errolkerr - Yardbarker Blogs

Jamaica finishes 10th at Freestyle World Championships in Inawashiro, Japan

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:29:28 -0500

Here's a photo of our Jamaica Ski Team with host country's flagbearer -- carrying the Jamaican flag. The Opening Ceremonies at the World Championships were awesome. Inawashiro put on an incredible show, with music and traditional dance. We finished 10th at the World Championship Ski Cross finals -- the best finish of the year. Next week we depart for races in Switzerland.

Sugar Bowl Banzai

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:23:24 -0500

Jamaica Ski Team member Errol Kerr, pictured above, at a Red Bull sponsored
party in Truckee for the Silver Belt Banzai celebration Saturday
night. After placing second at the Silverbelt Banzai qualifiers, he
had every reason to smile. Kerr would not finish the race on Sunday
after hitting a mogul and popping out of both bindings failing to
complete the course.

The fiercest storm of the season slammed into Lake Tahoe over President's weekend making
the trip to the home of the 1940's born Banzai a feat in and of itself
worthy of commendation. The race has evolved into a six-man wide, big
mountain skicross, as local professional skier, Trevor Ricoli (Reno,
NV), called it in a recent interview.

"
I have never gone that fast down double black diamonds with moguls,
ever. I have never trained for this. I never thought there would be a
race like this."

Question: In the future, how would you train for a race like this?

Trevor:
I guess, when it is a powder day, go as fast as you can down every
black diamond run, straight line. That is about all I can think of.

Training on the Cypress World Cup Ski Cross Course

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:42:51 -0500

Check out the ski cross course at Cypress on the training day. Qualifying day, I finished 7th, which was pretty good considering that the snow was slushy, and I started 43rd. Race day I finished 17th.

Lake Placid Freestyle World Cup

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:29:41 -0500

?NEWS ALERT

On Thursday, January 15th the Jamaica Ski Team arrived at the Lake Placid Freestyle World Cup. ? Lake Placid is located about 5 hours north of New York City and was the site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games. ?This weekend's events will include moguls, aerials, and ski cross.

History of FreestyleIn the early days of freestyle skiing the sport was named for the "free" and creative element introduced by athletes who resisted traditional alpine and nordic skiing. Competitions included an all-in-one-run event where skiers were judged on a run that included ballet, moguls and a spontaneous aerial maneuver. Today the evolution of freestyle skiing is made up of six different disciplines; aerials, halfpipe, moguls, dual moguls, ski cross and slopestyle. Each discipline is judged and scored to their own points list. Freestyle skiing was added to the Olympic program in 1992 for moguls, aerials in 1994, and ski cross will debut in the 2010 Olympic Games.

Schedule at Lake Placid; and TV Schedule?The international ski cross teams are staying at the town of Lake Placid and will compete at Whiteface Mountain. ?Ski Cross practice begins on Friday, January 16th, with the qualification on Sunday, and the finals on Monday. ?For a complete schedule, please visit:

http://www.fis-ski.com/pdf/2009/FS/8037/2009FS8037PROG.pdf

Ski Cross Schedule (East coast time/Jamaica time)9:45-11:15 ?Qualifications -- Sunday, January 1811:00-12:00 FINALS ? ? ? ?-- Monday, January 19

For television coverage of the event, according to USSA..."NBC will air the Nature Valley Freestyle Cup ski cross competition Sunday, Jan. 25 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Versus will air the Nature Valley Freestyle Challenge aerials competition that same day at 2:00 p.m. ET as well as?the?Nature Valley Freestyle Cup?ski cross show on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 3:00 p.m. ET.UniversalSports.com?and TV will also carry coverage."

Among those attending the event, will be...Jamaicans from Toronto and Jamaica will be attending the event. ?Mr. Richard Salm, President and Founder of the Jamaica Ski Federation, will be flying up from Jamaica to encourage and support the team. ?

