New York then Home!!!

Here it is: We left for 5 months as a family. Went to Lake Placid, Calgary, Park City, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and then Sochi, Russia! Now we're back in New York!

We Came!
We Saw!
We conquered!

Look closely, Noelle is wearing a SILVER MEDAL!!! How Amazing!

It all feels like a dream! We are now in Manhattan, awaiting a few events and then we'll be on our way home! Here are a few things to look for this upcoming week:

The Today Show - Monday Morning Feb. 24

Sponsors appearances on Tuesday Feb. 25

Noelle ringing the NYSE bell Wednesday morning on our way out! Feb 26

I'll update the blog more with additional pictures and info as I receive it.

Olympic Races are On

Noelle Pikus Pace Olympic races:

Noelle is the 1st one OFF on Thursday's race!!
Thursday February 13 at 12:30 a.m. MST
Thursday February 13 at 1:40 a.m. MST
Friday February 14 at 8:40 a.m. MST
Friday February 14 at 9:50 a.m. MST

ALL RACES CAN BE VIEWED LIVE ONLINE AT WWW.NBCOLYMPICS.COM (With a service provider subscription, I.E. Dishnetwork, Directv, Comcast etc...)

Join the party see the invite to watch on Friday morning at The District Movie Theater. FREE OF CHARGE!!!

Noelle fans only!!!

The Home Stretch: Olympic Bound

Noelle Pikus-Pace and The World Cup Whirlwind

So, lets recap what just happened. Just to make sure it wasn't a dream. Here it is:

• Calgary World Cup - Gold Medal, piece of tape, hope and dreams dashed in a moment, medal gone.
• Park City World Cup - Gold Medal, no tape, 2 track records, begins attack of the BIG HEADS!
• Lake Placid World Cup 1 - Gold Medal, 2 fastest runs, Mormon missionaries, making headway.
• Lake Placid World Cup 2 - Bronze Medal, crooked groove, 20 forerunners, cancelled run, 1 heat race.
• Christmas Break - Frankfurt, LDS chapel, Mormon missionaries, Christmas markets, peaceful holiday.
• Winterberg World Cup - Silver Medal, 1st heat tie for 1st place, Netherlands, ice skating.
• St. Moritz World Cup - Gold Medal, 2 track records, BIG HEADS return, 2 ft of snow.
• Igls World Cup - Silver Medal, pushers track, 100k Euros gone, Lacee is youngest to do skeleton.
• Konigssee World Cup - Gold Medal, BIG HEADS drop in, green 1 day, snow the next, 1 heat race!

Now, here we sit in our hotel room waiting for Munich tomorrow with Mountain Crane (BIG HEADS) and then off to Sochi for 3 weeks of laying low, and 2 days of Olympics race time. We are looking forward to that flight home and excited to be back in Utah!!!

Keep checking, I'll keep everyone updated with our adventures as often as possible and with any race information that I have. Thanks for the support.

Konigssee, European Championships & The Last World Cup

Last Race - Konigssee, Germany

When:       This Friday - January 24, 2014 (Late Thursday night MST)
Where:     Konigssee, Germany
Time:        1:04 a.m. & 2:34 a.m. MST, Heat Start Times
Start #:     Noelle is off 2nd.
Length:   1250 Meters, 30 meters longer than Igls, but more technical.
Watch Online:      If video is not available click here for live race times.
                                     YouTube Videos:    No video yet: http://www.youtube.com/user/bobskeletv
                                         

Insider Info

Noelle Pikus-Pace has had a slightly rough week with her Grandpa passing away. Comments directed to other things and or looking forward to the Olympics are recommended. Thank you all for your support and dedicated fanship!! Speaking of which, her Mountain Crane groupies and brother just arrived this evening with another surprise visit. What die-hard fans! :) Look for the Big Heads!!!

The Track last year at night. This year is a 9 a.m. local time race. Neat track though!!!

