MANNY ENDS HIS SEASON 6TH IN DH STANDINGS  
Photo courtesy of ZOOM                                                                                                                    

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'05/06 season
 

Way to go Manny! 6th in the World in Downhill standings and your best Super-G result.     Great season!

March 11th, Bormio Italy: Overnight snowfall and fog has forced the cancellation of today's Men's training run for tomorrow's DH race on the Stelvio course. The end result is no DH race tomorrow as World Cup rules stipulate at least one training run must occur before a downhill race.
As a result, Didier Cuche has clinched the DH title beating Bode Miller by five points. Cuche's only win this season was in Kitzbuhel but he also managed to finish second four times and third once. Miller won three races but had some poor results early in the season which likely cost him the title. Manny has finished his season in sixth place in the DH standings, moving up from tenth last year.
 

Mike Janyk and Manny have come together to offer up a free ski camp for BC J'1 athletes (aged 15 - 16) and the deadline is fast approaching for applications. Go to Cowboys Camp  for further information and to register.

March 2nd, Kvitfjell Norway: Into the points again, today's Super-G saw five Canadians in the top 20. Manny finished an impressive 19th making this his best SG result so far. Manny will now do some training followed by a couple of days off as he works his way over to Bormio Italy for World Cup Finals from March 10th to 16th.

March 1st, Kvitfjell Norway: Another close call today for Manny, just 6/100's off the podium finishing in 5th place. Manny had to push himself and rise above memories of a couple of big falls on this course and we think he did a great job.  During broadcast of the race an interview with Manny revealed it was either Ritalin or Skiing for him as a youngster. We'd like to thank his mom for taking the naturopathic route by introducing Manny to skiing, soccer, baseball, karate, rugby, mountain biking and Ninja Turtles.
Tomorrow Manny tackles the Super-G.

February 29th, Kvitfjell Norway: After meeting up with a net in yesterday's training run and finishing in 67th spot Manny put the hammer down in today's downhill race in Kvitfjell finishing just 8/100's of a second off the podium and sealing 4th place. Today's race was a replacement race for the cancelled Val D'Isere DH earlier this month. Tomorrow we'll see another DH race on this course followed by a SG on Sunday.

February 21, Whistler Mountain: Under sunny skies Manny had his career best Super-G result finishing 21st after starting 55th. He finished 29th and 24th earlier in the season after three consecutive DNF's over the last two years.
When talking to reporters he exclaimed "It was pretty nice of you guys to wait for number 55 to come down. Most of the time I'm coming down in Super-G and I have to dodge the podium (setup) in the finish area when I stop. This is a nice treat!"
The racers were stoked about the SG course. Manny's friend Marco Buechel of Leitchtenstein thinks the course is spectacular. "It's a true Olympic course. I would say whoever wins here at the Olympic Games is a true champion. It's got everything, flat parts, steep parts, a lot of rolls, terrain, turns. It's just amazing to ski here but it's very very difficult." 
Manny now hits the road again, heading to Norway.

February, Whistler Mountain: The National Championships have come to a close with Manny racing the DH on Saturday Feb 9th. He placed 3rd, with John Kuchera in first place followed by Eric Guay in second. Once again the Whistler Weasel Workers have proven their mettle as they've battled tough weather conditions to get National Championships off and running smoothly. The Canadian Team is off now to train in Nakiska before heading back to Whistler for the Telus World Cup Races being held from Feb 19th to 24th.

Feb 2nd, "VAL D'ISERE RACE CANCELLED" Course crews worked all night but weren't able sweep away a huge overnight snowfall as well the Face was plagued with poor visibility.

Feb 1st, Val d'Isere France: The third and last training run was today with Manny finishing 21st. Tomorrow's the day that counts as the athletes gear up to conquer a run that's known for it's steepness and inclement weather of fog and wind. With the evolution of ski technology racers would risk death to ski the same course as in 1992 so additional gates have been added which equals more turns. Some racers have complained that this course is now more of a Super G but nonetheless they'll fight to negotiate the steep Face de Bellevarde with all it's bumps and turns.

