The Pyeongchang Experience

When I found out that I would be traveling to South Korea for my final World Cup races of Period 2, I have to be honest, I had no idea what to expect. Everything I knew about Asia I’d either read about in books or seen in the news, and the farthest east I had ever traveled previously was, I think, Slovenia. That’s one of the things that I love about this lifestyle, the opportunity it gives me to see new places and experience countries and cultures that I probably would never get the chance to see on my own.

After a somewhat frustrating week of racing in Falun, I was excited for something new, and after a marathon two days of travel, we finally made it to our hotel in Pyeongchang. After one meal I was already a fan of the Korean food- think lots of rice, noodles, kimchi, fresh veggies, mushrooms, and only the occasional weird dish like skate (that’s a type of sting ray) or sweet and sour fish (no thank you). The next day we arrived at the venue and I was already psyched- the sun was shining, the tracks were hard and fast, and although there wasn’t a ton of snow on the ground, it already felt more like winter than it did in foggy, damp Scandinavia (a side note, I love Sweden, but I also think sunshine is really important for happiness!)

  

Loving the Pyeonchang trail system on a ski with the Pattersons

Middle of the trail system, with the Olympic ski jumps in the
background. If you look closely you can see the lights on the
sprint course- they look just like football stadium lights

In my happy place skiing around with Liz and Noah

The Olympic biathlon range is looking good!

Sink laundry goes to a whole new level...

The whole trip seemed to fly by, and since we only had two days of skiing before the first race, we kept it pretty chill skiing-wise. We only skied in the afternoon and spent the mornings sleeping in and going for short jogs, so that we could minimize jet lag and stay on a good schedule for afternoon/evening races. One morning Liz (Stephen) had the great idea to borrow the tech’s van and go check out a Buddhist temple a few k’s up the road. The temple was apparently established in 643 AD, and the grounds contained around 15-20 buildings, as well as stone pagodas, statues of Buddha, doors with intricate patterned wood paneling, and hundreds of paper lanterns. Most of the tourists there seemed to know exactly where to bow, and how to navigate the different temples. We might have stuck out like sore thumbs as tall Americans (all dressed the same in team gear), but I’m so glad we had to chance to see a bit of Korean culture outside the venue and the hotel.

Temple entrance- Scott is stoked!

One of many gorgeous and intricate buildings

I loved the colors and pattern on this door

The 9 tiered stone pagoda in the center of the
temple grounds

More doors, and really cool dragons

The first race, on Friday, was a classic sprint, and looking at the start list, I knew there was a really good chance for me to qualify with only 36 women entered. Most of the top European racers didn’t make the trip to South Korea with World Champs only a few weeks away, so the field was significantly weaker than it was in Scandinavia. Therefore, it was a perfect opportunity for me to score World Cup points and gain experience racing heats on this level. My qualifier wasn’t perfect, I struggled with tempo, skied the downhills a bit cautiously after my fall in Falun the previous weekend, but after crossing the line I saw I was holding 25^th place. After a nerve-wracking heat selection process, two hours later I found myself standing on the line of my quarterfinal with some very fast ladies. After a somewhat slow start, I was at the back of my heat but not getting dropped. On the second hill, I maneuvered around a Finnish girl who was starting to slow, and on the final turn and finish stretch I double poled with the highest tempo I could muster and almost caught fourth place. Afterwards, I couldn’t stop smiling, I had skied my first World Cup heat under the lights in Korea and only finished 2 seconds back from the leader, and I scored World Cu points! We didn’t get back to our hotel until almost 10 pm and had to eat dinner then somehow wind down enough to sleep and get ready for a 2:30 pm race start the next day. Back at the hotel, we watched the finals of the sprint on TV and got to see Ida take third in the A Final, her first career World Cup podium. She’s worked hard for a long time to get there, and I can’t wait to see how the rest of her season ends up!

Racing under the lights was such an awesome
experience (Photo Nordic Focus/TokoUS)

Women's podium from the classic sprint- go Ida!!

Ida's new friend/podium prize

I wasn’t specifically targeting the skiathlon the next day, as I’ve only skied two other skiathlon races before in my life, and since they end with skating, I wouldn’t consider the event a strength of mine. However, after the mass start in Falun, I decided to try to ski my own race this time, and work on relaxing into a tempo that I could sustain for the whole race, instead of burning all my matches at the start. I was happy to find that I could hold onto the chase pack in the classic portion, and my skis were really fast which helped me catch people on the downhills. I transitioned to skate around 12^th place, and prepared to lose a lot of time, but was pleasantly surprised that I was able to more or less hold position even though skating felt like a lot of work. Once again, I had really fast skis, and when I crossed the line in 13^th, I couldn’t believe it. Then I immediately found out that Caitlin had finished 4^th, which is an amazing result for her and a reflection of a lot of hard work this summer and fall. Combined with Liz’s 2^nd place (which is not a surprise, she’s an amazing distance skier and well suited to the hilly skate course in Korea), it was a good day for the US women.

Start of the second classic lap (Photo Nordic Focus/TokoUS)

Pushing through the skate portion (Nordic Focus/TokoUS)

Screenshot from Eurosport, when I found out how Caitlin did!

Although I wasn’t chosen to race the team sprint the next day, I had a great time being on pole duty, cheering as loudly as I could, and ultimately watching the two USA women’s teams take 3^rd and 4^th in the final. We say this a lot, but while skiing may be an individual sport, it takes a team. I’m really grateful to the US wax techs and coaches for supporting me and giving me great skis while I was over in Europe and Korea, and to some of the more experienced ski team athletes who helped me navigate my first World Cups and keep things in perspective (and keep it fun!) I’m leaving Period 2 with a good idea of what it takes to ski on the World Cup and a few ideas on how I can improve, and mostly I’m just grateful for the opportunity to experience this level of skiing and learn as much as possible.

Stadium sunset on the team sprint day in Pyeonchang 

As I write this, I’m on my second day of travel back to Vermont from Korea. I’ll only have 5 days in Craftsbury before I fly again, this time to the Midwest for the next SuperTour stop in Ishpeming, Michigan. The goal for the rest of the season is to ski well enough to qualify for World Cup finals in Quebec later this season, but either way, I’m feeling really motivated and excited for the remainder of the season! Thanks for reading and for the cheers and support from back home!