Noelle officially qualified for the Olympics in which we will fly out to Sochi next Thursday with the team. Yipeeeeee!!!! We can't believe it is finally here.

Here are Noelle's past results here in Konigssee and the competitors to look out for in the race:

2006: Noelle Pikus-Pace 5th Place (2nd race after the Broken leg)
2007: Noelle Pikus-Pace 3rd Place
2009: Noelle Pikus-Pace 9th Place
2010: Noelle Pikus-Pace 6th Place
2013: Noelle Pikus-Pace 1st Place (Noelle's 1st win back since 2007 World Championships)

Competitors to look out for:

Marion Thees - GER
Anja Huber - GER
Katie Uhleander - USA
Lizzy Yarnold - GBR

Igls - 7 Races down 1 to go!!!

SILVER IN IGLS!!!

The race just finished and Noelle grabbed a Silver Medal! We are stoked and she is having an incredible season. Noelle had the fastest speed on the second run clocking in at 120.6 KMH. This is a shorter track and slower than most (Last week in St. Moritz she clocked over 133 KMH). The Austrians have been incredibly hospitable and very friendly. The track crew allowed Lacee to go down 2 times, she is the youngest person to do skeleton. She went from curve 9 and finished through curve 14.

2014 Olympian - Officially named tomorrow but SHE MADE IT!!!

UP NEXT -- LAST RACE ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 24TH

We leave on Sunday for Konigssee, Germany (near Salzburg, Austria) for the last World Cup race of the season. It is about a 2 hr drive from here. This is where the famous Eagles Nest is located and beautiful landscapes. We will spend the next 11 days or so there before heading to Munich for the Olympic Team Processing!

Time is flying and we are enjoying as much of it as we can. Here are some pictures of this week.

Traycen thinks he is soo funny!

As you can see, not only is he funny, but he is probably the coolest person in the building.

Lacee was so thrilled she couldn't really speak.  ALL GRINS!

I was a pet Tiger.

Lacee prepping for her skeleton run. Getting some training help from Coach Tuffy.

She took her first nap in weeks right after this.

We got to ride the truck up to the top of the track! Kids loved it.

When there's a sled, you'll find Traycen in it. Without fail!

Lacee got to sign her sled #1 USA!!

Once again, Traycen on a sled with his new cheek warmer hat.

Great entertainment!

St. Moritz Skeleton Race

Next Race - St. Moritz, Switzerland

When:       This Saturday - January 11, 2014 (Late Friday night MST)
Where:     St. Moritz, Switzerland
Time:        12:34 a.m. & 2:49 a.m. MST, Heat Start Times
Start #:     Noelle is 1st off.
Watch Online:      Heat 1 on YouTube:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zekPyqYNmdE
                                           Heat 2 on YouTube:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWAsdqqpZlc

Insider Info

Noelle Pikus-Pace is feeling good this week except for a minor training injury in Horseshoe. I will post video and pics below. This is one of her favorite tracks. It is the only natural track in the world, meaning it is self refrigerated by the outside temperature and it is hand built each year. Noelle has been training well and is hoping for a top 3 finish. That will make her happy and almost seal her Olympic birth.

Olympic Qualification:

Noelle is in a good spot right now ranked 2nd in the World, with missing a race and is still 1st in the US. The Olympic team is not officially named until after the Igls, Austria race on January 18th, but it would take some real opposition to keep her out right now.

Here are Noelle's past results here in St. Moritz and the competitors to look out for in the race:

2003: Noelle Pikus-Pace 11th Place
2004: Noelle Pikus-Pace 9th Place
2005: Noelle Pikus-Pace 2nd Place
2006: Noelle Pikus-Pace 11th Place
2007: Noelle Pikus-Pace 1st Place
2009: Noelle Pikus-Pace 5th Place
2010: Noelle Pikus-Pace 8th Place
2013: Noelle Pikus-Pace 2nd Place

Competitors to look out for:

Shelley Rudman -GBR (1st place last year)
Anja Huber - GER
Elena Nikitina - RUS
Lizzy Yarnold - GBR

In case you are wondering, her elbow is behind that bump. Watch the video below to see how it happened.