January 31, Val d'Isere France: This time last year Manny was on fire but a combination of the flu and a different course has made this week a bit tougher as he had a DNF yesterday and DQ (disqualified) today. This is the first time since the 1992 Olympic Winter Games that they're using the Face de Bellevarde course. This is a dress rehearsal for next year's World Championships and is clearly a major challenge for the athletes as they take on the Face for the first time in 16 yrs with it's 959 meters of vertical drop. Both yesterday's and today's training results saw 16 athletes DQ'd.  The race will be broadcast in Canada on CBC on Saturday Feb 2nd.     

January 26, Chamonix France: Manny doing yoga? Never one to disappoint, Manny finished his race with a smile on his face and no skis!! He was the first Canadian in today's Vertes des Houches finishing in 2.73 minutes taking fifth place. The winning run was by Marco Sullivan from the USA just .62 ahead of Manny in a time of 2.11. Way to go Manufell!!
The speed team now heads to Val D'Isere France to gear up for a race next weekend.

January 25, Chamonix France: "EEEHAW!"......... Manny lays it on the line to set the pace in today's training run, by taking first place 8/100's of a second ahead of Marco Buechel . Tomorrow is the day that counts as the Kandahar "La Verte des Houches" commences.

January 24, Chamonix France: The White Circus has made another stop in the Chamonix valley to race the famed Kandahar DH course  this weekend. This event started in 1928 and is celebrating it's 60th anniversary. Manny was the first Canadian in 8th spot in today's first training run. There will be another training run tomorrow followed by the race on Saturday. In Canada the race can be viewed on CBC at 11am Pacific Time.

To be the best, Manny has quite a force behind him. His corporate Head Sponsor is Husky/Mohawk and his arm patch sponsor is Harbour Air.

Ski Racing Canada and TSN, Question and Answer with Manny, Eric and John.

January 20, Austria: The great news today is that Scott Macartney is awake and thinking he had a pretty good run yesterday except for his error at the bottom of the course. We're thrilled!! 

January 19, Kitzbuhel Austria: What a day! Firstly our thoughts and prayers go out to Scott Macartney and his team mates, family and friends who wait to hear about his condition after a horrendous fall at the end of the course. Race fans everywhere are hoping it wasn't as bad as it appeared.
It's bittersweet when accidents happen, as Todd Brooker said, "Many careers are made and lost on the Streif" but the show must go on and racer #3 had to get in the gate and 'giver'. Our Canadian Cowboys did just that with three top 20 results. Eric/9th, John 13th and Manny was 20th. All in the points and another season of the famed Kitzbuhel Downhill behind them. The speed team will saddle up tomorrow for Chamonix, France to gear up for the Kandahar World Cup event next weekend

Check out this video interview with Manny after his exciting podium result in Wengen.
 

Eric and Manny interact on TSN. Mike Mastarciyan (Marsy) has set up a question and answer forum for these two Canadian Cowboys. Send your questions and read all about it on Saturday after the race.

January 18, Kitzbuhel Austria: What a day for the Canadians with five of them finishing in the top thirty of today's SG. Manny finished in 29th spot as he continues to improve his SG point standings. The real breakout today was Robbie Dixon's 6th place finish. Way to go Robbie! Tomorrow is the DH. The circuit's most prestigious race on the legendary Stief. This race is in it's 68th year and they are expecting 80,000 spectators.

January 17, Kitzbuhel Austria: Today's training run has been cancelled due to a weather change. The officials want to preserve the course for tomorrow's SG and the infamous DH on Saturday. Randy Starkman from the Toronto Star had a chance to interview Eric Guay and Manny about the Hahnenkamm, "Respect"is a word you hear a lot from the young Canadian crew when they talk about the Hahnenkamm."

Wengen Downhill telecast in Canada - or not! Sunday January 13th did you find yourself in a state of unrest in a room full of unruly ski racing fans? Ready to throw your TV out the window? Feeling like you might be going Postal? Tell CBC how you felt about their lack of commitment to the telecasting of Alpine Ski Racing. We want to know who Karin Lee-Gartner was speaking to for the first half hour while we joined a 'race in progress' which had actually been taped some 8 hrs beforehand.

