QA with Stacey Cook about head trauma, inspection and soft snow

By Published On: February 15th, 2006Comments Off on QA with Stacey Cook about head trauma, inspection and soft snow

Q&A with Stacey Cook about head trauma, inspection and soft snow{mosimage}Stacey Cook of Truckee, California, finished 19th in her first Olympic race on Wednesday, the women’s downhill. About a month ago, Ski Racing senior editor Nathaniel Vinton caught up with Cookie for an interview. Cook qualified for the U.S. women’s Olympic downhill team on objective status. “It’s such an honor to represent my country, and to be selected when there’s such a tight pack of girls,” said Cook. “I’m really honored and I’m really happy.”

Ski Racing: So it’s been a pretty good start to the season?
Stacey Cook:
I definitely had a good start in Lake Louise. I tried to carry the momentum on. I’m still trying to figure out the super G thing. I still can’t do the one-run, go-for-it thing. Qualifying for the GS in Aspen was really good for me.

Any doubts, coming back from an injury?
SC:
It was a natural beginning. I was back for nationals and Spring Series last year, and I actually had good races at Spring Series, so I had my confidence back. Then I had a good prep period.

How did coaches react to your Lake Louise race?
SC: I think they looked at me and said you’re not so much a mental case anymore. … You’re learning to control your skiing and actually ski fast, instead of skiing fast in training and freaking out in races. I think they’re proud to see some maturity come, and that I’m learning from my mistakes.

What did you work on this summer?
SC:
I was working on a lot of little things. Getting confidence back, technique and a lot of tactical and mental things. Those two together have helped me the most.

SR: Have you been thinking about Olympic qualification at all?
SC:
It’s hard sometimes not to think about it, sometimes, but it’s not really my focus. It’s definitely a goal for this year, but I want to ski fast first, because that’s how you get there. So I’ve kept my focus on skiing well, and getting to the Olympics will come from getting good results.

SR: Have the older athletes been cool about seeing you just show up and do so well?
SC:
So far everyone’s been really nice to me about it. Everyone was so proud in Lake Louise. It was nice to see that kind of support, because I kind of thought that being the rookie and having a good result might stir up some tension, but it’s actually helped the team build and try harder. That’s how we’ve gotten good as a downhill team together. … We can build off each other.

SR: What was the best part of getting a top 10?
SC: The prize money?[laughs] It was definitely cool to come back to the U.S. the week after and have so many people recognize what it meant to be top 10 coming from that far back. It was nice to have the support. It helps your confidence. Calling home too was really nice. I don’t think my parents expected that at all. They don’t really know a whole lot about the skiing World Cup, and they were so proud anyway. They came out to Aspen, and it was really nice to have them at a World Cup for the first time.

SR: What exactly was your injury?
SC:
I had a concussion, and I sprained my MCL. The MCL injury wasn’t that bad. It healed really well, really fast. It was the concussion that kept me out. I couldn’t remember anything for a good three months after. It was definitely weird. I just felt stupid all the time because I couldn’t remember times of meetings, times of races. I just couldn’t remember anything. A lot of people don’t realize that a concussion is an ongoing injury. … It does take a long time to get all of the memory back.

SR: So are you back to 100 percent?
SR:
It’s still a good excuse, so I’ll say no.

SR: It sounds scary?
SC:
Not if you’re the person that’s injured. It’s scary for everyone else. You keep asking them the same questions every two minutes. But I was fine.

SR: Did you have specific therapy for it?
SC:
I didn’t really have any of that. It’s just making yourself focus, and making yourself remember, and that’s how you’re going to remember things more naturally. Also I’m taking a couple courses of school, and focusing on those helps a little to get it back.

SR: Are ski racers daredevils?
SC:
I think that to go 80 miles and hour down a hill, with all the turns and bumps and all the forces, you have to be methodical. You can’t just be stupid and send yourself down a hill that fast. So there is part of you that is very focused and analytical. But also to let yourself go that fast you have to be pretty badass. So I think you need both sides. We can bring either side out whenever we want.

SR: Are you more like Michael Walchhofer, who spends the total allotment of time for inspection, or are you like Bode Miller, who might inspect once on the first training day and sleep in on the other days?
SC:
I’m an in-betweener.

SR: Is it hard to inspect World Cups?
SC:
You definitely have to know where you’re going. You have to have a plan. You have to know where you want to be, you have to know how you want to ski the section, and you have to execute it. When you’re on the course, it’s too late to be thinking about stuff. You have to be in the start knowing what you want. It has to be a good plan and you stick to it.

SR: Have you learned a lot about inspection since you came to the World Cup?
SC:
I definitely have. My technician, Jeff [“Chief”] Wagner, he’s really helped me a lot. He recognized it’s one of my weaknesses, and he cares enough to care about more than my skis. He’s taught me a lot about inspection.

SR: He is sort of a character, isn’t he?
SC:
I haven’t really figured him out yet. He definitely knows what he’s doing. But you don’t know what he’s thinking at the time. You have to stare at him and think about it for awhile. I like to be involved, and he’s not afraid to answer the questions I ask him.

SR: Are you doing anything special with your skis?
SC: I think I have the most basic set up there is. The Rossi setup is built for me, I swear. Having Lindsey [Kildow] be one of Chief’s girls really helps. She’s the best skier, and he’s the best technician, and I’m joined in the mix, and I’m just a nobody. So it’s been a really good situation for me. For me to get part of that, at my level, has really helped me move up.

SR: Do you pool your skis then?
SC:
We share downhill skis. We might tune them a little different. Her strength is the top of the turn and mine is the bottom of the turn. So it’s actually quite opposite. But we mix downhill skis. It’s not a whole lot different.

SR: How differently do you ski?
SC:
Her strength growing up in the Midwest on the harder snow is to really dive into the turn strong. She’ll arc the top of almost any turn. And my strength is coming out of the turn, arcing out of the turn and getting the direction I need that way. Our strengths are completely opposite sides of the gate. Julia [Mancuso] and I come from California, and we never had to arc the top of the turn growing up. It wasn’t a skill we had to learn. But it’s an advantage for us on days with soft snow.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh