I arrived in Verbier on the 17th of March. St. Patty’s day and also the day before my birthday. Way too jet lagged to think about celebrating either of those events I headed straight for my hotel room. All of the competitors of the tour received accommodations at the Hotel Garbo. It was located right in downtown Verbier and across the street from most of the off mountain happenings for the contest. Here’s a view from our room!

The next day we headed up the mountain to check out the venue. It took me a while to decide on a line to take. In the end I ended up taking the first line I saw. It was a great line choice. I had a great run going but hit my cliff a little too much to the left and landed on a rock I had intended on avoiding. Somehow I skied away and almost recovered, but about 30 ft down I ran into some bad snow before I had fully recovered which resulted in a fall. Oh well, better luck next time I guess! Here’s a look at the venue:

The night before the contest there was an opening celebration. All the athletes where called up on stage for the bib draw and prior there was an autograph signing.