April 16 - Two downhill training runs:  Errol wins both

 Mammoth, California - April 9-18, 2009:  ALPINE RACING

LAST RACES OF THE '08-'09 SEASON

After a season of ski cross, Errol heads to Mammoth for Alpine racing:  Giant Slalom, Super G, and Downhill

 FIS WESTERN REGION SPRING SERIES

MENS' GIANT SLALOM - April 9 - canceled due to high winds and heavy snowfall

MENS' GIANT SLALOM - April 12 - Errol finished 48th, after falling during his run

MENS' SUPER G          - April 13 - Errol finished 18th place                               

MENS' SUPER G          - April 14  - Race cancelled due to wind                          

            MEN'S SUPER G       - April 15 -  Errol finished in 9th place                                             

SIERRA CUP

MENS' DOWNHILL TRAINING RUN - April 15 -- cancelled                                  

MENS' DOWNHILL TRAINING RUN #1- April 16 -- Errol finished 1st                    

MEN'S DOWNHILL TRAINING RUN #2 - April 16 -- Errol finished 1st                   

MENS' DOWNHILL RACE  #1         - April 17 -- Errol finished 2nd                       

MENS' DOWNHILL RACE #2  - April 18--         Errol finished 2nd                           

The Mammoth Mtn Invitational is a new fund-raising event to benefit the winter sports athletes of the Eastern Sierras. This inaugural event will feature Jamaica Ski Team's Errol Kerr as well as US Ski Team athletes Ted Ligety and Stacey Cook as team captains.  For more information, click here.

A discussion with Rusty Gregory, Mammoth Mtn CEO, regarding the Mammoth Mtn Invitational: 

On Sunday, March 29th, Errol finishes first in the final ski cross race of the 2008-2009 season.

 Left to right:  Justin Johnson, USA(3rd); Errol Kerr, JAM (1st); John Teller, USA (2nd)

Lft to rt:  Scott Horn, USA (4th), Justin Johnson, USA (3rd), Errol Kerr, JAM (1st), John Teller, USA (2nd) 

On Saturday, March 28th under sunny skies, Errol qualified first and finished second at the FIS Ski Cross race at Sugar Bowl, California.  Sunday's race (March 29th) will conclude the FIS ski cross races in North America for the 2008-2009 ski season.  Errol will be travelling to Mammoth, California in April to compete in the FIS Spring Series races scheduled April 8-18.  There, he will race slalom, GS, Super G, and downhill.

ON THE PODIUM -- 1st through 4th place

Left to right:  Scott Horn, USA(4th); Errol Kerr, JAMAICA (2nd); John Teller, USA (1st); Sven Winter, CANADA (3rd)

ERROL WINS SECOND PLACE MEDAL

Left to right:  Holly O'Brien, Errol Kerr, and Catherine Kerr    

Friday, March 27:  Practise   10:00AM Mt Judah

Saturday, March 28:  Race #1 9:00AM Mt Judah

Sunday, March 29:  Race #2  9:00 AM Mt Judah

For entry information and race info:  Click here

 RESULT AT MEIRINGEN-HASLIBERG

Saturday, March 14 -- Finals -- Meiringen-Hasliberg --Qualified 11th, Finished 22nd

Sunday, March 15    -- Finals (replaces Grindelwald) -- Cancelled

LINK:

  FIS World Cup at Meiringen-Hasliberg

World Cup Ski Cross at Grindelwald (March 13) was cancelled due to weather. 

Grindelwald race rescheduled at Meiringen-Hasliberg.

 FIS Freestyle World Championships INAWASHIRO JAPAN 2009

Errol Kerr qualified fifth, and finished 10th at World Championships in Japan.  

