So here’s what’s been happening the last few days... On Sunday I had a day off from skiing since I had been competing and training so much. It felt pretty good not to have to ski in a comp for a change. So I spent the day skating in wanaka and I also went out to the hot tubs at oak-ridge with Jossi, Bobby and the Canadians. All in All it was a super relaxing day. On Monday I went up to Cardrona for the volkl catalogue shoot. We were shooting on the third jump of the park which is a pretty big kicker. I think I got about 3 shot’s and then I crashed. I did a flat 5 and over shot the jump. On landing I caught my edge’s and flipped hitting my head and shoulder at the same time. I think I was knocked out for a second. Then in the afternoon I went to get my hair cut. It feels pretty short compared to what Im used to but I think it will grow on me. Russ

Skiing in Haines, AK last April with Chris Davenport and Henrik Windstedt was what I looked forward to all year. Not to be disappointed, we had 7 ski days out of 14 which is pretty good for AK standards. Day one I find myself on top of Tomahawk's east face. I was ready to get the pucker factor rolling and this was it. As it played out I had a lot of time to think about it. I got stuck up there for 1hr 20min waiting on fog to clear and then the heli having to go back for fuel. Finally it cleared and it was time. Standing on top I could only see about 50 feet. The terrain was hiding on the other side it seemed. That's the famous roll over effect. Two turns into it the snow was sloughing and that made it tough to pick my way down a mini spine finding the exit to a wide open face. Out on the face, I put in a few big turns across the hill to check some speed and then let it go. The exit was a tight gap on either side of a snow covered rock. The plan, you've got to have a plan, was to beat my slough at the exit and stay to the skiers left as the racing slough went to the right. Plan worked and I just beat it, then let er run and got the taste of speed to the valley floor. That was the first boost to the soul and set the tone for more to come. Looking back on the trip I wish we had one more day of good conditions to end it. I had my sights set on two lines that I looked at on my computer night after night before going to bed. Each night I went to sleep with sweaty palms and the thought of tomorrow being the day. It came down to the last day, but it didn't happen. No I didn't get the chance to puss out. We had some strong winds that worked over the snow. Not worth it. We had a day before like that and the only thing to do was straightline. These runs demanded some turns so maybe next time. I'm definitely going back. Thanks to Red Bull, Atomic, Spyder and Oakley for making this trip happen! Can't wait to see "In Deep" on the big screen in Boulder. See you there and if not then I'll be in Squaw for the Oct 4th show. Until then I'm back on the training program for ski cross next season. I'll be competing in a few World Cups, XGames and the Olympics as ski cross debuts for the first time. Then a unique comp at Sugar Bowl,CA March 13-14 is the Silver Belt Banzai. We did it last year and it's on again. 6 man heats top to bottom skiing natural terrain with a few control gates. WTF a "Chinese DH"....this is as close as it gets. Come on out and run it! I'll give you a pair of my skis if you beat me. D