Ski Racing Volume 41 Issue 3

The latest issue of SkiRacing magazine just showed up in our inbox. It was on display this week at the Beaver Creek and Aspen World Cup stops. While the majority of the issue focuses on the US nordic and snowboard teams there is some great inside coverage from Levi on Bode's first slalom podium since 2004.

We're a bit partial to page 7-

Casey Puckett- All Out

Casey Puckett joined KJUS as a team rider last season. He had a pretty good season with a number of podiums including a bronze at the X-Games. However, along the way he had a couple of injuries including an amazing crash in Grindelwald. Rehab is complete on his shoulder and Casey is ready for the season. He is also back on the US Ski Team as a member of the inaugural skier cross squad. Here is video that the ski team just released on Casey and the upcoming season.

1 Day to Beijing, 554 Days to Vancouver

Tomorrow evening, the Beijing Olympic Games open. While all eyes are on the world's best summer athletes, the Vancouver Organizing Committee announced the schedule of events for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

KJUS could be represented by two athletes at the Winter Games; Bode Miller and Casey Puckett. Bode will have a packed schedule with events almost every other day, while Casey's skier cross qualifying and finals are all one day, February 21st.

Casey and Bode are busy training for the upcoming season. Bode is currently in Treble Cone, New Zealand. Casey is at home in Aspen completing rehab on his shoulder.

KJUS and the City- Day 2 and 3

Our second day in the city began with a quick morning meeting where we met up with Casey Puckett one last time before he headed back to Aspen. We did some more fine tuning and measurements for his uniform.

After breakfast we met with our friends at PrimaLoft. They were in town for a fashion show that their PR agency was putting on for the media. PrimaLoft is a great partner and we use their insulation in the majority of our outerwear. We work very closely with our partners to make the best skiwear possible. This coming season many of the fabrics used in our collection feature fabrics that we developed in tandem with our fabric supplier Toray. With PrimaLoft this year, we introduced the first ski sweater on the market that uses PrimaLoft yarn. We used a 50/50 merino and PrimaLoft blend for the Arolid sweater-

After lunch with the PrimaLoft team they headed to the fashion show and we headed to Paragon Sports. They are now the last ski shop left in the city. They have been growing their KJUS offering. The store is a"maze"ing the way it winds in and around the building. The skiwear section of the shop is the swimwear section in the summer- down and to the right from the main entrance. The majority of the store is separated by brand with many shop in shop set ups. We were there exploring the possibility of putting a KJUS one in next fall.

Day three was media day. Silvia Wespi, head of Communications and Sponsorships for KJUS and I had a day of appointments with media. We met with Men's Journal, BestLife, Self, Vogue, and National Geographic Adventure. Media tours like these are generally pretty informal. Generall you meet at editors' desks, in the waiting room, or if you are lucky in a conference room. Making appointments can be tricky because the magazines are scattered through out the city. There are some big publishing house where a number of magazines are in the same building, like Vogue and Self, which is great if you can hit a number of them in a row. However, sometimes you end up returning to the same building in the same day. Here's a map that shows you were many of the New York media are located:

View Larger Map

We had some very possitive appointments, and hopefully you'll see KJUS in some of their pages later this year.

All in all it was a very busy and productive trip. We'll be back in New York in July for the SIA media event.

KJUS and the City- Day 1

Two weeks ago we ventured into New York City for a number of meetings, including some time with Bode, Casey Puckett, one of our suppliers, a retailer, and some media. We had said we'd be posting updates via Twitter, but had some technical difficulties. What follows is the first of two posts on the trip.

On the first day we met with Bode in his agent Lowell Taub at the offices of CAA Sports. We discussed the season, his feedback on the product he'd worn all season, and went over preliminary designs for his 09/10 uniform. After lunch we interviewed Bode for a story to run in next year's KJUS World Magazine.