January 16, Kitzbuhel, Austria: Another training run today sees Manny in 17th spot. Comments from some of the Austrian Team about the course. Complete Results

January 15, Kitzbuhel, Austria: This week marks the beginning of the famous Hahnenkamm. Check out the events as Manny readies himself for another hit at one of the grand daddies of the ski racing circuit, the legendary "Streif". Today was their first training run which took place under blue skies and perfect race conditions. Didier Cuche clocked the fastest time with Manny coming in 23rd spot. Race day is Saturday. (Let's hope CBC airs the entire race this weekend or we all move to Europe for ski season!)
If you don't already subscribe to SKI RACING CANADA now might be a good time. Rumour has it that Manny made next month's cover.

January 13, Wengen Switzerland: Manny takes 3rd in today's downhill. After threats of heavy snowfall the skies cleared to present a perfect day for the Wengen Lauberhorn Downhill. Starting 15th out of the gate Manny skied to first place before he was bumped out by Bode Miller #20 followed by Didier Cuche who snuck into second place. This is one of the toughest courses on the circuit and Manny is thrilled with his result. He leaves his fans on the edge of his seat as he performed a miracle in Bormio on the third to last gate and again in this race as he brushed up against a Willie bag in one of the narrowest sections of the course.           WAY TO GO MANNY!!
Check out Terry Bell's story from the Vancouver Province.

J
January 10, Wengen Switzerland: Manny is heating up the competition as he finished his third training run today in second place just 1.77 seconds behind Bode Miller who won the famed Lauberhorn race last season.
This Lauberhorn course is one the most physically demanding slopes. It stretches for 4.5 kilometre and offers a widely varying course which boasts the fastest and slowest passages on the men's tour. The straight Hanegg section pushes the racers to speeds of up to 150 km/h and a three metre wide passage over a bridge and into a curve forces them to slam on the brakes to slow to 70 km/h. With the course being almost 2.5 minutes in length these racers have nothing left when they get to the finish.

January 9, Wengen Switzerland: Another good training run for Manny today as he finished in 8th place. Wengen is being threatened by bad weather so the officials have decided to run the Super Combined on Friday, Slalom on Saturday and the Downhill on Sunday.

January 2008, Wengen Switzerland: As the White Circus continues the team is in Wengen getting ready for the Super Combined and Downhill races this weekend. Marco Buechal won today's training run with Manny not far behind in 23rd spot. Unfortunately Jan Hudec suffered a torn ACL on his right knee and a broken thumb. We hope he has a speedy recovery.                

Dec 29th, Bormio Italy: Finally race day and Canada puts three of it's players in the top 10 including Jan Hudec who landed on the podium in third place. Manny finished in 16th spot just 1.70 seconds off Bode Miller's winning run.

HO HO HO......... The Canadian Cowboys get elfed!

Dec 15th, Val Gardena Italy: Manny makes his first top 10 finish in Val Gardena. Finishing in a time of 1:57:67 , .97 hundredths of a second off Michael Wolchhofer's winning run, Manny came out in sixth spot.
"It feels pretty good to finally break the Top 10. I didn't think I was going to do it, but I just gave her. After the training run, I figured I could tuck more and attack more, which I did in the race. "  Manny also recorded the fastest speed of the day reaching 112.11 km/h.

 
Val Gardena is one of the five classic downhills on the World Cup circuit. The others are: Val d'Isere, France; Wengen, Switzerland; Kitzbuehel, Austria; and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Organizers made some slight changes to the Saslong course this season, widening it in some sections and making jumps bigger in others, although the defining features remain the camel bumps and the Ciaslat section.
The three camel bumps come midcourse and the second in the series launches skiers in the air for 75 meters, some six meters off the ground at speeds upward of 120 km/h. In 2003, Walchhofer cleared a record 88 meters on the jump.
After the camel bumps, the skiers head into the twisty S-shaped Ciaslat, the most technical section of the course.
Gardena is celebrating its 40th year of World Cup racing this weekend.
 

