On the Up and Up

The sky on fire in West Yellowstone, MT (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

After a nearly 24 hour travel day from Sun Valley, Idaho to my home in northern Vermont, I'm finally getting around to putting a blog up.

We went out to West Yellowstone almost 3 weeks ago to get our ski legs back under us and acclimate to the thinner air. Also known as West Yelly/Jelly, West Yellow (a Pepa-ism), or simply "West", this particular locale in Montana is always home to the first SuperTour races. Because of this I always associate the town with happy memories of Thanksgiving and catching up with ski friends that I haven't seen all summer.

The SuperTour races over Thanksgiving weekend were a freestyle sprint and a 10k freestyle individual. Although I felt great skiing around before and was completely adjusted to the altitude, I finished the race weekend frustrated. A strong qualifier in the sprint (9th) was followed by a lackluster quarterfinal where I let myself get boxed out and then missed lucky loser. In the 10k the next day I had a stellar first lap followed by one of the biggest blow-ups I've ever experienced in a race and finished 16th. It was one of those times where I had to readjust my assessment of the race results and focus on the positive things I was doing during the race (cornering, transitioning, and keeping my technique) rather than the number result.

An easy recovery skate with the Green team ladies turned into
one of the more spectacular ski sunsets I've ever experienced (see above)

Going into the Sun Valley races I was ready to put the less than stellar races behind me. I started to feel better during our training sessions and went into the weekend with confidence knowing that classic is usually my stronger technique. Turns out my teammates were equally brimming with confidence, and we had one of the best sprint qualifiers I can remember- Kait won, Caitlin was 2nd, I was 4th, and Heather and Alex both made the rounds in the high teens. Kait and Caitlin rode their momentum all the way to the A Final, where they took 2nd and 3rd. Heather improved a ton in the rounds and just missed lucky loser in her semi, so she ended up 8th. I wasn't able to capitalize on my good qualifier as I went "sliding for home" around the downhill corner and lost all of my speed. I still picked myself up, sprinted as hard as possible, and took 3rd in my heat, but it wasn't enough. The next day the Green team had another really solid day in the 10k classic, with Caitlin on the podium, Kait in the top 6, and myself in 9th. Overall, the weekend was a good improvement from West Yellowstone, but left me wanting more.

The takeaway from the first two weekends of racing? I'm working on turning my frustration into fuel for the upcoming races. The good news about coming short of your goals is that it forces you to reexamine your approach and see where you can make improvements. I have a few weeks to put in a low altitude training block in Craftsbury (where we'll be hamster wheeling on a 1km loop of man-made) and then head home for the holidays before US Nationals. 

Although I may have missed the cliché "Thanksgiving blog post", it's still the holiday season and I have a lot to be thankful for this year, so I'll leave you with some words of gratitude and of course, a few photos from the week in Sun Valley.

1. My very speedy yet humble teammates. I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to train with an exceptionally talented group of skiers and biathletes. Just in the first few weeks of the season, Ida took 7th place in a World Cup sprint, Clare PR'ed with a 16th in a biathlon sprint, and Kait and Caitlin double podium-ed at the Sun Valley SuperTour. We're off to a ripping start, and I love spending time (on and off skis) with this focused but silly group of people.

2. Incredible support. Starting up the racing season just reaffirms my belief that wax techs and coaches work about 200x harder during race weekends than the athletes do. Thanks to Pepa, Nick, Anna, and Ollie for taking care of us and giving us the best boards. Of course, we also have sweet support from the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, and our team and indvidual sponsors!

3. Snow. All around the US, we're experiencing the effects of a low-snow year. During the Sun Valley SuperTour, volunteers shoveled for hours to make the loop ski-able for us. Back in Craftsbury, we're on a 1k loop. Never has it been more apparent that our sport is in danger of disappearing if things don't change drastically, and soon. Therefore, I'm thankful for real snow that falls out of the sky and turns my favorite places into winter wonderlands. And it would be great if that could happen in the East, asap!

3. My family, for road tripping to both of my race weekends out west, providing hugs, loud cheers, and advice, and generally just being great peeps.

4. And finally, the Craftsbury dining hall. Beets burgers, maple mustard dressing, fresh produce, all I can say is YUM. It's good to be back.

Road tripping from WY to SV- Craters of the
Moon National Monument (spoiler alert-it has
nothing to do with the moon)

Our beautiful first training day in Sun Valley. We drove
high up to get to Galena Lodge where there was plenty of snow!

On the classic sprint morning we got to watch our teammate Clare
PR (by about 30 places, no big deal) in the biathlon World Cup
sprint, which got us pretty jacked up for our race

Classic qualification. Thanks for the pic ACB!

