ST. MORITZ ROCKS!
by KELLY MAGNUSON
The U. S. skeleton team is in Switzerland for a Europa Cup. For all of us Team USA members, this is our first time on the world's only natural skeleton track. That means the course has no structure other than the hand-built track.
With only three training days and a total of five practice runs, our team was still ready to race. This track is amazing, and like no other. It had been foggy and cloudy, but on race day the weather decided to clear-up. The mountains were absolutely beautiful.
For this Europa Cup race. Team USA had four athletes, two male and two female. After the first heat, every one of the U. S. athletes had set a new PR on the track. Three qualified to make it to the next round. Nick Vienneau (Salt Lake City, UT) had a great run and finished 27th, but along with 17 other men didn't qualify for a second run. In the sport of skeleton, only the top 20 sliders get to race in the second heat.
The highest US finisher, John Daly (Smithtown, Long Island) placed third. In the first heat he was fourth and then set a new PR on his next run that placed him in second. Since it was his first time on this track, he was very pleased with his results.
On the women's side Audrey Thompson (Phoenix, Ariz.) finished fifth. Despite having the slowest push, she was able to have the fastest speeds (131.5 km/h) going down the track, and even went faster then some of the men. As for me, Kelly Magnuson, (Springfield, OR) I slid into 19th place in my first Europa Cup race. I only had three training runs, due to a hit on the ice wall coming out of the horseshoe turn, that led to a broken helmet. Scrambling to find something to race with, a local St. Moritz ski shop, Boom Sports, was able to help make me a helmet deal that didn't break the bank.
St. Moritz is an amazing experience. The track is a local hang-out, a place to socialize, with little shops all around. Spectators can have a cup of coffee while they watch the race
from the balcony of a coffee shop. As the local bus drives up the track it often stops at the horseshoe curve so that the passengers can watch the sliders zoom by.
Everyone here is so friendly, and of course, the skiing and the chocolate are fantastic. Even if you don't do skeleton, St. Moritz is an amazing place to visit, with a great variety of things to do, places to see and places to eat.