Mid-Winter Update

It's been really nice to spend some time back east, although it would be a bit nicer if there were more snow... The skiing was actually pretty great in Craftsbury when we first returned from Nationals in mid-January and we were able to ski the Grand Tour! Unfortunately the snow has deteriorated since although the manmade loop is still in solid shape.

A sunny morning in Craftsbury

Perfect corduroy on the manmade loop!

Heading out to do some shoveling on the
marathon course

We found a mouse in the trail!
(photo: Caitlin)

The Monday before the Lake Placid SuperTour, Caitlin and I decided to take a road trip to Montreal. We wanted to preview the World Cup course at Mount Royal Park and we needed to pick up Susan from the airport. We had quite a fun and adventurous day. You can check out a more verbose and picture-heavy post about our day in Montreal here.

In addition to previewing the World Cup 
course, we also explored some of the 
snowshoe trails at Mount Royal

Skiing over to the edge to get a view of the city. We think the 
course either goes along or near this overlook.
(photo: Caitlin)

A panorama of the city

Obligatory selfie with the view

Capturing our "Montreal Moment"

We heard there was a self-guided bird feeder tour at the 
Mount Royal park so we were on the hunt for feeders. The 
one feeder we located was feeding more squirrels than birds, 
but we did see some Black-capped chickadees 
and White-breasted nuthatches
(photo: Caitlin)

I finally took out my watercolors after almost a year-long 
hiatus and painted the Montreal Town Hall. My former 
french teacher informed me that in 1967 the then President of 
France (General Charles de Gaulle) gave a famous speech
from the balcony encouraging Quebec separation 
from Canada.

The clock tower at the Old Port

Looking up a cobbled side street towards the
Notre-Dame Basilica

A few days after we returned from Montreal we were back on the road headed for Lake Placid and a weekend of SuperTour and Eastern Cup racing. The races were held at the jumps where there was almost three feet of manmade snow on their 2.5k loop!

Waiting for the Charlotte-Essex ferry on our way to 
Lake Placid

The first day was a skate sprint and the second a 10k classic individual start. The sprint qualifier went well and I qualified for the heats in 7th. All six GRP women made the heat as well as two of our junior women! After leading into the final downhill during my quarterfinal I got passed and ended up in third. Unfortunately my time was not fast enough to get me a lucky loser spot. However, Heather, Liz, and Caitlin all advanced to the semis and Caitlin went on to place second (she actually won the qualifier in the morning)!

Hanging with Liz before the sprint heats

(photo: Alex/Caitlin)

The classic race went better for me and I ended up finishing second behind Caitlin. Chelsea Holmes of APU finished third so it was the exact same podium as Nationals!

Tucking down flagpole hill in the 10k classic
(photo: Deb Miller)

And climbing flagpole hill
(photo: Deb Miller)

Thanks to Nick, Ollie, Ruth, and Anna for the fantastic skis!
(photo: Alex/Caitlin)

Alex the photographer who took 6,600 pictures 
in two days

The Mama came to watch!!
(photo: Alex/Caitlin)

The 10k classic podium
(photo: Alex/Caitlin)

Almost all the GRP women in one place!
Just missing Ida, Hannah, Suz, and Clare.

The following weekend was the SuperTour/Eastern Cup/UVM Carnival at Craftsbury, which was originally supposed to be held at Trapps. Unfortunately I contracted a cold on Friday and decided it would be best not race... I had lots of fun cheering and taking pictures though and I got to catch up with many friends, former teammates, and coaches. It was a great weekend of racing for Craftsbury with Liz placing second in the classic race (on her birthday!) and many of the juniors qualifying for Junior Nationals. Also, it was inspiring to see Hallie race so well following two knee surgeries! 

Emily, Heather, and I quarantined in 
Tamarack for the weekend with our tissues. 
We decided it's better to be sick with friends.

Cheering on the Bowdoin skiers

Liz cruising to second place

Craftsbury juniors, Callie and Phoebe, at
the start of the U16 girls race

That's all for now. I'll be training in Craftsbury for the next few weeks until we head up to the World Cups in Canada! Here's hoping for some more snow! Thanks for reading.