I'M DONE!

The end of the racing season comes with mixed emotions; on the one hand my body and mind are plain worn out from the highs and lows of racing all over the place for the past 4 and 1/2 months. On the other hand, racing is one of my absolute favorite things to do, so it's hard to say goodbye to that and to all my friends and teammates for a few months!

Luckily we got to wrap up this season in one of the more beautiful ski destinations around- Sun Valley, ID for a 4 race series that included SuperTour Finals and US Distance Nationals. I think the last time I raced in Sun Valley I was a senior in high school, so it was super sweet to be back in the valley of sun and to see some of my western friends and even have some of my family out on the trails cheering me along.

After panos, selfies might be my favorite-
#GRPSki after another awesome training ski in SV

Perfect skiing up at Galena Lodge
 with Kait, Nick, and Emily

And let's just say, I really needed the cheers this time! During my travel day from Europe, I finally succumbed to the OPA Cup Plague, aka a nasty cold that went through the ranks of almost every skier from Stratton and APU on our OPA trip. Luckily I didn't get too sick and the constant Vitamin D from the warm Idaho sun quickly had me back on my feet. I was still feeling worn out for the 10k classic day though, and had to make the call to skip it and spend the day cheering on teammates and friends instead.

GRP ladies loving the sunshine and mountains on the
10k classic day- photo from Caitlin's insta

The stadium on a training day- props to SVSEF for
putting together a fun and well-run race series

The next day I was back in action in the skate sprint (at least I thought I was). During our first couple of race days, it was freezing HARD during the night after total meltdown during the sunny days. I thought I knew ice from skiing in Chamonix, but this was a whole new level of sketchy. I tried to find my balance on my most stable pair of skis and got amped up to go for the qualifier, and instead spent 3 minutes slipping and sliding along the course and wondering why my body felt like it was stuck in 2nd gear. I had a good kick at the end though, and crossed my fingers to make the heats...... then I found out I was 31st place, less than a 1/10th of a second from qualifying! Since it was my first time not making the heats all season long, I was a little mad and mostly bummed. But, it was a good reminder that qualifying is not something to take for granted, and I need to pin it every race and bring my best racing self to the start line no matter how I'm feeling or what the conditions are. Right after I finished my qualifier I found out that I would be scrambling for the Craftsbury 1 team in the club relay, since Ida was sidelined with a concussion. So I didn't have much time to feel sorry for myself, and instead I spent the day soaking up the sunshine, and cheering for my teammates Alex, Gordon, Caitlin, and Emily, who all made the heats.

Just a little Bambi on ice in the qualifier..

Luckily I got to cheer with these goobers, my favorite #Annies
(photo from Ida/Noah Hoffman's blog)

An off day turned out to be just what I needed to get ready for the club relay, and our team got pumped up for the day with green nail polish (for the girls) and war paint (for everyone). I absolutely love relay day, but I'd never really scrambled (gone out first) in a relay before. Before the day started, I made a goal to lose as little time to the leaders as possible and tag off to my teammates in a good position to contend for the podium. The race was one lap around the sprint course and one longer loop, and coming through the stadium after the first lap I found out that my skis were ridiculously fast (here would be a good time to mention how hard our techs Nick and Bryan worked, and how much they absolutely crushed it in ski prep for these races!). Instead of getting stressed and riding up on people, I just decided to take the lead and control the pace. Then, going through the stadium I heard my former Park City coach Gordon Lange yelling at me to break away. I wasn't quite able to get away, but I gave absolutely everything I had to the line and tagged off to our second leg in 4th place. It was one of my best races of the season and so fun to race with World Cup all-stars like Sadie Bjornsen and Liz Stephen. Anyways, the rest of our relay did a fantastic job as well, with Gordo hanging tough with the lead pack for as long as he could, Caitlin skiing her heart out with the 2nd fastest women's skate leg, and then Alex bringing it home for the team in 4th place. Let's just say we are super motivated to get on that podium next year!

Little snowy at the start...photo Steve Fuller of FlyingPoint Road

Luckily I didn't know the train behind me was this long, otherwise
I may have been a little more nervous! Photo FlyingPoint Road

Going for it!- photo from Fasterskier

And just like that, we only had one race left in the season, but arguably one of the toughest ones out there- a 30k mass start skate race. The men faced icy conditions in their 50k in the morning, but we had a different story, namely slow, sticky snow that gives the sensation of suction cups on the bottom of your skis. It was also really hot, a condition that I tend to dread since I overheat easily. I haven't been feeling super confident about my skating this season, but I tried to put that out of my head and instead focus on skiing a smart, consistent race. I got off to a good start and found that I was skiing the downhills pretty well and surviving the uphills, but I was also on a solo effort for almost 20 kms! Luckily the spectators and coaches were pretty awesome and helped me along with squirt guns, iced Gatorade (a life-savor!), snow down the back of my neck, and lots and lots of cheers and encouragement. I crossed the line in 11th place, definitely one of my best distance skate results ever and a reason to be more motivated to improve my skating for next year.

