Arrived in USA Sunday and have had a flying start to the training camp. The second day on snow (yesterday) I entered a FIS Giant Slalom race here in Vail. Surprisingly I ended up winning it. Even though it was no World Cup race, I´m really happy about the result. Since the Norwegian nationals last year I have been wanting to improve my Giant Slalom, this was the start I was hoping for! Andres Adde finished 3rd and and made it a Norwegain podium.

I have had a great week off training in Sôlden, Austria. Seems like everybody left after the World Cup on Sunday. That gave us a lot of space to play around, we were able to do pretty much what we wanted! My father is a good photographer and took some pretty cool photos this week. “Read more” to check them out.

Two days of very efficient training in Bispingen is completed. I must say, changing into the skigear in a warm locker room to walk 5 meter before you are in the hill is something I could get used too.. We have spent most of the day inside the snow dome, and it´s been hard to keep track of time given the consistent “sun” and enthusiasm. Most of the time has been spent working on the fundamental technique basics. You never get to educated to make things easy again.

It´s been two weeks since I returned from New Zealand. After a three week intensive camp like we had, you need some time to recover before going back to snow. This is why it feels great to be in Bispingen, Germany. Flew down this morning and did two sessions in the snow dome this afternoon. Training indoor is very efficient, and you get a huge amount of runs in one day. The hill is off course pretty flat, but for a couple of days you can definitely get profit from it! Another hard day tomorrow, time to go to bed..

I have been thinking about posting on my webpage again for a while. Today seems like occasion I was waiting for.

First off all it´s my birthday, after many years as a professional skier I´m used to celebrating away from my family. August equals skiing if you want to kick ass in the winter. This year, as the years before we´re in New Zealand for training. Luckily I have a second family in the guys on the team. They take good care of me!

The other reason why today was a good day to start posting is that I won a FIS slalom race in Coronet Peak. Today was actually the first day on slalom skis since April. In an attempt to improve my damaged ranking we decided to make the first slalom day on the camp a raceday. In retrospective it seems like it was a pretty good decision!

I´m very happy about winning, on the other hand it makes me confused. At the grown up age of 27 (ouch, first time I write that number as my age) I still can´t figure out myself. The way I came into this race nothing indicated it would be a success, but still it was. In other situations when I´m in top shape, fully charged and a lot of indications point in the direction of a good result, I end up sucking. This is stuff I have to figure out before the season starts in order to climb back into the top seeding.

Anyway, this has been a great birthday so far!

In the last four days I have skied three races. I have won two of them and finished 2^nd in the third. The good result from today´s race really improves my Super-G ranking, which can come in handy next season. It´s not enough, but it feels nice to end the season with a good set of results.

We are spending the rest of the week here in Hemsedal to soak up some extra training days before easter.

Training speed in Kvitfjell this week. This is actually the first speed training I have done this season (maybe a little late). But it will be good for the next season! Great fun to be back on the longer skies, especially in perfect sunshine like today. Some variation don’t hurt either… 

I går kjørte jeg opp til Ål I Hallingdalen for å være med på Bama Skifestival. Har hørt rykter om arrangementet før, man aldri selv sett det. Må si jeg ble imponert av hva som møtte meg!
650 barn og minst like mange voksne koste seg med sunn aktivitet, frisk luft og med ett stort smil om munnen.

Utrolig at sporten vår kan skape et slikt engasjement, samtidig som den har en betydningsfull positiv påvirkning på så mange!

The international season is for me over.  It´s been a season were nothing has turned out as planned. Every race except from the World Championships 7 ^th finish in Super Combined has been a big disappointment. When you put this much time and energy into something, is this a lot to handle.

The season has felt like 15 rounds in the ring with Mike Tyson. He´s knocked me down every weekend, and I have climbed the fence to get back up in time for the next. I´ve been worn out, but managed to keep going all winter until Bansko. After that every last bit of belief and motivation was gone. No wonder the last race in Kranjska was over after 3 gates..

Right now both my head and body is knocked out. I will need some time to get back up this time, and have to do some serious thinking. Thanks to everyone that has been supporting throughout the season, hope to see you next year again!

Summary of the weekend in Bansko, Bulgaria:

The place:
The resort and mountains exceeded my expectations in every way. All new lifts, many and varied slopes and a lot of snow. The village was just like the once you meet in the summer when you go to Greece, Spain or Turkey. There are restaurants you´re being pulled into on every corner, typical for places like that.
A lot different from any other ski village I´ve seen, and I like it.

