Overdue FIS recap...

Nicole Anderson lands on the podium starting with bib 20.

Audrey O'Brien: Top U18 in both races at Sunday River.

It's hard to believe that the FIS program hasn't posted on the blog lately, especially given the reasonably solid start we've gotten off to...

First of all, training on the Training Hill is finally amazing. The weather didn't make it easy for the crew at the mountain, but we're really up and running now and today, we had a ridiculous surface up there. More impressive than the mountain's recovery has been the athlete's patience with the snow waiting for it to come around. It would have been easy to complain about the death cookies and the limited training, but the kids stayed hungry and were able to wring every bit of relevance out of the training we were able to provide. This patience, combined with hard work and focus on what's going to be important to their success, not just now, but throughout the season and their career has pushed the athletes to new heights. In the East, huge moves have been made by Chris McKenna, Aleck Sullivan, Nicole Anderson, Lisa Schroer and Audrey O'Brien already during this young season. Out West, the girls and guys racing in the Nor-Ams have acquitted themselves nicely, scored some Nor-Am points and even managed to improve their world rank a bit.

Which brings us to Jack Auty. Jack's result at Copper was spectacular. I've spoken with coaches that were on the hill and athletes that were in the lodge and at the finish. It was one of those rare days in ski racing when everyone takes a minute and remembers what we love about this sport. You may hear whispers of luck and track and weather, but let me tell you this: it takes a lot more than luck to win a men's ski race and to win a men's nor-am? Well, let's just say that there were plenty of very capable ski racers that ran around bib 89 and only Jack was able to take full advantage of the opportunity. Way to go Jack.

If you are looking for a piece that captures the emotion of such an unbelievable day, please check out Tucker Marshall's blog.

http://tuckermarshall.com/2012/12/10/the-race-of-dreams/

As the men's and women's FIS teams prepare for the FIS series at Sugarbush, Sunday River and Sugarloaf, we'll try to do a better job of keeping you all posted.