In the photo below: 

Opening Ceremonies at Ski Cross World Championships, Inawashiro

                              Left: Flagbearer; Middle: Errol Kerr; Right: Eric Holmer (Coach/Technician)

Here's a photo of our Jamaica Ski Team with host country's flagbearer -- carrying the Jamaican flag.  The Opening Ceremonies at the World Championships were awesome.  Inawashiro put on an incredible show, with music and traditional dance.  We finished 10th at the World Championship Ski Cross finals -- the best finish of the year.  We are getting some good momentum now, and are excited about this Sunday's departure for Switzerland, where we will be racing more World Cups. Stay tuned!

Click here for complete results:  RESULTS

Click here for ski cross ladder:   LADDER

Click here for qualification results:  QUALIFICATION RESULTS

Jamaican skier Errol Kerr (pictured on the right - during official training) spent a week in Japan, competing in the FIS Freestyle World Championships.  Kerr arrived in Japan Feb 26. 

 Schedule:      Saturday, Feb 28                     Official Training

                     Sunday, Mar 1                         Official Training

                     Monday, Mar 2                        10:45 - 11:15           Official Training

                                                                   11:30 - 12:05           Men's Qualification

                                                                   12:35 - 13:05           Official Training - Finalists

                                                                   13:30 - 14:35             Ladies' and Men's Finals

Click this link for information on the events at Inawashiro:

 World Championships - Inawashiro, Japan

 Click this link for photo and info on Hotel Listel Inawashiro

Fun day skiing with Alpine Meadows ski team rippers:

Click this link:  Errol with Alpine Meadows Ski Team

On Saturday, Feb 21st, Errol spent the day leading the Alpine Meadows ski team youth through gullies and jumps.  Children reported that they were having the time of their lives following Errol around the mountain.   Alpine Meadows is the home training mountain for the Jamaica Ski Team. 

 Powder days at Alpine Meadows and Homewood

No ski season is complete without glorious days of skiing in the powder.  The Tahoe area was slammed with snow for one week straight, and Errol didn't hesistate to take the opportunity to go out skiing with the film crew at Alpine Meadows in waste deep powder. 

 In the news:

 Fast Skis and Palm Trees: A Jamaican Olympic Dream

 

Photos at Sugar Bowl Banzai by KQSW Productions:

 

 

 

 

FROM SACVIBE.COM-----Jamaica Ski Team member Errol Kerr, pictured above, at a Red Bull sponsored party in Truckee for the Silver Belt Banzai celebration Saturday night.  After placing second at the Silverbelt Banzai qualifiers, he had every reason to smile.  Kerr would not finish the race on Sunday after hitting a mogul and popping out of both bindings failing to complete the course. 

 The fiercest storm of the season slammed into Lake Tahoe over President’s weekend making the trip to the home of the 1940’s born Banzai a feat in and of itself worthy of commendation. The race has evolved into a six-man wide, big mountain skicross, as local professional skier, Trevor Ricoli (Reno, NV), called it in a recent interview.

” I have never gone that fast down double black diamonds with moguls, ever. I have never trained for this. I never thought there would be a race like this." ------FROM SACVIBE.COM

Question:   In the future, how would you train for a race like this?

Trevor:  I guess, when it is a powder day, go as fast as you can down every black diamond run, straight line.  That is about all I can think of.

 

Qualification results (24 qualify/heats of 6 each):

1st -- Daron Rahlves

2nd -- Errol Kerr 

11th -- Trevor Ricioli

For a stories on the event, click on these links:  

 Sierra Sun: Silver Belt Banzai

 Rahlves and Kerr showdown

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

INTERVIEWS AFTER QUALIFICATION -- SUGAR BOWL BANZAI: 

Interview with Errol:

Question:  Errol, I heard that you didn't have training time on the hill this morning.  Why was that?  

Answer:  I had to be at Alpine this morning, so I wasn't able to make it for training, and I made it there just to have one look at the hill and then it was race time.  I tried to do everything I could without having a training run down the hill.  

Question:   How did you feel coming down the hill, having only slipped once, and no training runs?

