Andrew Weibrecht and Bode Miller after finishing bronze and silver in the super G (Doug Haney/U.S. Ski Team)

Andrew Weibrecht is usually a speed skier, putting his best foot forward at the most opportune time. Andrew smoked most of the competition, winning a bronze medal at the Vancouver Olympic Games in Super G.

Born February 10th, 1986 in Lake Placid, “War Horse” as many call him, has been on the World Cup tour for several years and every year has gained consistently better results.  In 07, you would have seen him hovering around 30th or even 40th position, then in 08/09 around 20, and in this current season, he’s been in and around the top 10, making him a serious threat on any given day.

When he came through early in the Olympic Super G and waited through the long laundry list of racers to come after him, he probably would not have imagined that his time would stick. Only Bode and Aksel bested him by .03 and .31 respectively, basically a blink of an eye.

This is definitely someone to keep an eye in the future and if you happen to catch him in a tech event, you will see him wearing his Slytech Nervous Guards.

Congratulations Andrew!

Reduced Drag Destroyer Shin Guards

Today’s Men’s Alpine Ski Slalom is lining up to be a stacked field of competitors.  With tough tight technical turns, each requiring the athlete to slap the gate out of the way with the pole guard and shin guard, aerodynamics and reduced friction of the guard on the pole is of utmost importance.

Slytech’s 3 raised fin concept does exactly that… it keeps the contact surface of the shin and arm guards to a minimum on the gate, thereby reducing drag.

Also important is the back protector. Often times, racers will catch an edge and literally get launched into the air several feet and slammed down hard on their back (that happened to Lindsey Vonn in the Women’s GS a few days ago). Skiing is a dangerous sport and protective gear is an absolute must if you want ski another day.

Amongst today’s Shredders who use or have used Slytech (either the guards or the back protector) are:

• Ted Ligety(USA)
• Jimmy Cochran (USA)
• Marc Gini (SUI)
• Reinfried Herbst (AUT)
• Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
• Nolan Kasper (USA)
• Sandro Viletta (SUI)
• and many more…

The first run starts at 10AM PST, so make sure to tune in to your country’s TV coverage to see the drama and glory unfold!

Here’s just a brief rundown:

1. Bode Miller used Slytech Nervous Arm Guards in his silver medal performance in the Super G.
2. Silvan Zurbriggen was on Slytech Nervous Shin Guards in his bronze medal super combined performance.
3. Ted Ligety rocked the Nervous Arm and Shin Guards in his 5th place Super Combined finish.
4. Julia Mancuso and most of the US Ski Team hittin’ it with Slytech Nervous Shin Guards and Arm Guards. Julia got ANOTHER SILVER!

Racers on the start list for tomorrow’s Giant Slalom who have worn Slytech in the past and are likely to use us again include:

• Ted Ligety (USA)
• Tommy Ford (USA)
• Jake Zemansky (USA)
• Bode Miller (USA)
• Silvan Zurbriggen (SUI)
• Marc Berthod (SUI)
• Didier Defago (SUI and winner of the Olympic Downhill Gold)
• Andre Myhrer (NOR)
• Sandro Viletta (SUI)
• And several more…

Keep an eye out for our boys tomorrow at 10:30 Pacific Time from Whistler Creekside. Giant Slalom, baby!

“The Most Decorated Female American Olympic Alpine Skier with 3 Medals!”

And what back protector has she worn for the past 2 silver medal performances?

SLYTECH, BABY!

Check out this little video of the crowd going nuts as she crossed the finish line to take over the top spot at the Vancouver Olympic Super Combined.

Julia Straps on Slytech 2nd Skin

We’re going to be seeing a lot of Slytech at the Vancouver Olympic Games in both the men’s and women’s GS & slalom races in form of arm guards and shin guards. You ask the athletes about why they use the Destroyer Guards, they’ll tell you that they love the off-white look of the pre-preg fiberglass and because of the reduced surface area of the 3 gills, they are the fastest off the gate, bar-none.

What you won’t see is what’s under the athlete’s ski suits. Back protection is absolutely essential in the world of ski racing. Injected hills (super hard and icey so that the later racers are not as much at a disadvantage) and super fast speeds (70, 80, 90 mph!) make for very dangerous conditions.

Without safety standard approved back protection the athletes would put themselves even more in to harm’s way.

Racers need to go with equipment they trust. When you look around the ski huts where the skiers hang before a race, you’ll see that a great number of racers trust Slytech.

Watch the Girl’s Downhill race TODAY, Tuesday February 16th at 11AM PST! Olympic Fever is all over Whistler, so catch a glimpse wherever you are! It’s lining up to be a nail-bighter. Will it be the favorite Lindsey Vonn with the busted shin (or so they say), or will it be the Victoria Secrets Vixen Julia Mancuso? Or will it be any one of the other powerhouses from Austrians to Germans to the hometown Canadians? You’ll just have to tune it!

Slytech Nervous Arm Guards for Super G

I was recently up in Squaw Valley, California with Slytech user Julia Mancuso At her pre-Olympic training on home turf.

The race department at Squaw was amazing, turning on the Exhibition Hill’s flood lights at 6am so that the team could setup gates for Julia. 4 event alpine ski racer and men’s US Ski Team member Travis Ganong was on hand to provide Jules a race partner. Sporting his nervous arm guards in Super G, he kept a really tight line and slapped the gates as he flew by. He’s freaking fast!

Travis has a lot of career ahead of him and we wish him all the best!