A closer look!

That was caught from the video below just after exiting the curve.

Skeleton Olympic Qualification Process

Skeleton Olympic Qualifying Process of Events:

I will quickly describe below how the process goes for naming the Olympic Skeleton Team.  It might get confusing, so click here for a document that shows the number of athletes that qualify for this years World Cup circuit.  (Each number shown is the rank of the athlete from that nation).  This many athletes do not get to compete in the Olympics.

• Compete in US Team Trials
• Compete in a series of World Cup races where points are totaled to qualify for the Olympics.
• The last race, where points are totaled and the Olympic team is named, takes place in Igls, Austria on 1/18/2014.
• Noelles Overall FIBT Rank determines whether or not she makes the team.  If she is the #1 US athlete she automatically qualifies. If she is the #2 US athlete she needs to be ranked higher than the #2 athlete from the 6th nation with a 2nd ranked athlete.
• From the information I have so far these are the athletes that can compete in the Olympics:
• 2 Nations get 3 athletes
• 4 Nations get 2 athletes
• 2-6 Nations get 1 athlete (not sure yet?)

Warm Lake Placid

With a high of 65 and a low of about 45 it makes for some rough ice conditions.  Sliding was cancelled today because of that.  The track has been really bumpy due to the warm weather and the rain that puddles up and freezes on the track.  We should be back and going again tomorrow for more training bright and early.

We are still on schedule for the races on Monday and Tuesday.  There will be a way to view them online I will keep you posted as that time nears this weekend.

 This is Noelle at the start before a training run with her new helmet this year.

You can't tell me this isn't an amazing view from the top of the track! 

These are the same trains from last year.  We have some older and wiser conductors this year and they are still having a ball doing there job.  The Peters have been amazing hosts taking care of us and making room for us in there home.   

This view belongs to the Peters.  It is about 100 yards out their back door and is pretty darn amazing.  Cameras never can capture how awesome the colors really are.

World Championships are in the Morning!!!

Hello Team Pikus Pace and Welcome to the Skeleton World Championships in St. Moritz/Celerina, Switzerland.

Inside Scoop

See below for the viewing schedule and youtube links.  Here is what is important for the next 2 days and how it works.

  

  -Skeleton World Championships is a 2 day event which consists of 4 runs (2 runs each day).

  -All 4 runs are added together to name the World Champion

  -Noelle needs a top 4 finish by the end of Heat 4 on Friday (the last run and end of the race).

  -If Noelle gets a 4th place finish or better she as an automatic bye onto the US team next year!  This will                   pretty much ensure that she will be going to the Olympics in Sochi (assuming no bobsleds come out of the      track at her direction and ensuring that no other bizarre accident takes place).

  - Have fun watching, don't lose too much sleep and I will keep the blog up to date with any important information that I come across.

Women's Skeleton Viewing Schedule

Heat 1: Thursday, January 31, 2013 @ 12:55 a.m. MST 
  Noelle is going off about 24th (about 1:35 a.m. MST)

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88oF_CnLWcg&list=LEkr7c8lwpup_LfDV7hOQWsgU

Heat 2:  Thursday, January 31, 2013 @ 2:40 a.m. MST
  Based on reverse order, Noelle should be going off about 40 min after this start time.
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXIUaaPLvik&list=LEkr7c8lwpup_LfDV7hOQWsgU

Heat 3:  Friday, February 1, 2013 @ 1:00 a.m. MST 
    Noelle will be going off 2nd so make sure your there for the start!       
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dylLebZeJ78&list=LEkr7c8lwpup_LfDV7hOQWsgU

Heat 4:  Friday, February 1, 2013 @ 2:45 a.m. MST 
     Based on reverse order Noelle should be about 40 min after this start time.      
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIPqrYeF_ko&list=LEkr7c8lwpup_LfDV7hOQWsgU