After Bode, we met with Casey. His shoulder is on the mend and he is very motivated for next season. We discussed the possibility of expanding the Ski with Casey program (keep an eye here for updates) and did a fitting for his race uniform. Skier cross athletes are not allowed to wear tight one piece suits like the alpine racers. Last season, Casey essentially raced in gear "off the rack". This year he'll be racing in what might be consider "off the hook" or Casey might consider "so KJUS". This winter Casey stopped in at our head office in Cham and met with designers to work on a race uniform for this season.
Pants are the toughest to get a good fit for. Above Casey was testing out one of the prototypes that were brought in for him to try on. After trying on pants of various materials, we found one that Casey felt would give him the best performance. Roman Stepek, KJUS Director of Design and Development was on hand to take measurements and preparations for the next round of prototypes.Once Casey's fitting was complete we headed back to our hotel and prepare for the evening, which included a reception for Bode, by his other sponsor SuperFund. SuperFund was kind enough to invite us to their event where they invited about 150 avid skiers and Bode fans from the New York area to meet Bode. The event was a lot of fun as everyone was really passionate about skiing and excited to meet Bode.

Bode is the one in the way back with baseball cap on.We had some mannequins on hand in Bode's 08/09 Uniform

After the reception the KJUS team went to dinner while Bode, Casey and friends went to POP Burger. We all met up later that night... and that story is for another time.

Winter X Dates/ Puckett Update

We just saw the announcement for the dates for the 2009 Winter X Games. They'll be invading Aspen, CO once again from January 22-25. At last years event our skier cross athlete Casey Puckett came up just short, finishing 3rd.

Late in the season Casey had a pretty spectacular crash in Europe and separated his shoulder. He had surgery on his right shoulder in late March. He has had his arm in a sling ever since, though he hopes to have it out of the sling and begin the real rehab in the next couple of weeks.

He assured us (as if there was any doubt) that:

I will be ready to have a big year next year
I'm extremely motivated!

We'll be meeting up with him in New York City before the end of the month and will have more to update then.

Ski Racing Issue 11 Vol. 13 just Arrived

The latest issue of SkiRacing Magazine showed up in our mailbox yesterday. Bode and Lindsey Vonn, don the cover as you would expect for an issue that re-caps the season, finals, and US Nationals. Additionally, there is a great story on the 48Straight Jeep King of the Mountain event in Sun Valley- including a quote from KJUS skier Casey Puckett. With skier cross becoming an Olympic event in Vancouver in 2012 look for more SkiRacing coverage of the sport.

Opposite the 48Straight story is an ad we placed. The photo of Bode cradling his globes was taken right after worlds at an undisclosed location in Switzerland. He's wearing this year's Fusion softshell ski jacket.

Ski With Casey

Brian Blackwell of Hailey was the big winner of the Ski with Casey giveaway. Before heading out on the slopes we gave Brian next year's Formula Jacket in Methyl Blue and Formula pant, which is what Casey is going to have as his uniform for next year.

His whole family came out to meet Casey.

Hanna gave us prime headgear placement and had Casey sign her helmet.

Brian gave us a great tour of the mountain and showed us how the locals ski- fast and well! Brian was not the only winner, as Meredith of Brass Ranch also got to ski with Casey.

We had lunch up at the Round House where afterwards we took a photo of the team.

From l to r Michael Collin- KJUS USA, Stacy- Brass Ranch, Meredith- Brass Ranch, Casey Puckett, Brian Blackwell, Kurt Widen- KJUS USA, Dave Kellam- KJUS USA rep.

After the afternoon skiing we took a break down at Warm Springs. Checked out the half pipe competition and then headed to Apple's to cap off the day.

We finished the day off back at Brass Ranch where we presented Brian's wife Brenda an outfit. Everyone had a great day and we all got some good technique pointers from Casey.

Afterward Brian said SKIING WITH CASEY, RECEIVING YOUR INCREDIBLE PRODUCT, AS WELL AS ENJOYING ALL YOUR COMPANY MADE THE DAY OF THE YEAR FOR BOTH OF US.

We all felt the same- great skiing, great weather, and great people made it a perfect day all around.

48Straight JKOM- Sun Valley- Post 2

Today was the big day for the Ski with Casey giveaway drawing. But before that could happen, Casey had some racing to do. He qualified 8th and was in a fairly good bracket. There were some timing issues in qualifying so Casey and Jake Fiala had to take second runs which included a head wind which wasn't there on their first run.

Before the race Casey was interviewed for the CBS Broadcast which was simulcast on the big screen at the event.