NEW START LIST PROCEDURES: The FIS Alpine Committee, under the guidance of Toni Sailer (Austria) constructed a new start order for the speed events (downhill, super-G, and super combined). The best fifteen competitors of the event (World Cup Start List) are drawn between starting numbers 16 to 22  (WCSL 1 to 7) and 8 to 15 (for WCSL 8 to 15). The remaining athletes up to WCSL are drawn within the start numbers 1 to 7 and 23 to 30.

 Dec 14th, Val Gardena Italy: One of the famed Canadian Cowboys, Manny posted his best result in SG today in a time of 1:38:41, just 1:79 seconds off the winning run by Didier Cuche put Manny in 24th position. Now it's all guns drawn as the Cowboys head into the DH tomorrow.  (On the West Coast, Rogers will telecast the SG tomorrow and CBC will air the DH, check your local listings)

Dec 12th, Val Gardena Italy: "Air Canada" or " Airborne Osborne" it doesn't matter what you call him, Manny likes air! In his first training run today on the famed Saslong Classic Manny managed to fly beyond the first camel bump putting him well past his intended landing. We're pleased to report he did land it though 35 or 45 meter distance was a little excessive. We're glad to see it in print to support his tall story. Tomorrow Manny's hoping to keep his skis a little closer to the ground. He's gearing up for a DH race on Saturday Dec 15th. (CBC Canada will telecast the race.)

Dec 6th, Lake Louise Alberta: Manny takes gold in the Northwest Mutual Funds Nor-Am Downhill race in Lake Louise. As he prepares for the upcoming DH races in Val Gardena Italy Manny got one more pop at the downhill course in Lake Louise and finished on top. "My race was not as good as I had planned it to be. I am trying to get some confidence and I won, which is a good thing but I definitely would have liked to have won by more and I made a few too many errors." He also added, " At the end of the day I still did what I came out to do so that's good!"

  Dec 3rd, Beaver Creek, Colorado: Not a great season opener for Manny and a few others but it is the beginning and there are lots more races to come. Manny will be making his way back from Beaver Creek after a disappointing finish in the DH and a DNF in the SG. The team heads to Val Gardena Italy for a pre Christmas program of DH and SG races.

ONLY A FEW "OSBORNE/PARADIS" SHIRTS LEFT (see photo below) IN SIZES MED/LARGE. ORDER YOURS NOW BY EMAILING YOUR REQUEST AND WE'LL POINT YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!

Beaver Creek, Colorado: Check out The Anatomy of the Birds of Prey downhill course! Get ready to fly.

November 28th, Vail, Colorado: There are changes in the skis this season. Read about what some of the racers have to say.

ARE YOU SPORTING MANNY'S SHIRT? SEND US A PHOTO AND WE'LL MAKE YOU FAMOUS!

Manny and Mike are befriended by Aksel Lund Svindel from Norway who just happened to win the SG on Sunday in Lake Louise. (hmm........ We wonder if he had the shirt on under his suit?

Lake Louise,  Alberta: Yes the World came and went and because it's Manny's first Billboard we thought we'd share it with you too. 
The season's World Cup Downhill opener was under blue skies and cold temperatures in Lake Louise this last weekend. Unfortunately for Manny the results weren't there. He finished 40th in the Downhill and DNF in the SG on Sunday. "Every season I have a few bad weekends and this was one." said Manny when asked what happened. He was  pleased for his team mate Jan Hudec who won the DH on Sat and Sunday saw three Canadians in the top ten. This is always a boost for the team as they support each others success. "It's frustrating when you train all week and you're skiing fine and then there's a few things that happen that make it so you can't do your best but at the end of the day there's another race tomorrow and there's a race next weekend and the weekend after that," said Manny as the Canadian Cowboys headed south today to tackle the famed Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek, Aspen Colorado
Downhill race - Friday Nov 30 at 11am. 
Super G - Saturday Dec 1 at 11am.  
Slalom races - Sunday Dec 2 at 10am and 1pm. 
Click here for the 2007 course map! 
 