A very happy Pepa with her green goblins

Girl's team hug- celebrating podiums for Caitlin and Kait

Women's mass start in the 10k, Caitlin leading Kait and I in the
train

Navigating the Sun Valley downhills was a good challenge- here
we are off the start in the 10k

Sometimes when you go in the pain cave, you just focus on the
person in front of you and hang on for dear life.

Cool kids still sit in the back of the bus (or rental van)

So lucky to have the support of my family during both
Western race weekends. Thanks guys! Not pictured 
but equally important-my mom and pooch Tele

Next up we'll race the Eastern Cup next weekend here in Craftsbury, and then over the holidays everyone will disperse for a few weeks before we meet up in Houghton for Nationals!

Fall Into Winter

It’s been a while since I last updated this blog, and we’ve quickly gone from watching the first few autumn leaves turn to eagerly awaiting the first real snowfall. I think every skier recognizes the inevitable push and pull of this time of year: on the one hand it seems like we’re hurtling towards race season at breakneck pace, but on the other hand, stick season seems to never end, teasing us with glimpses of winter. It’s only a matter of time before we click in our boots in West Yellowstone, and the anticipation for real snow under our feet is high.

Since the GRP returned from our September training camp in Austria, we had a few weeks at home in Vermont to soak up the training and enjoy the changing leaves.

Just another Northeast Kingdom sunset over the windmills

Dirt road cruising with the GRP women's team (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

My favorite fall activity- apple picking! The apple
monster (Casey + Hallie) getting to the top of the tree

Then it was off to Park City, UT, my hometown, for a US Ski Team training camp. I was really excited about the camp, and already planning to post a blog from there with lots of wonderful mountain training photos. Well, on the first day of the camp I woke up with a bad sore throat, which turned into a full blown cold, which turned into a sinus infection. Yuck. So instead of lovely outdoor photos, I could have shared a screenshot of my Netflix account as I whizzed through my 5th Scandal episode of the day, but I decided to spare you all! Needless to say, it was really bad timing and I hated sitting out all of the intensity and most of the distance workouts during the camp. Luckily, Park City is still a great place and if I had to be really sick in one place, I would choose a place where I could spend time with my friends and family.

Sunrise at Cutthroat Lake in the Uintas- from a quick backpack
trip before the camp started

Mountain biking on Mid Mtn. trail with my dad (Photo  Logan Jones:)

Rolling on the Mirror Lake Highway, and happy to be out and
about after sickness!

Heather, Kait, Caitlin and I post-ski at Provo
River Falls

Luckily once we got back to Vermont and reunited with our biathlon teammates, we had a cool opportunity in the east. Usually the west gets all the early snow, but this year the touring center in Foret Montmorency (up in Quebec) saved a huge pile of last winter’s snow under sawdust and spread it into a 2km loop. Finally feeling healthy, I joined the team for a 4 day intensity-focused camp on snow. Although it was a short camp, it was really productive and we squeezed intervals, speeds, tempo work, a time trial, and some distance into our six sessions. I left exhausted but definitely feeling more confident in my preparation for the season.

Em and I hammering out some L4 intervals, taking turns leading
and following (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

Skiing into the sunset with Heather (aww) (Photo Caitlin
Patterson)

Specific strength and focus (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

Part of the women's team, sporting our new gear
from Craft, Skida, and Bliz!

Back in Craftsbury we jumped in the Concept 2 World Sprints.
1 k on the ski erg = total pain and suffering (I think this photo
conveys it pretty well) Photo Judy Geer

So that’s the quick and dirty that brings us to now! We have a little over a week left in Vermont before Caitlin, Heather, Kait and I leave for West Yellowstone and the first SuperTour races of the year. I absolutely can’t wait to put on a bib again and see all of my skier friends from around the country. I’ll check back in after our first races, thanks for reading :)

Skiing, Schnitzel, Schnee, and Sunshine- Ramsau Training Camp

Okay, so I promised that I would write a blog from Austria, but I’m sitting on the plane flying back from Montreal to Munich. That still counts right? We’ll just say that I was too busy soaking up the sheer Austria-ness of one of my favorite places in the world. I've been to Ramsau a few times before in summer and winter for training camps, but somehow it's just as pretty every time I go back. Picture huge jagged peaks rising out of green pastures, and wooded hills dotted with matching chalets. Awesome.

We arrived in Ramsau over 2.5 weeks ago to sketchy conditions on the Dachstein Glacier, where we planned to do our on-snow training. The webcam showed a 3k ribbon of black glacier ice; it was nothing ski-able and the rumor was they needed over 20 cm of new snow in order to groom. Instead of sitting around and twiddling our thumbs, we moved into our rental house in town and hit the hiking trails, rollerskiing, and gym hard. But a little patience paid off, and 3 days later and a few storms up high, we got the news, the trails were open!