The skiing:
In Saturdays Super-Combined event I finished 13, without impressing anyone in any way. Today`s slalom ended with a front flip 10 gates before the finish in the second run. Have to watch the video, because I really don´t know what happened! Remember coming in to a flush in a kind of bad situation balance- and line- vice, the next thing I know, I`m on the ground 15meters bellow.. I´ve been told it looked spectacular, and apart from a generally beaten up body, I´m ok!  Another weekend without a slalom result is off course not a dream situation, but at least today I really gave it all. The second run up to where I went out was pretty good, and that feels better then finishing with a feeling that you could have done more.

Next: Training in Hinterreit, Austira before Kranjska Gora next weekend.
Click "Read more" for more photos

Heading for Bansko, Bulgaria. This is the first time they host a World Cup competition, and the first time I´m visiting the country. I´m exited to see what they have to offer when it comes to skiing, hotels and food. When you go east, this always feels like a gamble.

Finished 7th at the World Championship super-combined today! The downhill run in the morning was not quite what I hoped for. The Kandahar track was dark, bumpy and fast after a cold night. I gave it all I had and was totally out of power when I reached the finish line.  Almost 4 second behind Aksel was too much. But the slalom went better, I won the run and finished 7^th! One second up to the podium is not totally out of reach, which off course is very motivating.

All in all very happy with today’s result, especially the slalom part. Will try bring the good sensation into the slalom Sunday. Congrats to my great team mate Aksel for defending his SC title!

Grabed the attached photo from my freind Mitchell Gunn at Sportsphotographers.eu, hope it´s ok Mitch.. Check out their page for lots of great action shots!

Happy valentine´s day!

The Super-Combined is on tomorrows program, and for once I´m in a pole position! Bib #2, is really exiting and I´m going to do what I can to take advantage of it.  Race starts at 10am.

The time has come for another big event. The World Championships in Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany in progress. Feels great to be here, and not surprisingly it seems like the Germans have everything under control.. 
I got the chance to stay one week at home before coming here, and my batteries are fully recharged. –Something I definitely will need in order to ski this downhill! It´s hard to explain how challenging the track, snow and visebiliety really is. Today was the first day of training, it was a bumpy ride, and I was a bit off pace. But we have training runs for a reason, plan for the next days; find the confidence to attack! You´ll find more info about the program at GAP2011

Btw, finally got a comment function on the site!

All the bad slalom results from the last week is forgotten and behind me. Now I´m in Chamonix to race downhill and super-combi. Feels really good to change focus after months of just thinking about slalom. I haven´t been on the downhill skies since May last year, so I have some catching up to do..

Today felt a lot better then yesterday, and hope for further improvements tomorrow. No matter the results this weekend, it´s a lot of fun to ski again, and it feels great to be back on the long skies!

As some of you might already have seen on the result lists, I´ve been struggling a bit lately. First of all, the results has been not existing. In addition to this I have since the race in Zagreb almost two weeks ago been sick. First I got a throat infection, two days later I got an lunge inflammation/ pneumonia. Apart from the races, I have done nothing but keeping the bed.

The problem now is that my skiing is off pace, and because of the health condition, I´m not able to do any training.

This is my dilemma, and part of the reason why nothing has been happening on my webpage lately..
Problems keeps piling up– Just got to keep on fighting

Finished at a disappointing 23^rd position in today´s night race in the Croatian capital. When I crossed the finish line in the second run, I was sure that I had made a great effort, that was apparently not the case. I´m happy to get another shot Sunday in Adelboden, Switzerland. Now it´s time to analyse today´s event, and make a stronger approach in three days. Staying positive!

Christmas to me means a break from travelling, but not a break from training.  Every year since I remember I have been spending my holiday training with my dad. This year was no exception. We have had wonderful days in Lillehammer and in Kvitfjell. It´s been fun as always, and I`m sure we have made good progress.

I want to thank NTG Lillehammer for a friendly cooperation. It´s been fun to ski with some new faces, and the quality has definitely been high. Some of Norways best slalom skiers like Martin Budal, Truls Johansen, Jonathan Nordbotten, Even Winquist and Leif Kristian Haugen has been great training partners.

I wish everyone a great and happy new year!

Staying in Italy this week to train and do some Europa Cup races. Amazing weather and great conditions! I almost wish to be a tourist this week, so that I can enjoy the slopes and views even more. EC nightrace tomorrow and Saturday, after that it´s time to head home for Christmas.

It´s been about five weeks since my last World Cup race, and it feels good to be back on the tour. Unusual to have to wait this long between every big competition. But I´m here, and ready to attack!