Ok, as promised in tomorrow's paper, here's video of Crystal Mountain's Scott Macartney in what has become one of the most famous ski accidents ever. Don't watch it if you have a weak stomach. Macartney is lucky to be alive.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, if you ever share a lift with Macartney at Crystal Mountain pick a different topic to talk about. He's getting pretty sick of talking about the accident.

I talked with him this morning about his most recent injury, a torn ACL in his left knee that needed a cadaver graft to be repaired.

He says he’s giving the knee some time to heal and then he hopes to be back in top form by November when qualifying races for the 2010 Olympics begin.

As for last year’s crash, Macartney recovered physically and mentally from the horrific accident. However, the European media hasn’t let him forget about it.

While he graciously answers the questions, some reporters have bothered him. Before an interview with an Austrian TV crew, they told him they had a present for him at the end of the interview.

“The present was still shots of the accident,” Macartney said. The crew wanted to shoot video of him looking at the pictures.

“I was very frank with them. I told them if I knew they were going to do that I would not have agreed to the interview.”

For downhill racers, it is important not to focus on the danger of the sport, Macartney said. Having to field constant questions about the crash has made that difficult for the 31-year-old.

“Most of the questions are OK,” Macartney said. “But some of the questions just make you shake your head.”

He knows the questions will persist, especially know that he’s dealing with another injury. But he’d rather deal with the annoyance and the rehab than walk away.

“Retirement never crossed my mind,” Macartney said. “I still have a lot I want to do. I want to show the hard work I’m putting in. If I retired now I would wonder about what could have been.”

CYPRESS MOUNTAIN, B.C. – Two hours before the finals of Saturday’s moguls World Cup race, Bryon Wilson was threatening to hurt Patrick Deneen.

Not because Deneen is the man he thinks he needs to catch to make the 2010 Olympic team, but because earlier that morning Deneen filled Wilson’s ski boots with orange peels.

If Deneen survives whatever revenge Wilson has in mind, there’s seemingly not much else that can derail his promising career.

The 21-year-old Cle Elum resident is a rising star on the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team and has his sights locked on the 2010 Olympics.

He was rookie of the year on the world tour last season, and while he hasn’t skied quite as well this season, according to his coach, he finished fourth in Saturday’s World Cup on the course that will be used in next year’s Olympics.

“He certainly has a tremendous upside,” freestyle coach Jeff Wintersteen said. “He is a great talent.”

Patrick’s dad, Pat, was the first to see his son’s talent.

When Pat was the general manager at Hyak, now Summit East on Snoqualmie Pass, his son started skiing at 11 months of age.

“He had more opportunities to ski than most kids,” said the elder Deneen, who also worked at Silver Mountain in Idaho.

When Deneen started racing, he won almost every junior race he entered. While he was always fast, he said he was best at the technical events like slalom.

But it wasn’t long before Deneen fell in love with skiing bumps.

And as with ski racing, Deneen proved to be a natural in freestyle, too.

“The guy is always on the snow,” Wilson said. “He works really hard.”

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