Scott Kneller

I am very proud to announce I have been selected to represent Australia in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Last year on the Olympic Track, Cypress Mountain. I’m 2nd in the photo

The last couple of weeks have been the most stressful of my life, anxiously awaiting my selection for the Vancouver Olympics. My injuries in St Johann put me on the sideline for the last two qualifying events in France, so I could do nothing but wait and hope for the best.

Just before my finals debut in Cypress Canada

Unbeknown to me there is a rule in Skier Cross that states when a skier does not start the finals competition, that skier is placed in 32nd position. This meant that due to my crash and inability to start finals in St Johann I finished in 32nd position and failed to accumulate any World Cup points, pushing me further back on the qualifying list, out of Olympic contention.

This news came to me when I was recovering in Innsbruck, and was very difficult to deal with. I had trained so hard in the lead up, I was skiing well and to then have it all taken away, I was demoralised. I had to accept the fact that I wouldn’t be competing at the games.

In the following events however qualification started to look better although it was still a long shot. I was out of the top 35, however each country has there own specific criteria, so there was a chance that I might get a spot in the reallocated quota spots.

The toughest part was that if I had accumulated the points in St Johan I would have made the top 35 and qualified for the games. I could of gone out in the first round and it wouldn’t have mattered, all I had to do was pull out  of the start gate to get the points. For me it was exceptionally hard to deal with because I felt like I had earned the spot.

I followed the circuit back to North America still anxiously awaiting results and all the while rehabilitating my shoulder. Although the qualifying period had finished, competitors still had the last two events to meet their own national criteria.

I was in New York when I got the call, in the reallocation of quota spots I had qualified a position and I would be going to the Olympics, the most exciting day of my life. It is an unbelievable feeling knowing that all the hard work I devoted to this sport was all worth it. Because the road has been so difficult these past three weeks, the victory is that much better.

I celebrated with my team mate Katya Crema who also qualified, securing her position in the last event before the Olympics finishing in 10th place, a career best.

Katya, Monica and myself overlooking New York city.

Monica and myself at the Guggenheim

Time Square

I’m heading to Quebec next week for some on snow training, then to Tahoe to meet up with Errol Kerr for some Skier Cross training on the track Alpine Meadows have kindly built for him. (Errol will be competing for Jamaica in the Skier Cross). I arrive in Vancouver on the 9th for the opening ceremony, then disappearing for some training before I return for my event on the 21st of February.

Thankyou to everyone for their support I wouldn’t be here without you. I’ll do Australia proud.

Not exactly were I wanted to be, but at the moment I’m in Innsbruck hospital feeling a little sorry for myself as I nurse my broken collarbone and sore head. There could be worse hospitals to be in though, It would seem I have been lucky and I have been put in what appears to be the penthouse of Innsbruck Hospital.

Qualifications went really well in St Johan for the third world cup of the season. I started 42nd and came down in 16th place. I was continually shuffled back as late runners persisted to post fast times and I ended the night in 23rd, still a great result.

The track was tough to say the least. The entire course had been injected and it felt like skiing on an ice skating rink. It was steep and ran very fast in between features.

Finals day started out well. I had some help from Sep who works for Toko to prepare my skis. I took a training run with Tommy Elliason from Sweeden and Davey Barr from Canada to get the feel of negotiating the track with skiers around me. I lapped around for a second run with both the boys. I pulled out and made the first turn leading them both. From all accounts Davey and I were fighting for position the entire way down. On the first right footer on the flat I loaded the ski up and was slung off the jump in the backseat. That’s the last thing I recall before I awoke about 15minutes later in the chopper being airlifted to St Johan hospital.

I slowly began recalling events as my shoulder and head were scanned. I was told my collarbone was broken and I had bleeding on my brain. I needed to be transported to Innsbruck for the possibility of neural surgery if the bleeding persisted. It was a very scary couple of hours to Innsbruck. Apon arrival though the specialist didn’t seem too concerned at all, however they would keep me overnight for observation and rescans in the morning.