Casey was mobbed by kids after every run to sign autographs.

In the race Casey made it into the mini final, but with his shoulder he wasn't able to get a strong start. It was evident that the day had taken a lot out of him.

After the race Casey met us at the Brass Ranch at River Run to select the winner.

Casey called the winner Brian Blackwell of Hailey to meet him the next morning to ski with Casey.

48Straight JKOM- Sun Valley- Post 1

This past weekend we were in Sun Valley for the 48Straight Jeep King of the Mountain series final and the Ski with Casey giveaway. It was a tumultuous week leading up to the weekend as we were not sure if Casey was going to be able participate and then we heard he was not only going to be able to free ski, but he was going to race with a separated shoulder.Doctors told him he really couldn't do much more damage to it and if he could handle the pain he could race.

On Friday we did a little free skiing in the morning at Baldy. It was a beautiful clear day and scenery was amazing. The runs have great pitch and are super wide, compared to what we are used to in the East, which makes for some great GS or Super G turns.

The light got very flat in the afternoon so we headed over to Dollar to take in some of the snowboard cross.

That afternoon we stopped in at the Brass Ranch location at River Run where people were signing up for tomorrows drawing of the Ski with Casey giveaway.

Puckett is One Tough Buck

Game on! says Puckett

Casey just let us know that he is going to give her a go. He was cleared by his doctors and will be competing this weekend in Sun Valley.

He is currently in second place in the overall series standings and it's tight at the top. Puckett is only 30 points behind Tomas Krause, but Daron Rahlves and Errol Kerr are only 40 points behind Puckett.

It should be exciting.

Amazing, that he can bounce back from such a crash and race a week later.

See you out there.

Casey Puckett's Crash in Grindelwald

This isn't quite as bad as Scott Macartney's crash, but it's still painful to watch more than once. Casey was clearly out in front from the start and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. That said, being out in front is right where you want to be- usually.

Even so, he's ready ski this weekend in Sun Valley with the lucky winner of Ski with Casey.

Casey Puckett is OK and Ready to Ski Next Weekend

Casey was injured in a qualifying round in Gridelwald this week, when one of his competitors took him out. Casey gives a full description of the ordeal and the results on his blog, so we won't go into the full details. The good thing is that he is OK, though it looks to be a season ending injury- shoulder separation. We're are all happy he is fine.

Today he let us know that he should be fine for some free skiing in Sun Valley, so the Ski with Casey promotion goes on.

Skier cross is a rough sport and unfortunately Casey come out on the short end of the deal this day. It's a tough way to an end of what looked to be another great season for Casey, where before Gridelwald he had podiumed in all but 2 of the 7 events he entered this season.

Ski with Casey in Sun Valley

Today we announced that we are teaming up with our dealer Brass Ranch in Sun Valley to give away a day skiing with Casey Puckett. Casey will be in Sun Valley for the 48Straight Jeep King of the Mountain series finals. He is currently in second overall, and with a win and weak finish by series leader Tomas Krause could take the overall.

Casey will be selecting the winner in the Brass Ranch River Run location at 5pm on March 15th. The selected entrant will get to ski with Casey the following day.

For more details on the event visit skiwithcasey.com.

Puckett Looks to Repeat at X-Games this Week

Practice kicks off today in Aspen for the Skier X competition at the XGames. Last year Casey Puckett held off Jake Fiala at the finish to take home the gold. Qualifying is on Friday and the finals are on Sunday. Here's the full XGames 12 schedule and the TV schedule.

Last years final:

The Man in Black

As the original man in black says- he walks the line, and in skier cross it is a fine line. Just ask our Casey Puckett. Casey has been in Europe for the past week or so competing in a couple skier cross World Cups.

There is a lot of rubbing of paint in skier cross, which makes it exciting to watch, but dangerous to compete in. A couple of US athletes have had unfortunate crashes. You can read about the details on Casey's blog.

On Sunday, Casey got his second podium of the trip finishing 2nd in Les Contamines, France. Hew was third earlier in the week at the Tignes “Airwaves” event.

The man in black will hopefully continue the trend and move to the top of the podium this week when the ski cross World Cup heads to Flaines, France.