Members of the National Brotherhood of Skiers will be driving from New ?York and Vermont to watch Kerr compete. ?The NBS is an African American organization that promotes winter sports among African Americans, and grants scholarships to worthy African American youth to assist in their expenses in ski racing. ?In February 2008, NBS members were present at the Deer Valley Freestyle World Cup, and showed strong support of Errol.

Racing and Training: Jamaica Ski TeamThe Lake Placid event will be Kerr's second World Cup of the 2008-9 season. ?At the first World Cup in St Johann, Austria, Kerr finished 30th among a field of 78. ?During the past week, Errol, along with his coach and technician, returned to California to train at Alpine Meadows. ?Said Kerr, "Those were the best days of training I have had in 2 years," referring to the hard snow surface and excellent training conditions at Alpine.?

For further updates and information, please visit?errolkerr.com

Snowmaking and ski cross training

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:14:53 -0500

Check out the snowmaking at our yard in Glenshire. We built a ramp and ski cross course, and welded up the start gates so we could get in some good training.

Far West slalom races at Mammoth, California -- December 6-7, 2008

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:04:11 -0500

We had a good time this weekend down at Mammoth. They had the first Far West races of the season: Slalom. It was fun to get back in the gates, and to be helping out the younger racers with their points. I also was forerunning the Far West Masters races. They have helped me out so much through the years, and it's great fun giving back, and hanging out with them. I gave a little talk at their awards ceremony, letting them know how much I appreciate what they have done for me and for so many of us in Far West through the years.

Ski Cross Mash Up

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:03:37 -0500

Singing " I'm Not Your Boyfriend "

Free skiing at Mammoth Mountain, California

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:04:22 -0500

Hey yardies!! We are having an awesome time at Mammoth Mountain. It's fantastic just to be free skiing, and we've been out on the hill every day from 9am until the lifts close at 4pm. Take a look at the head cam shots. They even have their park going.

Spyder hosts JST at Speedfreaks camp

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:52:46 -0500

We had a great chance to mentor the younger skiers at the Spyder camp. What an incredible time we had. Spyder gave us a tour of their headquarters at Boulder, and we saw all the gear for 2009-2010. It was fantastic.

Pushing the envelope in SKI CROSS 2008-2009

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:01:35 -0500

Ski Cross competitions in 2008-2009

Jamaica Ski Team dryland training regimen

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:09:12 -0500

Check out this video of our dryland training at Alpine Meadows. For those of you who have never heard of "dryland training", it is defined as all "off snow training".

Alpine Meadows seals partnership with Jamaica Ski Team

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:25:56 -0500

"Alpine Meadows joined forces with the Jamaica ski team with an unprecedented partnership inspired by the new skier cross phenom, Errol Kerr." The scenic mountain of Alpine Meadows with views of the beautiful Lake Tahoe will be the training mountain for the Jamaica Ski Team.

Jamaica Ski Team training in New Zealand

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:17:29 -0500

Check out this New Zealand television news feature on the Jamaica Ski Team. We had some good on-snow training, although the snow was quite soft, due to the plentiful snowfall. I think it was one of their highest snowfall years on record. We are back in Truckee, California, and working hard at the gym, and plyometrics at the field. Temperatures are dropping below freezing here at night, and in a month or so we will be at our first Fall training camp. Good to be back home, Yardies!!

Driving in New Zealand

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:12:22 -0500

Hey, check out this video. It is from the mountain I was skiing at in New Zealand. Quite possibly one of the scariest drives you could do. I know the video is kind of bumpy and jumbly, but you'll get an idea. It's a 1000 ft drop if you go off of the road.

Roller Shoes!

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:37:42 -0500

Check out this video of roller shoes. I have never been on roller shoes in my life. I have seen kids walking down the street and then starting rolling, and I thought it was the easiest thing ever until I tried a pair. I have a totally new respect for people who roll around in their shoes. Check out the video. It's hilarious. If you never have roller-shoe'd, try to find a pair that fits you. I think they make them for kids. You would have to look to the far end of the earth to find them, but, when you do, video it. I want to see it. It's hilarious. I have a brand new respect!!