I’m a waiting the results of the scans at the moment but the nurse has informed me that they are fine. The collarbone isn’t that bad either. I am yet to see the x-rays but through broken English it is just a crack, no dislodgement so should be a speedy recovery.

I’m in Innsbruck for the next week recovering, and looking at the point lists for the next two races. These next two races conclude the qualifying period, I’m sitting in a good position at the moment especially finishing 25th last night. Just have to wait and see if I have done enough. It’s a tough position to be in, I’ve trained so hard this past season and now I can’t to a thing to change the outcome, I just have to wait and hope for the best.

The Start of the World Cup season has finally arrived in San Candido Italy, after almost eight months of preparation. I was a little anxious to say the least.

I performed well on the first day of qualifying and finished 22nd, my best qualifying result to date and to do it in the opening world cup was a big weight off my shoulders. The course was exceptionally short, 42 seconds, which meant qualifying was very tight just over a second separating 1st and 32nd.

Finals on the second day didn’t go great. I was in a slightly disadvantaged start gate due to my qualifying time and I was quickly shuffled into third after the first turn. I tried to pass Andreas Matt on two of the jumps but had no success. Casey Puckett and Andreas Matt progressed through to the next round and Casey finished in 3rd. It was a little disappointing to have such an early exit from the finals, but I felt I skied well and it was great to have some finals exposure in the opening World Cup.

Qualifying on the second day was even tighter and I was devastated to finish in 36th place just 7 hundredths off qualifying for finals.  I made several small mistakes on the way down and on a course as short as this you needed to be perfect, or at least I did. On the girls side though we had some great success with Jenny finishing in 13th and Katya in 32nd. Michael Schmid won both days of competition and he never once looked in doubt, after taking a commanding points lead he will be very hard to beat this year.

In London at the moment, visiting my relatives for Christmas and enjoying some downtime before I head back to Austria on the 28th for the World Cup in St Johan on the 5th January.  I will post some footage of the race in the next week or so.

Here are a couple of pics from the Moelltaler Glacier, Austria. We trained here for a week in preparation for San Candido.             Photos cutesy of Katya Crema

Merry Christmas and a happy new year…

Stuck in Denver at the moment, watching our flight get delayed further and further as the snow and fog outside seems to be dictating the schedule of the airport. The trip to Europe has not started well. Our original departure from Calgary yesterday was delayed to this morning due to snow and United being the premiere airline that it is has managed to lose some of our bags between Calgary and Denver. My status on United, however has been upgraded which means lounges in between flights but when the hostesses are as old as the airline I have very few good things to say about United.

The delay in Calgary wasn’t all bad though, through a friend of Jenny’s we were given tickets to the Canadian National Bull Riding Tournament, and enjoyed the view from a private box.

The training in Calgary went really well, I did a lot of free skiing in Lake Louise and a few days of alpine training at Nakiska.

We also went and saw the Men’s Super G at Lake Louise and cheered on fellow Australian Craig Branch, who was coming off a top 30 result in the Downhill the previous day, unfortunately he didn’t finish the Super G though.

Until the first World Cup we will be situated in Lienz, Austria. There isn’t much snow in Europe at the moment so training will be on the glacier. There is a track and start gate set up so should lend itself to some good training in preparation for the first World Cup in San Candido in about two weeks time.

After a very long couple of days I’ve finally made it to Canmore, a small town situated about an hour drive from Calgary. Canmore is the base town for ski resorts such as Banff, Sunshine, Nakiska and to a lesser extent Lake Louise.

I am lead to believe the weather is much warmer than previous years however negative 10 is still a stark contrast to the 41 when I departed Sydney.

I skied at Nakiska yesterday, renown for being one of the premier pre season Alpine training venues, it didn’t disappoint. The runs that are skiable are steep, injected with water and are a sea of blue and red flags.

Heading to Lake Louise resort tomorrow for some free skiing, try to find my feet. I’m here for a couple of weeks to get some alpine training in at Nakiska then off to Europe for the start of the World Cup Season.

I found this old clip when i was cleaning up my hard drive. I was 15 at the time and all the footage was shot in Mammoth Mountain. Enjoy…

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This past week I have clocked about 2500km in the car driving between Jindabyne Melbourne and Sydney. I have had my fair share of traffic, roadwork and speeding cameras to see me through to the end of the year.