Answer:  I felt like I could have taken some different lines, or gone a little faster in some places, and a little slower in others .... if I had tested it out beforehand.  

Question:  Can you tell me anything about the gates on the course, what was Fuller's Folly like, and what was the course like?  

Answer:  The course goes down a double black diamond run which goes through some gullies, and it's ungroomed, and it goes through some shoots.  You have to jump into a shoot between two rocks, and there aren't really gates.  There are just control gates about every 100 yards down the hill, so you can pretty much go wherever you want to.  

Question:  Would you say that you went straight?  

Answer:  I'd like to say so.

Question:  Did you see any crashes, any yardsales?

Answer:  Absolutely.

Question:  Can you describe them?

Answer:  They jump into a dryer with a bunch of boulders.  That's probably what those guys felt like.  They lost all their equipment and went tomahawk-ing down the hill.  

Question:  How do you feel about tomorrow?

Answer:  Exuberated.

Truckee skiers put mountain town on top of the world

February 10, 2009 - updated Feb 11
Errol Kerr and Daron Ralves shine the interntional ski spotlight on Truckee - both scheduled to compete in the Silverbelt Banzai at Sugar Bowl
Save the jokes, half the Jamaican ski team lives in Truckee.  His name is Errol Kerr.  Kerr's father was born in Jamaica; Errol holds dual citizenship  in both the US and Jamaica.  Born in Brooklyn, he moved to the Bay Area's Peninsula before ending up at his mother's home mountain, Sugar Bowl for whom she raced a bit. At 9, she asked him where he wanted to live.  That's a no brainer for a kid who fell in love with skiing before double digits - Truckee!

Kerr raced for Squaw Valley at age 11 and by 16, he was ranked 3rd in the nation for downhill and Super-G in his class. Fast forward to ski-cross, the newest alpine sport taking the world of winter sports by storm.  Think downhill and freeskiing meets motocross.  Put four guys or girls on the starting line and let them bomb.  Last one down is a rotten egg.  Kerr placed 5th at last year's X Games in Aspen and clocked the fastest time of the day in his debut to the sport.

Kerr now represents Jamaica in the Winter Olympic's debut of ski-cross.  Kerr grew up skiing, riding competitive BMX and motocross so when ski-cross got traction a few years ago on the pro-circuit and Kerr saw his first race, he he wanted in.   A former U.S. Ski Team member, Kerr switched teams this year, in his words, to "[R]epresent the land of my father," who passed away 10 years ago according to Alpine Meadow's website, where Kerr currently practices.

In the January 2009 issue of Skiing Magazine, Kerr said of the sport, “Skiercross is almost like stepping into a cage fight. You have to combine the cool focus of alpine skiing with something more aggressive, more raw.”  Kerr's nickname when he started ski-cross in the '07-'08 season was "rookie" but he quickly overcame his noob status with the fastest time of the day at the '08 Winter X Games in Aspen taking 5th place.  And at the now defunct Jeep World Pro Championships, "King of the Mountain" last year he was at the top of the rankings going into finals at Sun Valley.  He gained more national exposure via CBS's broadcast of the event. 

  Just before the X Games in Aspen, the San Francisco Chronicle caught up with Daron Rahlves who said of Kerr,

"He's still young and hasn't really proved himself yet ... but he seems to be cool under pressure and he's shown he can ski in traffic. ... He's definitely a threat; you can't count him out."

February 8-13, 2009:  NORTH AMERICA CUP-- Mammoth, California

Between stops on the World Cup Ski Cross circuit, Errol and coach/technician Homey spent a week at Mammoth on the Nor Am Alpine circuit.  Errol's best finish was 12th in the Super G on Tuesday --  A great result for a racer whose been focusing on ski cross all season.  

For complete results, go to fis-ski.com

Interview with Errol re Mammoth speed races:

Question:  Errol, how did it feel to be at Mammoth doing Nor Am speed races?  Did you love it?