November 23rd, Lake Louise Canada: One more sleep till race day. Manny had at great first training run yesterday finishing in 4th spot.
"Generally, my first training run I tend to take a look around and putz down," said Manny who was second in this race last year. "I pretty much make an ass of myself and everybody asks why I did so terrible. I didn't want to do that this run.
"I just stuck to basics. I didn't do anything special. I didn't do everything with as much intensity as I'd like to do on race day."
The racers will go for their second training run today then it's all for one tomorrow on race day!

November 2007:  The countdown is on for next weekend's season opener Downhill and SG here in Canada. The Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup races begin with the men's first training run on Wednesday November 21st. Course workers such as the Whistler Weasel Workers and Alberta Sled Dogs are working around the clock to make sure the track is laid and safety systems are in place for our athletes to test their mettle. Manny and his team mates are under a lot of pressure as they raised the bar last year and had a great taste of podium finishes. CBC will be airing the downhill on Saturday Nov 24th. (check your local listings)
Eric Francis from the Calgary Sun was able to interview the guys as to whether or not "Canadian Cowboys" was going to stick. Read on and decide for yourself. Stay tuned to our website as T-shirts become available through Manny!

Photo courtesy of Selko Photo
November, West Coast: One aspect of a skier is the ability to brave the cold, or better yet, to not even feel the cold. This is evident as Manny works his surfing magic on the waves off the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Never still for very long, he'll be back to attend the Peak to Peak fundraiser for BC Alpine and Alpine Canada then jet back to Calgary to ready himself for the first Downhill race of the season in Lake Louise Alberta.

Toronto, Canada: Manny made a quick trip 'out East' to help celebrate the Gold Rush event presented by Alpine Canada and Ontario Alpine. Athletes were on hand to meet and greet while Tom Cochrane, Steven Page and Ed Robertson, of the Barenaked Ladies, entertained the posse. Lots of fun was had by all especially when Mike Mastarciyan showed up with a sack full of t-shirts celebrating the Canadian Cowboys.

October, Farnham Glacer BC: Check out today's Vancouver Sun as word gets out that the Canadians are hard at training , and in their own backyard.

WHISTLER WEASEL WORKERS NEED YOU! This diverse group of people are looking for volunteers to assist in the upcoming Canadian Nationals as well as World Cup races held this February in Whistler. If you're at all interested please go to their website and see what positions are available. Manny and the team have recognized the efforts of the Weasels over the years as they've worked tirelessly to put on some of the best racing in North America.

October, Farnham Glacier BC: As the memory of San Diego fades, Manny and the team are experiencing just another day at the office as they make use of their newest training hill right in their own backyard. Blessed with a dump of fresh snow the Canadian Team are off to a great start of on-hill training without having to travel to Europe where hill space is limited. (photo courtesy of Alpine Canada)

September, San Diego California: Manny does sit still, but only on an airplane. After two successful on-snow camps in Chile Manny headed south to touch base with his god father and get acquainted with the Californian surf. Here he's trying out Tom Locktefeld's latest invention at the Wave House (Sun Diego Boardshop), Belmont Park in the Mission Bay area of San Diego. The first Wave House was built in Durban, South Africa 2001, home of one of the largest shopping malls in the Southern Hemisphere.  Local riders were performing unbelievably progressive 1080's, rodeo flips and superman airs. These wave pools inspire a fusion of surf, skate and snow techniques. Tom brought his idea back to his home town of  San Diego and apparently we can expect one to open soon in Kelowna BC. Speaking of skate, Manny's getting some well needed instruction from the grandmaster of skateboarding himself, Tony Hawk.

August-September 2007, Chile: Never one to shy away from the camera it's obvious Manny was happy to be back on snow. The team completed their first two weeks of camp in La
, Chile where they began with the enviable task of skiing copious amounts of powder. At the same time Santiago experienced it's first snowfall in more than half a century. Power outages forced the surrounding areas to shut down as emergency officials tried to keep order in the city. Meanwhile our ski team was getting in some very good GS and DH training. After a quick visit home to get reacquainted with his family, he's off again for the second half of the camp.

August 2007: As you can see from the photo above, Manny's had a great summer so far. Lots of water time and dryland training. He's currently packing his gear and heading to Chile for their first on-snow camp of the summer. He's looking forward to it as the team heats up for another season.

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