Tunnel Vision

I wasn't really sure what to expect from our trip to Planica, Slovenia, to ski in the new underground tunnel there (located in a parking garage). I think when I told people that my team was planning to fly halfway across the world to ski 800m laps in a glorified giant refrigerator, they started to question my sanity. However, the setup in Planica was really unique and made the camp worthwhile. Our coach Pepa planned an intensity/speed block for the camp, so while the loop took only 90 seconds to 2 minutes to complete (depending on intensity), the fact that we were going head to head, pushing the pace, and focusing on technique made the time go by quickly. Unlike the Dachstein Glacier, which is at almost 9,000 ft, Planica sits at a very reasonable 3,000 ft and that made it an ideal place to focus on speed. We also experienced a streak of bad weather while we were staying in Planica and had rain at least once a day, so it wasn't a bad time to be training indoors.

Our team stayed in the Olympic Sports Complex, along with nordic combined, jumping, and cross country athletes from all over Europe, including the Finnish National team. The ski tunnel was a 5 min walk away, the dining hall right outside our room, and the gym just downstairs. We also had access to miles upon miles of hiking and running trails from the door. I've been to Slovenia before, to race in Rogla, but Planica was uniquely beautiful and I couldn't believe the sheer scale and majesty of the Julian Alps dwarfing the ski jumping complex.

So, without further ado, here are a few highlights, observations, and photos from Planica:

• The environment of the ski tunnel itself was bizarre to say the least. It doubles as a parking garage in the winter months, so it came complete with directional signs in Slovenian, huge concrete pillars, fluorescent lighting, and even a stairway door that was half open but frozen in place by two feet of solid ice. The way the trail was set up, there were many 90 and 180 degree turns to navigate, which was good practice for transitions. The environment in the tunnel also causes stalagmites to grow up from the floor, and rime to form on the pillars,  creating a cave-like, other-worldly feel. Because the tunnel "weather" was always around 25 degrees with very old, transformed snow, we could count on speedy skiing no matter what! 

Fully focused on transferring over hard-earned technique
changes to snow (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

Practicing starts after an L4 skate sprint simulation, complete
with qualifier and rounds (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

Home sweet tunnel for the week

• Planica is home to a giant ski-flying hill (more on that later), so in the summer tourists flock in to see the jump, watch skiers soar off the smaller jumps, and also to check out the tunnel. There are giant plate-glass windows looking in to all levels of the tunnel, so we had quite an audience on some days. We quickly realized that we were like the main attraction in a zoo, with spectators even rubbing the glass to see better, and coming right up to us on the snow to snap pictures in our face. On one interval day, we would start on the lower level, zip up to the top, and then head back down on our second lap, and the people would literally run from one level to the next, hitting up all the windows to watch us go by. It was a very surreal experience. 

A few of the "monkeys" in the zoo

• During our first weekend in Planica, they hosted a Red Bull 400 event, which is a totally offbeat race where thousands of people compete for the fastest time straight up the out-run and in-run of a ski jump. Because Planica has the 225m jump, this allows for almost straight vertical for the entire race, and consequently a TON of suffering. Some of the participants were clearly elite athletes who warmed up and had the stamina to hold a quick pace, while others hit the wall extremely hard about a quarter of the way up. Although we missed the registration deadline, it was fun to watch, and later that afternoon we used a jaunt up to the top to warm up for our strength session. Our time of ~11 min was a far cry from the winner's time, under 5 min (although we did our best to keep it in level 1)!

Spectating the Red Bull 400- the 225 m is on the left, the rest of the hills look tiny in comparison, but the far right is actually a 139 m jump, the largest they use in regular World Cup ski jumping competitions

Logs on the outrun of the 225m, with the Julian Alps behind

A long, long way down

GRP skiers at the top!

In the background of this photo is the building that sits
on top of the tunnel/parking garage where we skied, and the
ski jumps are off to the right

• And of course, we got to do some outdoor training too (not planning to turn into a mole anytime soon). The hiking and running in this region of Slovenia is steep, rugged, and often not very well marked, but it led to some of the more spectacular mountain views I've ever seen. I'll let the pictures show the rest!

The clouds finally cleared out on an afternoon
run/hike, and we could see up the Tamar Valley

Spectacular views of Triglav National Park on the way up
Mala Mojstrovska, a peak above the Vrsic Pass
(Photo Caitlin Patterson)

We couldn't even handle how beautiful it was up there. One happy
hiking crew- L to R Caitlin, Nick, Heather, Kait, Ben and I
(Photo Caitlin Patterson)

Taking it all in (Photo Kaitlynn Miller)

I definitely want to come back here at some point and just
explore all the peaks in the area! So amazing

• Then of course on one of our last days in Slovenia, we had to play tourist a little bit and explore nearby Bled, where there's a famous castle built into the cliff-side, and a monastery out in the middle of the lake. We did a little shopping and walking around and of course took a mandatory tourist picture with the sLOVEnia heart. 

Lake Bled, although the photo doesn't come close to doing it justice

Thanks Ben for snapping our tourist pic :)

All in all, it was a really productive intensity camp, and I was happy to check out a new corner of the world and find new peaks to climb and remind my body what it's like to move quickly on snow! In the interest of not adding a million photos to this blog, I'm going to do another update in a few days with my photos from the second half of the trip, in Schladming and Ramsau, Austria skiing on the Dachstein Glacier. What Slovenia lacked in sunny days, Ramsau more than made up for, and we finished the camp on a very high note. Stay tuned!

TOKO crew! Thanks Toko US and Ian Harvey for helping us
look good and stay warm

The GRP skiers (minus Mary, who was sick). Stoked on new
Craft tights and the end of another tough intensity session.

I won't even pretend that I'm talented enough with a camera to
take something like this, but my teammate Caitlin Patterson is,
and I wanted to showcase both her photography and the
beauty of the Julian Alps. Wow!