Interesting to see how the girls tend to give themselves a little more room around the gates of a Super G, versus the men take a tighter line, making an arm guard almost essential. Not sure hitting a gate at 70mph is a fun experience!

Custom Lights Arranged at Squaw

A Racer's Dream | Your Own Training Setup

Coaches Setting Up

Kicking out of the make-shift start gate

Just came back from rail sessions and found that i’m right on the website frontpage of the largest newspaper in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat.. Few reporters walked by and here’s the result:

http://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/artikkeli/Helsinki+saa+kohta+lisää+lunta/1135252530508 <http://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/artikkeli/Helsinki+saa+kohta+lis%C3%A4%C3%A4+lunta/1135252530508>

Hahaha! Pretty classic “sport photo” i must say… Way to go.

-naku

Uhhhh... What's It Say?

Not sure whether you’ve ever made it into your hometown’s paper, but it’s a pretty cool occasion. I personally found myself  on the cover of my hometown paper in 1991 for windsurfing in a tropical storm. The other stories around it talked about downed powerlines, thousands of homes without power, the FBI nabbing some killer and right there in the center was a color picture of me jibing (what you don’t see is me falling in afterwards… heheh).

You ever been in your paper? Leave a comment!

Were you able to check out the TRUTH IN MOTION broadcast on NBC yesterday? If not, you really missed something quite worthwhile.

Good news is, you can catch it again at the following times:

Universal Sports: Sunday January 31, 10-11pm
Monday February 8, 8-9pm
Thursday February 11, 9-10pm

While a lot of the story is about Ted Ligety’s road to Vancouver as he fights for top spot on the squad and his 2006 Torino Olympic Gold, the heart of the story really centers around the Slytech crazy man Jake Zamansky.

It’s Jake’s dedication to even just make the US Olympic Squad and qualifying or else be faced with imminent retirement that helps make this documentary compelling. Stunning visuals (thanks to funding by Audi) and the directorial work of Brett Morgan, make this a must-see for any ski racing fan. Check it out!

Jake Zamansky Audi Birds of Prey in Beaver Creek Photo © Eric Schramm

MethodMag.com Reviews 2nd Skin: Friggin LOVES IT!

Man, when you get big-ups from METHOD, you know you’ve got something pretty sweet. Check this review posted on METHODMAG.com on Wednesday, January 27th.

Watch your back, kid!” An old saying that was probably born in a sketchy ghetto slum or the trenches of some battlefield. But it applies all too well to pristine snowy pistes at 2000 meters. Bruised backs, cracked vertebrae and mashed ribs are not a road you want to go down. So, how to avoid this? The Slytech 2nd Skin Back Protector is the answer!In hindsight, I could have totally used one of these ninja turtle shells in my early years of boosting my bones off kickers. Back when I would roll up to big ass tables thinking I knew what was up, come in with enough speed to clear the whole park and chuck some boned out stiffies. I hadn’t yet sorted out keeping my weight over my feet when launching and more often than not would get sprung with my board leading the charge and my flailing corpse in hot pursuit.

Just before inverting to half flip I would crash land on the icy East Coast hardpack back first. This practice led to a colorful array of injuries, including a broken wrist. But usually I would just knock the wind out of myself and moans that resembled a bitch giving birth to a litter of 10 puppies simultaneously would emerge from my deflated lungs.

But this was back before people started padding up to thrash the hill, and I have since learned to take off on my toe edge. Things are different for you younger cats (and holiday huckers) though, and not only will the Slytech 2nd Skin Back Protector save you from busting your ribs, it will also keep all y’all next level shreds fully in the space race, double corking to the moon and back safe and sound.

With all the flippity-doo-da maneuvers these days it’s quite likely you’ll eventually find yourself stuck upside down halfway through one, so consider getting yourself some of this peace of mind (safety). That way you’ll never find out how coughing can be as cruel as medieval torture. Don’t even get me started on the tear-inducing pain of slipping out onto your back on a box or rail that you could spare yourself from…

The New 2010 2nd Skin Logo

I also found that they’re quite helpful for fending off weird people with no conception of personal space in packed gondolas. Check out this next level padding that fits snug around the waist and stays in place thanks to the shoulder straps. Maybe you’re thinking, “this is nothing new” but that fact is the sheer comfort offered by this back protector is what makes the difference. The memory foam 2nd skin actually molds to your body like clay but stiffens up right when you need your back to be saved. Check out the details on this memory-cell-foam technology here.

Peep the whole line of protection gear that helps you check yoself beef-o you wreck yoself!”

Faced with the growing list of people who wanted it, the Slytech engineering department caved to the pressure then started frothing at the mouth and finally going just hog‐wild with this newest challenge.

12 hour days and several months later, they found the answer in the new SLYTECH 2ND SKIN “SLAMMER PRO”.

It offers the same high‐level craftsmanship and comfort as the Slytech 2nd Skin, except it uses infused Kevlar stringers to provide industry leading impact resistance and safety. After our memory cell foam innovation in the snow sports realm was blatantly copied, the forward thinking Slytech team has again outdone the competition with the introduction of Kevlar, the stuff they use in bullet proof vests.

You read right: Bullet Proof Vests!

The Slytech 2nd Skin Slammer Pro is only for the craziest, radical SOB’s out there.

Are you crazy radical enough?

2nd Skin Logo

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Standard 2nd Skin back protector. Same killer protection as 08/09 version, but with a new look.