Spring Adventuring

Thank goodness that at some point, skiers got together and made a sort of silent pact-- The month of April = off. After a long season spanning from November until late March, most people are pretty toasted coming off of spring series. I for one was counting down the kilometers, and finishing the 30k came with a sense of relief. I now had over a month with no organized training, no races, and all the time in the world! After coming down with a nasty sinus infection post- 30k, I finally started to get my energy back and get in some adventuring. During the summer and fall there's hardly any time to go camping, alpine skiing, or even stay out late. Luckily I was able to home base myself in Park City for the month of April (thanks Mom and Dad!) and have some good adventures mixed in with a lot of rest.

In retrospect, the last race at Spring Series + the party + 5 hours
driving to Utah + a Trampled by Turtles concert may not have
been the best idea. But it was still fun!

I was able to get down to Southern Utah 3 times, the first time
with my dad on a business trip. Getting back to the sandstone
and cliffs feels like coming home

Easter Sunday at La Caille. The last time I was
there was for senior prom!

After a week and a half in Utah spent decompressing, I had another big adventure planned- a NANA Nordic trip to Shungnak, Alaska, north of the Arctic circle. It was my first trip with NANA and one that I would repeat in a heartbeat! For those of you who aren't familiar with the NANA program, the goal is to bring skiing to remote native villages in Alaska as a mode of transport and recreation. It started off pretty small a few years ago, but now there are programs in all of the NANA region schools, and many more outside of that. NANA brings elite skiers, coaches, high school skiers, and even parents together, and let's them share the love of skiing with native kids. It's an awesome experience and a chance to give back to the ski community as well as create new ski communities! The school in Shungnak was so welcoming, the location was amazing in it's remote beauty, and the kids... man, it was awesome seeing kids so jazzed up about skiing every day, all day. I had a total blast and by the end of the week I was pretty much a zombie after teaching PE classes all day, running an after school program, getting in a few workouts of my own, and then playing basketball during every spare moment. I'll let the pictures show the rest...

The kids made signs to welcome us to the school- this one was
my favorite. No lack of confidence up in Shungnak. If you can't
read it- it says "Welcome NANA Nordic. Your awesome! However,
we are the best"

An Alaskan sunset around 10:30 pm

Susana, put on your poles!

Lots of falls as the kids began to get their feet under them

A rough and rowdy 1st Grade class

Myself and the other trip leaders spent an afternoon skiing to
the nearby town of Kobuk and then catching a ride back in the
snowmachines. I think we may have broken the record for skiing
from Shungnak to Kobuk. I was suffering :)

Everyone warned us about the middle schoolers, but they turned
out to be (one of) my favorite groups! They were all awesome
skiers and took us to their favorite spots around town

Goofing around before ski practice

Ashton hitting the jump

On our second to last day in Shungnak, we had a race on Main
St. for all the kids. Here's the start of the 1st-3rd graders

I loved this- in the melee of the mass start, Tiana loses her pole,
but she's all smiles. Then she takes off, passes everyone, and wins
the girl's race. Sportsmanship plus speed!

Being the pace car for the younger kid's race

Riding the dogsled behind a snowmachine- just another day
in Northern Alaska

Our group of coaches- Tyler Kornfield, myself, Cory Smith,
and Lydia Blanchet and the plane we left on

The town of Shungnak took pretty great care of us the whole time we were there. I don't know if I'll be able to make it up to NANA next spring, but I would definitely love to go back to Shungnak at some point to see the kids.

After returning from Alaska, I did a complete 180 turn with the weather and decided to shock my body with some more hot, dry desert time. My mom and I did a trip to St. George and adventured in Snow Canyon State Park, and then I did a longer camping trip with my dad, brother, and my brother's girlfriend in Escalante National Monument.

Standing on top of the world

Everything was blooming in the desert, making for lovely
contrasts between the arid landscape and the thriving desert life

Looking into Capitol Reef National Park from a long bike ride

Campsite location is always key- this one was pretty epic next
to the rocks and not far from a river

A perfect lunch spot while hiking Upper Muley Twist in Capitol
Reef- that's the Henry Mountains and the Kaiparowits Plateau in the distance

And just like that, I'm back in Craftsbury and easing into full training mode (yeah right, Pepa has us on the full steam ahead plan). We've had perfect weather in Vermont so far, which has waylaid my fears of the Craftsbury mud season. Time to take advantage of the miles of endless trails up here and get my butt back into gear!