Answer:  It was exciting going fast again, finally.  I got 12th place and beat a lot of US Ski Team members.  

Finishes 17th at Cypress

 Click here for complete results:  Cypress results

Interview with Errol re Cypress Race:

Question:  How did it  feel to compete on the same course that will be for Vancouver 2010?

Answer:  Exciting.

Question:  What did you like about the course?

Answer:  The banked turns.

Question:  What did you dislike?

Answer:  The soft snow -- it was too soft.

Question:  What happened in your heat?

Answer:  i didn't advance.

Question:  I saw that the Canadians placed top three.  How did you feel about that?

Answer:  When we showed up at the hill, there were already ruts in the berms, and they had been there the past 7 days training.  That is considered "cheating".  Next year I am going to have a ski cross in my backyard and invite them to it.  Same way next year, I am going to have a Banzai at Alpine.  

Question:  Are you going to invite Daron to that?

Answer:  Yes, I get to set the gates.  I'll be scoping out the line.   

QUALIFICATION AT CYPRESS 

Starting 43rd amidst slushy conditions, Errol moved up to 7th place at the qualifier on Thursday, Feb 5th. Finals will be Friday, Feb 6th from 1-2:15PM Pacific Time.

Errol Kerr of Jamaica competes during qualification for the ski cross during day 1 of the FIS Freestyle Grand Prix

 Please click on this link for complete Qualification results 

 For Friday's ski cross ladder, click on this link:  Ladder

TRAINING AT CYPRESS 

Please click on the link below for view of Errol training at Cypress Mtn. on Wed, Feb 4.

Cypress, Canada is the site of the Vancouver 2010 ski cross competition.  This years World Cup ski cross at Cypress will begin Feb 3, 2009.  Qualification on Feb 5.  Finals take place on Feb 6.  

For complete schedule:   2009FS8053PROG.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Cypress Mountain is located 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver.Cypress Mountain

Errol finishes 13th at X Games Ski Cross finals

Snow conditions at x games ski cross finals were similar to the day of the qualifier:  Wet and slow snow.  Because it had snowed overnight, and continued to snow, the fastest track was down the center, meaning that any attempts at passing would have to be done in the powder snow or at the corners.

Said Brian Kemenetsky (ESPN writer) of heat #3:

"The road to the medal run in Men's SkierX is going to be rough. The bottom half of the draw is particularly burly, and some big names could be eliminated along the way. The third quarterfinal heat includes four finalists from last year's race: Tomas Kraus, Errol Kerr, Michael Schmid, and gold medalist Daron Rahlves. Only three will make the semi-final."   WX13 X Course - ESPN

With 6 in the start gate in the quarters, Errol had an excellent start and moved into 3rd position.  Wanting to make a pass, his move found him in soft snow, which considerably slowed him down.  He made 3 more attempts, and did not make it, finishing fourth in his quarter final, and 13th overall.

A special congratulations to Ski Cross world cup skier Takizawa from Japan.  He finished 2nd in the finals.  He got a warm hug from Errol, and to which he exclaimed:  "It's the first time I made the podium in 8 years!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A special thanks to those friends who drove out to Colorado from California, Utah, and Copper to be there to support Errol.

Read this article about Jamaica Ski Team's technician, Eric Holmer, a.k.a. Homey, at Winter X Games. WX13 X Course - Wax Man Cometh - ESPN

 Watch Errol in X-Games ski cross finals on January 25th.  Live coverage is from

12-2pm Mountain Time (2-4PM Eastern/Jamaica Time) ESPN

Errol qualifies 10th at X Games ski cross qualifier on Friday, Jan 23.

They had the qualifier on Friday. Errol finished 10th.  It was very changeable weather during the qualifier, going from snow, to fog to rain, and the course conditions changed about every five racers.  There was a group of five that came down, each one bettering the time before, because the course was getting faster.  By the time Errol ran, it was getting slower.  He did considerably well, getting tenth.  He said he made a mistake, and was wanting to win the qualifier! 

