As always it's been a little while since my last post. Perhaps one of my New Year's resolutions should be to post a bit more frequently...
In late November, we flew out west for our first weekend of racing and met up with our trusty techs, Jake and Nick, who drove our wax trailer out to Montana loaded down with skis, duffles, and LOTS of food. Our first weekend of racing took place in West Yellowstone, and while our second weekend of racing (and first SuperTour of the season) was supposed to be in Bozeman, West generously offered to host the races due to the lack of snow at Bohart. Thus, we were treated to two back-to-back weekends of West Yellowstone racing!
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I was all set to catch a ride out west in the
back of the trailer, but then Nick found me
and made me get out... |
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One of my favorite things about being in West Yellowstone
is bumping into friends on the trails! So fun to catch up
with Lia with whom I shared my first West
Yellowstone experience back when I was a junior. I also
got to visit with some of my college friends who
live and work in Big Sky. |
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We resided in a heavily fox-themed cabin
during our first week in West Yellowstone |
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| Hello foxy shower curtain |
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One of my friends told me I was sticking out my tongue
while skiing into the finish and I didn't quite
believe her until I saw this picture...
(photo: Kat Howe) |
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Liz and me sporting our comfy new
warm-ups thanks to Salomon! We're also
super psyched about our new carbon boots! |
Historically I've never had my best results in West Yellowstone. It usually takes me a weekend or so to get into the swing of racing and not only does West usually host the first races of the season, but they are also skate races at altitude which is not usually a happy combo for me. However, this year we had some additional time to adjust to the altitude and there was a classic race in the mix! I was pretty psyched, and frankly a bit surprised, to find myself in third after finishing the 10k classic. It was a super fun race that took place in a blizzard with one partially skied-in track snaking its way through the course. I felt like I was out on a backcountry adventure ski! The GRP as a whole had a pretty fantastic day with Liz winning the women's race and Ben placing second on the men's side! Huge thanks to Nick, Jake, and Pepa for testing and waxing skis - they were quite speedy!
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| GRP podium sweep (sort of)! |
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| Winning flowers for Pepa! |
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Running through the unplowed streets to get
to the gym for our post-race strength workout |
After West Yellowstone, we flew up to Silver Star, British Columbia for a combined SuperTour/NorAm. We had quite a long layover in Seattle so we escaped the airport on a train and went adventuring in the city.
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| Selfie time in Seattle! |
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Checking out the Pike Place Market. We thoroughly enjoyed
eating all the free food samples and looking at the
handmade crafts. |
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| Cheese curds! |
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| We didn't sample any fish... |
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| Wood-burned paintings |
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| Colorful candles |
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| Leather-bound journals |
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| Fresh produce |
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| Pepper bundles |
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| Christmas pigs on a roof |
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| Seattle scenery |
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| Seflie with the needle! |
I'd never been to Silver Star before, but had heard good things. Needless to say the area exceeded my expectations with amazing ski conditions, beautiful snow-laden trees, and colorful storybook houses. We were treated to some chilly weather, but nothing lots of layers, body warmers, and some face tape couldn't handle!
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| Winter wonderland!! |
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Our rather pink rental house
(photo: Liz) |
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Checking out the Sovereign Lake Trails
where the races were held |
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| All bundled up! |
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| Appreciating the scenery |
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| Look what we found on our evening jog! |
Our Canadian race weekend kicked off with a classic sprint on Saturday and finished with a skate 10k on Sunday. The classic sprint went quite well for our team with all four women qualifying in the top-10 and three of us making the A-final. Both Liz and I ended up on the podium in second and third respectively! Nick, Pepa, and Jake did an incredible job with our skis. The skate race the following day was definitely challenging, but overall I was pleased with my race. The course was very hilly and I tried to maintain focus on technique and tempo so I wouldn't get bogged down. These races marked the end of Period 1 on the SuperTour circuit and as the overall women's leader, Liz earned starts for Period 2 on the World Cup! Liz is an incredibly dedicated athlete and it's awesome to see all her hard work paying off.
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Cornering into the finishing stretch during the
classic sprint A-final
(photo: Fasterskier) |
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| Skiing through downtown Silver Star |
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| One last scenery shot... |
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Heather and I opted to take the lift
up to the house after our final distance
workout! |
After Silver Star, we flew back to Craftsbury for the first Eastern Cup. It was really fun to race at home with all our junior skiers. However, after our fourth race weekend in a row, I was grateful to have some quiet time at home with my family for Christmas. Next up after the holidays is Nationals out in Utah. Thanks for reading!
