"Freestyling"

Just a quick post this evening as I am about spent after a crazy day. I'm still on an emotional high after the U.S. Hockey win over Canada last night and its shaping up for a similar (but more important) showdown with the Women. Should be fun. Anyway, here is a quick freestyle image for fun...

"Ode to Bode"

This post goes out to Bode Miller who captured the Gold Medal in the Alpine Skiing Super Combined Competition which consists of the combined best times of the Downhill and Slalom races in the same day. He has been one the the best hopes for a U.S. Gold since the Salt Lake Games in 2002 but only managed two silvers at those Games. Four years later in Torino, he was shut out as his main focus seemed to be partying as opposed to skiing. Been there, done that.

Since those Games in Italy he has married and fathered a little girl and not surprisingly, has calmed down and has re-committed himself. Children can definitely change your direction in an instant and help you do amazing things. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the U.S. Hockey Team upsetting the heavily favored Canadian Club. Love it, love it, love it!!!

"Like an Eagle"

Once again the "Crazies" were flying high again. I certainly mean no disrespect as anyone that can go to the top of that tower, squat down on ski's and then push off at the end of the jump as they are looking down upon all of the specs of people. To me that's not the crazy part, the crazy part is when they have the FAITH to lean forward as they are flying through the air and soaring down hill. These guys are nearly parallel to the ground as they fly. If that is not faith, I don't know what is. Now if we can all manage to trust in the Lord and have that same kind of faith, we'll be just fine...

"Super G Along with Some Ski Jumping Action"

These sports are exactly the reason why I love the Winter Olympics far more than the Summer Games. There is absolutely no comparison in my mind. To me, with the exception of a few sports most notably Figure Skating and Curling, the Winter Games are all about action and taking risks. I think back to growing up as a kid watching The Wide World of Sports on ABC. "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat."

The competition today consisted of two of these sports, the Men's Super G Skiing event and the Large Hill Ski Jumping. Both of these are wild to watch and even more fun to photograph. A few samples from my experience in Lake Placid are above...

"Soaring in the Halfpipe"

Talk about some big air! Shawn White and the rest of the group of competitors were doing phenomenal tricks that boggled my mind. I just don't know where these guys are going to go next but it seems that they keep managing to come up with something else wilder than before.

This sport has grown so much and so fast since I photographed the Halfpipe in Lake Placid. Those guys blew my mind but the current group offers no comparison. And the women can bring it too. I was pulling for Hannah Teeter to win Gold again after seeing the personal story they ran on her and what she did after winning the Gold Medal 4 years ago in the Turin Games. She has done amazing things with her fame since that point and is making a huge contribution for Children in Africa as well as the folks of Haiti. A Silver Medal is still not too bad!

"Ripping Downhills"

I didn't have the time to acknowledge the Men's Downhill Race the other night in which Bode Miller grabbed a Bronze Medal in the closest race in Olympic Downhill History. Gold and Bronze Medals were separated by 9/10's of a second! These competitors, both Men and Women, absolutely live on the edge at all times during their race. They travel at over 70 MPH, get some big air and are virtually skiing on ice with intense turns and angles. One of the Women's highly touted competitors lost control over the last jump and actually traveled 190 ft in the air before landing in an ugly crash! But Congratulations goes to USA's Lindsey Vonn (Gold) and Julia Mancuso (Silver) in the Women's Downhill held earlier today. What an awesome event!!

It was always my absolute favorite event as a child to watch and one I always dreamed of covering as a photographer. When I was in Lake Placid, it was the first event I covered while I was there and it was quite the adventure. My back had been out leading up to the trip and I had to hike up the mountain for what seemed like forever with all of my equipment (until I flagged down and hitched a ride on a snowcat) in temperatures that were minus 30 with the windchill. Due to those high winds, the race was postponed several times of course after I had got to what I thought was an optimum vantage point. Then with the race finally given a starting time (nearly 6 hours later than scheduled) and my hands and fingers almost completely numb, the TV folks come and decide a huge advertising banner would look great directly in front of my position. My potty mouth absolutely exploded and and it almost got physical with the poor person responsible for putting that sign up. After much debate with the producer, I convinced him to move it slightly to keep the position that I had scouted for so long.

With the vantage point I had fought so hard for, I still could not see or hear the competitors coming as I was below a jump which obviously posed a huge problem. Luckily during on of the postponements I was able to befriend one of the course staff and we worked out a signal system where he let me know when he first viewed a racer. I then had to count off several seconds to myself and start firing the shutter. Yes there were some blank frames, but I also got some incredible images in my humble opinion. Above are just a couple...

"Snowboard Cross"

I hope some of you were able to catch the Snowboard Cross event and Race for the Gold last night. Seth Wescott first had to qualify based on time and in his first run he had a bit of a slip which put him in the back of the pack. His second qualifying run was better but he was still in 14th position before the groupings started. He then had to finish in the top two for two consecutive races to get into the final. After fighting to just get into the final, he quickly found himself in last place after about a quarter of the race. But he kept his cool and his patience and made pass after pass to thrust himself into first and hold on for a tight victory to secure another Gold Medal. He was defending his Gold from the Torino Games in Italy four years ago.

The event I photographed in Lake Placid was incredible but it turned out that the finish line was one of the better locations to be action-wise. There were some pretty bad falls and one that required an athlete being airlifted to the local hospital. Anyway, here ya go...