. Later in the  evening as I stared at his trophies and red bibs from years past, it made me realize that I need to relax when it comes to racing. I am young, I have expectations, but I also need to be patient. Marco is 36. I am 22. I thought of where I would be in 14 years. The frustration of Sölden lifted away and I finally dropped it.
    Now I am in Colorado after a quick 10-hour flight from Europe to Denver. I am training at Keystone with the rest of my teammates and enjoying my brief time back on U.S. soil. It’s good to be home.

— Jit

Thanks to my sponsors:
Uvex helmets and goggles
Dynastar skis
Lange boots
Swix poles