To put it in perspective, there were 10 seconds between 1st and 24th place in the qualifier.  Considering that these are the top racers in the world at X Games, it shows that the conditions were strange, to say the least.

The race is on Sunday.  Errol's in the same heat with Tomas Kraus, Daron Rahlves, and Michael Schmid.  There are 24 in the start--- that's 4 heats of 6.  (X-Games has six at the start gate.)

 Stories in the news:

 Truckee skier plans to go for the gold with Jamaica | www.rgj.com | Reno Gazette-Journal

ESPN news -- Winter X Games 13 ski cross course

 Jamaica Gleaner News - Kerr suffers mixed fortunes - Sport - Wednesday | January 21, 2009

 The Reggae Boyz Forum: Jamaican skier Kerr sets Lake Placid on fire

Lake Placid Photos 

Among those watching at the Lake Placid event was Jamaican Cliff Johnson.  Since October 2008, Cliff has been a dedicated supporter of the Jamaica Ski Team.  He drove from his residence in Toronto, Canada for 6 hours to watch Errol compete, and when Errol placed 2nd in the qualifier, Cliff was flying the Jamaican flag.  Here are some photos of Cliff at the event, as well as the Jamaica Ski Team.  THANK YOU CLIFF FOR DRIVING FROM TORONTO!!!!!

 Homey's Corner  --JST technician's report on Lake Placid

Errol's training the first couple of days was great. By the 2nd run of the first day he felt comfortable enough to race. The qualifier was just awesome!!! The weather changed quite dramatically overnight before the qualifier so every tech had waxed too cold, not reason to panic because I knew all of us were in the same boat. That day I let him train on a good pair of skis with a close to race wax on and I'm glad I did because it was a huge difference in speed from the prior training days and he had to adapt to the increase of speed. He went out and skied a heck of a run and luckily I must not have missed the wax by too much. Unfortunately qualifying results are nice, but not what what's printed on the end results. In the first heat today he had a good start, but then tried to absorb the first bump instead of attempting to double it and missed the timing by little, enough to lose some speed and be 3rd into the first turn. He was playing catch up until the whoops section where we had talked about being the only passing zone on the course. From what he said he made a move to pass, but the guy he was trying to pass also made a move on the leader and they were running 3 wide at the end of that section. Errol didn't quite have enough steam and got forced to the outside and ended up in the "red room" (b-net) At least he walked away and it was an aggressive move which is what it takes to keep advancing. I think now after 2 qualifying runs of 2nd place some people are starting to take notice that we're players in the world of skier X. All we can do is regroup and try again the Aspen.   -- Eric Holmer, JST Technician

Kerr finishes 17th at Lake Placid

Errol Kerr finished 17th at the Lake Placid World Cup on Monday.  Coming out of the start in his first heat, he was in 3rd place.  He went for a pass, and the other racers came over on him, trying to prevent the pass.  As the course narrowed to 6 ft wide, Errol got caught up in the traffic and crashed, going into the fencing.  Kerr's feeling alright and ready.  Tomorrow, the team will fly out to Colorado for the X-Game.

For complete results:   2009FS8040FRL.pdf (application/pdf Object)

For World Cup standings:   2009FS8040OST.pdf (application/pdf Object)

A very special thanks to those Jamaicans who drove from Toronto and New York City to support Errol and the Jamaica Ski Team.  Your support is marvelous!!  Thanks also to NBS members who drove from Vermont and New York City to cheer on Errol on Martin Luther King's Birthday.

 2nd Place at Lake Placid Qualifier -Sunday January18

 Errol Kerr qualified second at the Lake Placid Ski Cross World Cup on Sunday, January 18.  He was 1/10 of a second behind World Cup leader Andreas Matt of Austria, and 1/100th of a second ahead of former US Downhill champion Daron Rahlves.  For complete results, please see the following link.  2009FS8040QRL.pdf (application/pdf Object)

NEWS ALERT

Please check "Homey's corner" on this website for comments made by JST Technician Eric Holmer, a.k.a. HOMEY.

