If you'd asked me a month ago, I would have thought that today I'd be in South Korea, getting ready to fly to Japan. Instead I'm sitting in a cafe in Ontario, Oregon. Things can change fast.

As some readers know (despite me not blogging about it), I competed in my second Winter X Games this year, in the Monoskier X event. I did about as well as I could have hoped, qualifying for the semifinals and then failing to advance to the final, but taking second place in the consolation round, for a 6th-place finish overall and a nice little paycheck. But every run I took on the course really did a number on my back. Every time I'd land a jump — of which there were many — I'd feel the impact all the way up my spine.

A week and a half after X Games, after taking plenty of days off snow to rest, I was training at Winter Park and my back still wasn't hurting any less, so I decided to see a doctor. They took some X-rays and found that my T-8 vertebra was kind of crushed or compressed — it appears to be only about half as tall as the other vertebrae. There have been some problems trying to get a diagnosis as to what exactly that means in terms of time off-snow, but for now it means I didn't get to make the trip to Asia for the last two legs of this year's World Cup circuit. So instead I'm here in Ontario visiting my girlfriend, M., working on some lexicography projects and waiting for the final word from my doctor. My season might be over, or maybe I'll be able to race at our U.S. nationals at Soldier Mountain, Idaho, next month.

x games 2008

I just found out that I've again been selected to compete in the Monoskier X event at Winter X Games 12 in Aspen. Our race will take place on Sunday, Jan. 27 at about 2:30 pm, and will be televised LIVE! Mark your calendars...

from the x games athlete lounge tent

...which has free wi-fi, naturally, as well as many diversions and much free food.

I guess I am now officially an Xtreme Athlete, having competed in my first X Games and made it to the semifinals. Now it's time to go party like an Xtreme Athlete.

Tune in to ESPN tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. ET and maybe you'll catch me racing, although they might only show the finals. I wish I could be more specific about the time of the broadcast, but alas...

If you want to cheat and peek at the results now, head over here for the results and here for the full story.

spokane, wash.

Racing in Kimberley finished up today with a slalom. I had two solid runs (my second run was fifth-fastest) and finished eighth — not my best result, but I was satisfied with my performance. As soon as we got off the hill, five out of the six U.S. monoskiers on the trip loaded into a van to drive down to Spokane and catch a flight to Denver for the X Games.

Halfway there, though, we got a phone call: our 6 p.m. flight out of Spokane had been cancelled, and we would be stuck here for at least the next 12 hours. We considered our options and decided to take our rescheduled 6 a.m. flight to Denver tomorrow, then hop on a United flight directly to Aspen. If all goes as planned, we should make it into Aspen around 10:55 a.m., just in time to get on snow around 1:00 for the preliminary rounds of the monoskier X competition. Fingers crossed, I'm going to try and get some sleep...

Today's results are here.

monoskier x: what is?

On January 27 at 2:00 p.m. MST, I will compete in the new Monoskier X event at Winter X Games 11 in Aspen, Colo. EXPN.com has this to say about the rules of the event:

Mono-Skier X debuted as a demo event at Winter X Nine and now makes the jump to a medaled event at Winter X 11. Mono-Skier X is modeled after Winter X mainstays, Snowboarder and Skier X with one key difference that the event features the top disabled mono-skiers in the world.

Mono-Skier X is a fast and furious course race that features disabled sit-skiers racing over tabletop jumps, banked turns, rollers and gaps. Like the other X course disciplines at Winter X, Mono-Skier X is a fusion of motocross and downhill racing on snow.

In each of the qualifying races, the winner advances to the Final, while the 2nd place finisher goes to the last chance qualifier. In the LCQ, the winner advances to fill out the 4 racer final. In the final, the first racer to the bottom takes home the gold.

Competition Format: Men and Women

Round	Athletes	Runs	Score
Qualifying	12 (3 heats of 4)	1	Winner advances to Final, 2nd place goes to LCQ
Last Chance Qualifier	3 (1 heat of 3)	1	Winner advances to Final
Final	4 (single heat)	1	1st thru 4th place

Got it?