Here is my 2012-2013 ski video.

http://vimeo.com/63451785

These are a few videos I found when I was practicing some different jumps and rails on the ski hill.

http://vimeo.com/38389203

Talan and Tanner hitting a pretty big gap jump.

http://vimeo.com/38389406

2012 Winter Prep

Dear Friends,

Check out my new sponsorship one page.  My friend Missy at the National Ability Center put this together for me.  Feel free to pass this along to contacts you may know that would like to help out.  Thank you in advance.

Ben Hulin

Casio Phone Commercial Winter 2012

Winter Skiing 2011 - 2012

Mountain Biking Video

Kimberly Canada

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Canada for a Nor Am Ski Race.  I went with my coach Chelsea and team mate Arly.  We left last Sunday and drove for about 13 hours all the way up to British Columbia. On Monday we did some free skiing just to get a feel for the hill and then went into training on Tuesday.  The Canadian Rockies are in the background.

Tuesday we got to do some warm up runs and then we inspected the course.  We then had two practice runs that day.  My first time down the downhill course I ran a 1.58.00.  Pretty slow if I do say so myself but it was the first time I had ever run a downhill course.  Here is my first start.

Wednesday was the same as Tuesday with an inspection and then two practice runs.  I brought my time down to a 1.39.00 but it was still relatively slow.  The top guys did it in about 1.08.00.  Here is the start gate and then the last group of guys waiting for their turn to go.

Thursday was the downhill races.  My first run I slipped out and fell and did not finish.  My second run I was around another 1.39.00.  Great experience on my first race in a ski.

On Friday we raced Super G.  The difference between downhill and super g is the gates are closer together in super g and the turns helped me feel a little more comfortable.  My first race time was a 1.33.00 and my second was a 1.28.00.  The best part of the super g races was the fact that I was no longer last place.  Here is Arly in the start corral.

 

Here is Arly on the first couple of gates.

It was a great week of training, racing and learning from the guys in the sit skis and the coaches giving feedback.  Here is the downhill podium for the second race.  First and Second were from Canada and then Third place was Tyler from the States.

We were able to train with a group from Aspen and really developed our skills.  I learned so much and now I might be hooked to this racing thing so we will see.  Here is my favorite picture though and one that never gets old to me.  We had about 20 guys in sit skis and at no time do any of these guys ever feel sorry that they are in chairs but we hop in strap up and ski it on the mountain all day and the rest of our wheels just get a rest.  Skiing has been the most freeing, enjoyable and biggest learning experience.  I love what I do and am doing what I love.  It was a great week skiing for sure.

Home

Notre Dame had two consecutive home games these past two weekends so I bought tickets home a long time ago.  This was the ND vs USC game at night and then I got to see ND vs Navy.  They lost the first one and then won the second game.

I surprised my folks on the trip home but trouble was that my sister and her husband were expecting their first so when she went into labor my parents went to see the first grandchild.  I surprised my dad and then my mom just found out.  Thanks Whitney, I guess a grandchild trumps a surprise visit any day of the week.  My mom got back on Wednesday night and then my other brother Cason and his wife came in on Thursday.  We were all visiting and then out of the blue super late at night Whitney and Jared and their newborn Everett Roe Leeper decided to show up.  It was crazy.  Here is the little guy.

And here he is with his favorite uncle.  He just does not know it yet!

It was cool seeing the whole family again.

Five Years

Five years today.  My life has never been the same as of five years ago but thanks to the support from my family and friends from all over I have not looked back.  Yesterday I had a great day riding and if my IRISH can pull off a win today the weekend will be beyond great.  It has been a great 5 years with so many crazy opportunities.  I look forward to the days ahead.  Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement through the years.  It does not go unnoticed.

Yesterday I went to Park City Mountain Resort with Tera.  We rode the lift up Payday lift and then climbed up to the Bonanza lift.  It was about a 2 mile climb with about 2,000 or 3,000 vertical feet.  You never realize that those runs are that steep when you are on a ski and bombing down the runs but I have a new appreciation riding it up hill on wheels.

Here I am in front of Bonanza lift.  It was a beautiful day and the ride down was a lot more fun than the ride up.

Here is a picture of one of the spots on the down hill.

This was when Tera and I went out and rode the mountain bikes with George and Patti.  Tera rode her regular bike yesterday with lots of stops and her telling me I was almost there.  It was a long climb up.

50 mile ride

A couple weeks ago I got to try out my new bike.  I bought this bike from my buddy back in Indiana.  It is set up way more for racing and is geared up less of a wind sail like my handcyle I have been riding for a while.  This was the finish.  It was a long 50 mile ride with very minimal training but I smashed my goal time and had a great time.

Here I am on course with some of the riders.

 This was one of the highlights of the day.  I was able to continue my great Utah farmer tan.

I was able to register for the Boston Marathon this week too.  That was a pretty cool goal to finally accomplish.  Well fall is coming and soon the old winter so very soon the snow will be here.  I can't wait.

I am out!!!!!!

I got a new place!!!!  I should have done this the day I moved here and gotten out of the place I was living but hind sight is 20/20 right.  This place is a one room studio.  It is quite the place and totally on my own.  All for ten bucks more a month.  Who could ask for more???

This is looking from my front door to the back side of the studio.  Everything is built in so I did not have to move much stuff.  As you can see my bed is not a perfect fit but it works!

 Here is my kitchen area.  There are tons of shelves and stuff off to the right.

 This is the view from the patio to the front door.  I have a closet on the left and then the bathroom is the last door on the left.  This place is so cool.

