Keely’s Corner

Editor’s note: Big Sky’s Keely Kelleher is on the US Ski Team and is preparing to compete in her first Olympics in 2010.

By Keely Kelleher

I step outside and fill my breath with icy morning air. It’s six in the morning, the sky is still dark and I hear the faint sound of snow guns blasting dry ski runs on Copper Mountain.

This has been the routine in Colorado for the past two weeks: wake up at 5:20 am, ski boots on by 6:15 and on the first chair at 6:20. I am not going to lie, mornings are not my cup of tea; nevertheless, if waking up at an ungodly hour involves getting the whole mountain to ski downhill, I’m all game for being the early bird.

The Colorado camp is the last chance I have to fine-tune my technique and equipment. The first World Cup and Olympic qualifying race starts December 1st in Lake Louise, Canada. My camp in Colorado is nearing an end and throughout it I have progressively gotten faster and more confident in myself. I visualize the courses I will be running this year every night before I go to sleep. Then in the morning I put into practice what I’ve been visualizing.

Like any sport, skiing is about seeing yourself execute in your mind before you actually compete. It’s a great life skill people in any profession can bring into their mentality. Seeing it in your mind positively before it happens brings success.

Another note; I trained on the same course as Bode Miller this morning. For those of you who are asking, “Who is Bode Miller?” Bode is the two time Overall World Cup champion, he’s won two silvers in the Olympics, and is America’s most successful male ski racer in history. Watching him ski is incredible. A couple of runs I was lapping on the chairlift when he cruised by and I was inspired.

The media loves to find faults in Bode because he is so outrageous and controversial; but, his skiing style and go for it attitude on the racecourse are something to be admired.. No matter how Bode ends up doing in a race he always makes it entertaining and fun to watch.

Bode truly loves the sport of skiing and you can tell by the way he talks about it to other athletes. He loves to chat about what’s fast and what isn’t with everyone. He gave me advice before one of my training runs and I was half a second faster.

Needless to say, the early morning training at Copper has been very productive. I am feeling confident and excited for Lake Louise. I can’t believe it’s already time to start racing. I was home during Thanksgiving and I couldn’t wait to go skiing in Big Sky, then on the 29th I’m off to my first race. Watch the World Cup action in Lake Louise on www.universalsports.com.

Watch the World Cup action in Lake Louise on www.universalsports.com.