 On Kerr's performance at Tignes,

"I'm sure you've heard the Tignes results by now. 14th place, still wasn't the result that we were hoping for, but the there was a ton of improvement. The course was better suited for Errol's natural skills, longer, more terrain and gliding. The qualifying went great. 2nd!!! I was just glad I did my job and didn't slow down the skis so Errol could go out and show the other guys how fast he can be. The first heat was a lesson in going from sheer excitement to total defeat in about 2 minutes. Errol had a really good initial pull out of the gate and was vying for the lead coming into the first roller, after that we learned a great lesson. At the first roller Errol dropped into his tuck figuring he'd reached speed where pushing anymore wasn't faster. Everyone else kept pushing on the backside of all 4 rollers and Errol came into the first turn in 5th. The coarse was just a little too narrow to make the necessary passes to move to the next round. 

"We learned a valuable lesson about the fine line between aerodynamics and extra pushing. I partially feel responsible for not seeing this beforehand and pointing it out to him. A fundamental mistake that won't happen again!"

 RESULTS IN FRANCE

 Errol qualifies second, finishes 14th

at Tignes Airwaves Games -- January 7, 2009

 Communication from Jamaica Ski Team coach Raul Guisado:

 "Errol had the 2nd fastest qualifying time and had a great start in his heat but needed to keep pole planting and skating a little longer... he ended up 14th overall."

The Jamaica Ski Team was scheduled to depart for Munich (a nine hour drive from Tignes) immediately following the race at Tignes, with an airline departure for California the following morning. 

Here are links to photos (by Guenter Schiffmann/Getty Images) of the St Johann, Austria race with Errol Kerr (in pink):

Errol Kerr (far right) at the start of the finals

Kerr racing in the finals in St Johann, Austria

 Wednesday's Schedule for the Skiercross at Tignes, France

Wednesday January 7th 2009: SKI X
9:30 am – 11:00 am : Skiercross training
11:00 am – 1:30 pm : Big ski training
11:15 pm : Skiercross time trial
12:30 pm : Skiercross competition (6:30 AM Jamaica Time, 3:30 AM Pacific Time)

For the 5th consecutive year, a selection of the best riders in the world have been invited to spend 5 days battling it out against each other on the snow in Tignes. All the ingredients are there for a truly stratospheric show: an exceptional selection of riders, and a huge range of alternative snowsports including those on 2 wheels and thousands of spectators.  Taking place strategically at the start of the winter season, the “Airwaves” offer an XXL playground for freestyle, freeride and skiercross and kicks offthe 2009 season’s freestyle festivities. The international riders have signed up to do battle against each other in the Tignes arena!

  Errol finished 30th out of 86 world class competitors under night lights at the first FIS World Cup Ski Cross of the 2008-2009 season at St Johann, Austria.  On a tough course, with water-injected snow that made it feel like skiing on ice, and charging down the hill with 3 others racers side-to-side, Jamaica's Errol Kerr met the FIS' first criterion to qualify for ski cross in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics:

Place in the top 30 in a FIS World Cup Ski-X event between July 2008 and January 25th 2010 

 Jamaica Ski Team's ski technician, Eric Holmer, said of Kerr's performance today:
"Since he was the lowest seeded racer in his heat he was forced to start from the least desirable gate, far left. He had a good start, not great, but he couldn't get ahead of anyone because the first turn was a nasty 120 degree left footer. He tried twice to make risky passes that we had talked about and was almost successful until his timing was off on the second try forcing him to miss a gate. All in all I'm happy with our performance, I would always like a better result though. I've heard Tignes should be more up our alley. More wide open with gliding, high speed and big air. True Skier X. There will be improvement from today."