The view from our rental house looking towards Schladming,
where they host alpine World Cups in the winter

The team warming up together for an uphill double pole from
Pichl to Ramsau (photo cred Nick Brown)

This workout breaks you down before it builds you up. Double
poling straight up alpine switchbacks, quickly gaining 1200 ft in
elevation. Everyone got stronger and tougher this day

Exploring Silberkarklamm gorge with Kait

Boardwalks and bridges galore

It wasn’t the perfect extra blue conditions or 8k long track from last year (yeah, we got spoiled), but to a skier, it doesn’t really matter. Once you get to feel the sensation of real snow underneath your skis, it’s hard to wipe the smile off your face. However, we knew that there was a really good chance that our weather window wouldn’t last, so every chance we had to ski, we had to take. It made for an exhausting, altitude-filled, and very technique-focused week.

One of the tram cars has a space on top where they let passengers
ride. This was one of the nicest days on up on the glacier!

Bit windy up there...

The other tram coming down while we ascended

Every morning we woke up early in order to load up the vans at our rental house (around 1000m starting elev.) and make the 20 min drive to the base of the tram station (up ~1000m of winding switchbacks). Then for the short tram ride to the glacier (up another ~1000m, if you’re counting, we’re up to almost 9,000 ft. by now!) A few slippery stairs and a slide down the alpine slope, and we were on the track and good to go. Although the track was at most 4k long, everyone agreed that it didn’t get boring quickly. One thing that helped was the groomer’s “creative” cornering technique. Let’s just say he learned to turn the PB on a dime and every downhill was a slide, snowplow, and quick step away from disaster. We got to practice our cornering technique, there was plenty of gradual uphill and downhill to keep the distance easy, and the short loops meant that Pepa was always close by to work technique.

Inspiring training venue

Psyched up to SKI!

Pretty perfect

When we weren't skiing we spent a lot of
time reviewing technique video to make sure
our time on snow was valuable and focused

The 3k loop down below, on the opposite side from where
we skied last year

We shared the trails with World Cup skiers from Russia, Japan,
and Finland. Here I'm working on some one-pole and cruising
alongside a very fast Russian (photo cred Caitlin Patterson)

Exploring the access road above the ski trails. Down below
you can see crevasses throughout the snow field where the
track was last year. Definitely not safe to groom/ski now!

The hut and the surrounding mountains

This girl is always down for an adventure!

Deep crevasses, don't want to get too close to the
edge there!

The top of the tram station on our nicest day of skiing

After 6 glorious days on snow, the temps kept climbing and unfortunately the trails couldn’t take any more melting. They were forced to close again, and this time it would take 30 cm of new to open. Without any real snow in the forecast, at this point we could have been really bummed. After all, we came all the way to Austria to ski and only got 6 days. However, the truth is that any training camp still offers a valuable opportunity to train in a focused environment without the usual distractions of everyday life. Plus Ramsau is ideally situated for dryland training in the valley below- miles upon miles of trails for hiking and running, steep roads for rollerskiing, and a rollerski track which skis like a true ski course.

Off day in Hallstatt with Hallie... normal?

Apparently Halstatt is the most photographed place
in Austria and it's easy to see why!

The church in the main part of Ramsau

Our first long run/hike, climbing up Silberkarklamm
to this gem of a lake

A fun crew made this OD fly by. Also, thanks to Craft for outfitting
us and making us look good!

Ides gets pretty hyped up about mountains

Just follow the arrows..

No such thing as too many panos, right?

Frolicking through the meadow on top of Mt. Sinabell, a peak
which overlooks Ramsau

Planning the next steps.

Mike taking in the view

A bit of accidental rock climbing kept Casey,
Mike and I alert at around 3 hours in

Once we got behind the ridgeline the landscape turned very
moon-like. Very little vegetation up there

2 OD runs, a few strength sessions, and many rollerskis later, I hit my biggest training week of the year and finished the camp feeling satisfied with forward progress, fitter than before, and pretty darn tired! I’m really happy that we got to make the best of the situation and still benefited greatly from the on-snow time that we got. The truth is, any time I get to spend a few weeks playing in the mountains, life is good.

First time rollerskiing up the tram access road, and
credit to Pepa for the awesome picture

Kait and I happy to have made it to the top

Getting through the last days of the camp required
chocolate and coffee, luckily this coffee shop had both!

For our second OD run, the valleys below were completely
socked in, but once we climbed to the ridge we were completely
out of the clouds

Looking back on the pass we came through

Casey, which way do we go?

A bit of via ferrata, this time doing some intentional
rock climbing

The fog kept rising and falling rapidly
from the cliff sides, almost like it was breathing.

Great adventure crew, great last day of camp!

Now that we’re back, it’s time to take a few days off to really soak up all the hard work we did, and then gradually ease back into training. Fall in Vermont is one of my favorite times, and I can’t wait to watch the leaves turn, eat apples straight off the tree, and get back into real life. Auf weidersehen for now!