View from the tripple

The week started in Lilydale Victoria for three days of water jumping. Melbourne actually put on some descent weather and the camp was really productive. I took a few beatings particularly learning cork 7s. The way I do them on the tramp just doesn’t work on the ramps because you can’t push of skis without them slipping out so its all about letting the ramp do all the work, a concept I found particularly difficult.

Matt Graham a young (15years old) mogul skier really impressed me, from triple twisting double backs on the tramp to double cork 1260s on the water ramps the kid is amazing and one to look out for both in the mogul scene and the free skiing scene if he ever decides to change.

I also backed Crime Scene to place in the Cup and took home some cash. Money won is so much better than money earned.

I then packed up and made an early departure to Sydney on Wednesday morning. The roadwork along the Hume Highway is ridiculous -- it lasts about 100km and for the most part I was averaging 60km/h with the occasional ten-minute stand still waiting for roadwork.

Thursday was all about hitting the books in preparation for my final of Microeconomics. I found it really difficult even doing one subject by correspondence this semester. Every day off I’m forced to study and its always lingering in the back of my mind. The exam wasn’t great by any means but fingers crossed I did enough to pass the course because I have no intention of doing it again.

I packed up to once again get back in the car only to hit peak hour traffic leaving the city. I finally made it home 6 hours later just in time to celebrate by brothers 18th birthday.

Next two weeks I’m in Jindabyne training then off to Calgary Canada on the 22nd. Will keep you posted.

This year i have trained a lot of gymnastics and trampoline. The idea behind it is to develop body awareness in the air, but it has also been of great benefit in improving my strength, coordination and body control. Check out the video….

Surfing has been one of those sports that I’ve always admired, and being an Australian, and in particular a travelling Australian that is always asked if I surf, I felt obligated to at least learn. So in May this year I bought my first surfboard and since then I have been struggling with the tedious process of learning a new sport.

This past week I think I have surfed more than I have in the past six months and my surfing is finally taking a few steps in the right direction. Although the surf wasn’t great the 30-degree weather was much appreciated, and I had a great time cruising in Palm Beach with the boys.

I was also in Sydney for training, and under the supervision of John Marsden our sports scientist it was a very difficult but productive week. I undertook my first altitude training this week and it’s an experience I have no intention of reliving any time soon. It involves an interval session on the bike with a facemask attached to machine that restricts the amount of oxygen you can breathe in, mimicking those hypoxic conditions found at 3500m. Super fun

Back to Jindabyne next week for some training and studying for my end of session uni exam. I’m heading down to the water ramps at the end of next week so will keep you posted and hopefully have some footage for you.

The last couple of weeks have been fairly busy to say the least. Between uni, the trade show and training I’ve had my hands full trying to juggle it all. I did however manage to have a couple of days off and enjoy some surfing in Newcastle and some golf with the boys on the south coast.

Newcastle – Bar Beach

Jordan, Lucas and Boen

Lucas and Boen

Australian wildlife taking it easy

Hole in one

Prang on the 18th

Lucas Wheelie

For the past six months or so I have been working on importing a Norwegian undergarment line – Kari Traa. And last week I introduced the line to Australia at the annual trade show in Canberra. I was a little stressed and intimidated by the big dogs but all in all it was a successful show, and you can look forward to seeing Kari Traa all over NSW and Victoria next season. Check out the line at www.karitraa.com

Trade Show

Training has been going really well, just started a new program which I’m excited about although I’m the sorest I’ve been in a long time – a good sign I guess. A couple of weeks ago I attended the annual NSWIS aerials camp in Homebush Sydney. The camp runs for three days, and is aimed at improving air awareness. I think the whole camp was really beneficial to me, although I don’t need to be able to spin and flip, learning new tricks and learning to push myself out of my comfort zone can be a great advantage. I even learned a one and a half front of the ten metre platform.

Gymnastics Centre Homebush, Sydney

Back to Sydney next week for more training and surfing.