 Jonathon, his girlfriend Kate and Patti and I went to a rodeo.  Jonathon and Kate are from England so they really got into the dress up for cowboy night.  It was a good time for sure.

 Two wheelies at the fair.  Our story for the night was he rode a bull and fell off and the bull stepped on him.  I was the clown who came to his rescue and got the same treatment from the stupid bull.  Not too many people bought the story but it was a noble effort.

 George took me fly fishing last week.  It was pretty fun.  He was all geared up and rather good.

 I was not geared up and was rather bad.  None of us caught a fish but they nibbled and it was fun trying.  It is way better than regular fishing by far.

Yellowstone!!!

 We had a blast this past week when Mom, Dad and Tanner came out and visited Park City and then we went out west to the Tetons and Yellowstone.  This is one of our lunch breaks.  I have never eaten out so much with my family but it was awesome hanging out at every opportunity.

 Tanner wanted to walk with the elk.  They were just hanging out in the town in Yellowstone.

 Dad wanted to have a picture of himself in Montana.  He even hugged the bear on the left.

 This is Tanner and I at one of the many stops we made in the parks.  This was at a resort / hotel / eating place.  I went in and was not that impressed but people were there so I am sure they are making money some how.

 This is one of the closest bison we came in contact with.  Mom said, "Keep it in Drive"  I did not listen and put it in park and took some pictures.  It was pretty funny.

 Old Faithful.  Let me be the first to tell you that this is pretty cool but not life changing.  The worst part was the Asian man directly on my right who would not get out of my personal bubble while he was taking pictures.  I was just a little annoyed.

 Mom, Dad and Tanner climbed this rock face.

 It was awesome to see them climb and then all of them on top.  I tried but did not get that far up. Ha Ha yeah right!

 Entering the Grand Tetons.

 Our Yellowstone picture.


One of the many, many elk.

This was an awesome trip.  One of the best times was the whitewater rafting.  Tanner took some pics on that trip but not really great ones with the GoPro.  We got some cool video though.  It was awesome spending time with my family.  Next time the rest of the family needs to come join.  You always know family is something special but when you get to spend time with them and hang out when its been a while it means even more.

Thanks guys for coming out.

Ben

Mountain Biking

This is the best cross train for road racing.

Stupid Bee and Shooting

This is how I woke up a few weeks ago.  It would have been cooler if there was a good story but there is not a really good story.  I was mountain biking and a bee got caught in between my sunglasses and my eye and went to town on me.  The next morning, this is how I looked.  It would have been better if the other guy looked worse than me and this was all I took in a fist fight but nope, it was just a stupid bee.

Me and two buddies went shooting too the other day.  It was pretty cool.  We shot some clay and then some other targets in this dumpy part of town.  It was pretty fun.

Utah Valley Marathon

Boston Qualifier - 1.55.56

Last marathon = Goal reached for Boston

This last week I had the opportunity to work with a soldier transition unit.  We played sled hockey, biked and did some high ropes as facilitators and then they had military briefings as well.  It was a busy great week working with these guys and learning about different things they have done overseas and some of the injuries they have sustained.  We took a tour of Olympic Park where they do the ski jumping in the winter.  This is where they start.  I am going to go watch some of their summer training events.  It looks pretty awesome from up top.

We took another tour of the Ski and Snowboarding Olympic Training Center.  This is their gym.  It was huge and they had pictures of all the athletes they train and there were even a few athletes working out when we were there.

They had a full size basketball court and then off the end of one of the baskets they had this foam pit and trampoline where the athletes can practice jumps and different things in the air.  Some of the soldiers even had a try at the trampoline and jumping into the pit.  These soldiers are standing right by some of the ramps that they use to skate down and practice different things as well.  It was pretty cool.

The week went well and then I had a marathon on Saturday morning.  It was an early start at 5:55am.  I woke up early and pushed off.  I was the only racing wheelchair and there was about seven handcycles.  I drove most of the course before the race but mile two gave me a hick-up on race day.  There was a course marker and we were going downhill.  I thought it was a mile marker and that I was going to be going straight.  Well the mile marker sign turned out to be a right turn sign and boy oh boy was it a tight right turn.  I tried my best to keep on the road but I got a bit loose and rolled  the chair into the woods.  It took about five minutes to get all back in the chair and I kept going.  At about mile 22 I had a flat and just decided to do that last bit on a flat.  I ended up doing th race in 1.55.56 and that qualifies me for Boston so I will be trying to go to that in April.  Here is my road rash from the crash but I guess it was worth it.

Finally some good weather for training and racing

Here is my racing chair in the hotel all geared up for my first race in Boulder, CO over Memorial Day weekend.  It was a 10k with about 12 wheelchair athletes in the mix.  It was a really good weekend and I had a pretty good race coming in fourth and starting the race season a bit later than usual.  It has warmed up a bit here in Park City and my training and races should pick up in the days ahead.

 This was the finish area at the University of Colorado Boulder football field.  Here is a guy that jumped out of a plane delivering the flag for the closing ceremonies of the race.  The elite men and women runners started the race at about 11.  This was after my shower, breakfast and a short nap before I got out to watch the finish of the race.  The place was pretty packed.  It was a cool finish to the days racing festivities.

 Here is a view of some of Boulder.  This was a picture I took after killing some time at a mall near my hotel.  Pretty cool views from the road and town in general.

I went and drove a marathon course the other day and this was one of the mountain run off zones from the snow melt.  They are popping up everywhere around.  I am going to do this course on Saturday and hopefully record on of my better times.  I will pass this at about mile 20 or so.  Hopefully I still have enough gas in the tank to push the last 6.2 at a fast pace.