 Jamaica Ski Team's coach Guisado comments: 

"Hope everyone's doing well. The Finals of the St Johann World Cup were tonight. The conditions were similar to yesterday's qualifier... very challenging with injected man-made snow. Errol took two training runs before his heat and was skiing clean and fast. He had a better start in his heat than in the qualifiers......Errol skied well in his heat but the 2 skiers that got out in front early also skied well (they went on to finish 3rd and 12th overall). Unfortunately, the combo of a technical and relatively narrow course made it very difficult to pass and Errol was unable to advance (only the top 2 in each heat advance). So, he ended up 30th overall in the race. We were obviously hoping for, and Errol was capable of, a much better result. However, we're off to Tignes, France tomorrow and are looking forward to competing in the ski-x at the Tignes Airwaves Games on January 7th."

Please click on this link for complete results

The team departs for Tignes, France on Tuesday, Jan 6, and Errol will compete in the Tignes Airwaves Games Ski Cross (Super Cross) on Wednesday, January 7. Since the 1970’s Tignes has been the forefront  of freestyle and has been clearly inspired by the American X Games.  An unnusual schedule of events for the ski cross on January 7 shows the inspection, training, qualifications and FINALS all on the same day.

Errol qualifies to the Finals

Coach's Report:  January 4, 2009

 Qualification for the 1st ski-x World Cup in St Johann, AUT took place tonight. The officials decided to inject the hill for a 2nd time last night after the first training session which made the course very challenging.

Errol Kerr tried to anticipate the start gate opening and pulled a little too early which (according to the reaction time split) cost him a very valuable seven tenths of a second. He skied well except for a big mistake on one very slick turn which probably cost him roughly another second. Errol finished 30th in the qualifiers overall (1.51 seconds off the fastest qualifying time) and will advance to the round of 32 tomorrow night. From what I saw yesterday in the first training session, Errol can ski this course as well as anyone here and knows what he needs to do.

Thanks again to everyone for their support. It should be a very exciting and competitive race tomorrow night. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers

Coach Guisado

Errol Kerr of the Jamaica ski team arrived in Europe on January 2nd, 2009 to compete in the Ski Cross World Cup in St. Johann, Austria.  The team’s technician, Eric Holmer, will be tuning Errol’s skis.  His coach, Raul Guisado, was pleased with the first day of training at St. Johann.  He reports that the course is water-injected and quite challenging.  The qualifying runs on Sunday, January 4 will decide Monday’s start positions for the FINALS.  Check out these links for the FIS World Cup Ski Cross and St. Johann World Cup Ski Cross:

FIS-Ski Home Page

Live Cam-FIS Skiercross World Cup, Ferienregion St. Johann in Tirol

FIS Skiercross Weltcup, Ferienregion St. Johann in Tirol

The following day the team will drive to Tignes, France (about an 8 hour drive) where Errol will compete in the Tignes Airwaves Games the following day.  Since the 1970’s Tignes has been the forefront  of freestyle and has been clearly inspired by the American X Games.  An unnusual schedule of events for the ski cross on January 7 shows the inspection, training, qualifications and FINALS all on the same day.

On February 8th, the team will head back to the United States, where they will rest and train for seven days before heading out to the next set of races - World Cup at Lake Placid, New York; and the X Games in Aspen.

We had a good time this weekend down at Mammoth.  They had the first Far West races of the season:  Slalom.  It was fun to get back in the gates, and helping out the younger racers with their points.   I also was forerunning the Far West Masters races. They have helped me out so much through the years, and it's great fun giving back, and hanging out with them.  I gave a little talk at their awards ceremony, letting them know how much I appreciate what they have done for me and for so many of us in Far West through the years. 

Here's a link to the Far West Masters website. Check it out!

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Errol Kerr and Jamaica Ski Team

at Spyder Sports Race Clinic at Copper Mountain

Jamaica Ski Team to train at Alpine Meadows