Start of the 30k- photo from Steve Fuller of Flying Point Road.
You can see me in the white t-shirt in the middle/left

One and a half laps down, 5 more to go (photo Flying Point Road)

Not a bad day for a long ski in the sun- lapping through the stadium.
Thanks again to Steve Fuller for the great shots!

So the 2014-2015 season is officially over for me, and I need to send out a huge shout-out to all my teammates, friends, family, coaches, techs, supporters, and sponsors who helped make it all possible. This season was one of my best ever, not only in results but in having an absolute blast doing what I do, so thank you to everyone! Some of my GRP teammates are moving on next year, so I'll be really sad to see them go but excited to see where they end up in the next year. As for me, I'm in for another season with the Green Racing Project and already evaluating what I can do over the summer and fall to improve my racing, have more fun (always a priority!), and spread my love of cross country skiing as much as I can.

Now it's time for a little R and R in my hometown of Park City- I'll be packing up the nordic skis and hitting the alpine slopes for a few weeks before everything melts, and also trying to get down to the desert to explore Southern UT. In a few weeks, I'll be heading up to Alaska for a NANA Nordic Trip and I'll try to get a blog up sometime after that, but otherwise happy spring everybody!

Ramsau to Chamonix

 I was hoping to do a mid-trip update after our races in Eisenerz, Austria, but unfortunately the internet wasn't really cooperating at our hotel in Chamonix, so I decided to wait until I could upload pictures (that's what everyone wants to see anyways, right?).

So, basically after Slovenia everything just went uphill! We spent 4 perfect days in Ramsau, which I have to say is one of my favorite places on earth. I did a mini-training camp there but also managed to fit in some exploring downtown, sauna-time, delicious meals at the Hotel Kobaldhof, and plenty of R and R.

Annie and I came to Ramsau for our pre U23's camp back in 2013,
so we were beyond happy to be back again.

Reese Hanneman from APU got artsy with this shot...
all 6 major clubs were represented at OPA Cups this year

A perfect day for an afternoon jog

Days like this remind me why I love being a skier

We even spent one afternoon shoveling
out the hockey rink, and then trying our
skills. The verdict- not my sport!

Annie Hart showing off her Minnesota roots

From Ramsau we drove two hours east to Eisenerz, Austria to do a FIS race there. Eisenerz is an iron mining town, but also has a full cross-country, biathlon, and ski jumping venue. Compared to Ramsau it had a much more authentic feel- hardly anyone spoke English and the narrow streets of the town held normal shops instead of postcard and souvenir stores. The surrounding area was still beautiful and rugged, and we had a great time exploring the old buildings and medieval church on our afternoons off.

The race was relatively low-key, but a good opportunity to score FIS points and get more European racing experience. Unfortunately, it was also a really tricky wax day, and 10 minutes before the start I discovered that my race skis were closer to skate skis than classic. Oops. I spent the first lap slipping and tripping my way around the loop before I pulled myself together and got into power double pole mode. I didn't have a great result, taking 11th place, but as appears to be the theme for the whole trip, I learned a ton about making the best of tough conditions and being flexible.

Women's podium in Eisenerz- Annie P, Chelsea,
and Annie H. came up big for the US!

Exploring with Annie the photographer

Stratton T2 love- Annie and Erika

I loved this shot of the town- taken on a wandering walk pre-skiing

The day after the race we had an awesome skate ski at the venue
on a bluebird day. The highlight was watching a para-glider land
right next to the trails- he was about 60 years old, wearing touring
skis (while in the air), and had the biggest grin on his face

Two days after the Austrian race we packed up our bags and sent it across Europe, nearly an 11 hour drive across Austria, Italy, and Switzerland that ended right at the base of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France. Chamonix was set to host OPA Finals over the weekend of March 13-15, and although the snow cover was thin, the surrounding landscape made it by far my favorite stop of the trip. I mean- croissants, fondue, crepes, shopping, mountains- what's not to love?

In Chamonix we raced a 2.5k classic prologue, a 10k skate, and a 10k classic pursuit based on the results from the previous days. My best result was in the prologue where I finished 25th, and it was also the race where I felt the best. I didn't have great pop for the two 10k's, but I did fight all the way to the line to finish 29th overall in the mini-tour. I feel so lucky to have been able to race at OPA Cups, I feel like the lessons I learned about classic technique, technical skiing, and pacing have already made me a better skier. Of course, I hope to one day be in the mix with the top OPA skiers, but for know I'm working on learning everything I can.

For a lot of reasons, I feel like the experiences that US skiers gain racing OPA Cups (as well as U23's and World Juniors) are pretty invaluable to our development as skiers. I'm more motivated than ever to make big jumps in summer training because I know exactly where I can make improvements. A ton of organization goes into these trips, and all the club skiers at OPA were really lucky to have Bryan Fish at the helm of trip taking care of all the little details. He works so hard to make these trips a success, so thank you to him for taking care of us! We also had great wax techs in Colin Rodgers, Mike Matteson, Tim Baucom, and Pat O'Brien. They did an awesome job with our skis at OPA Finals, we had great skis for all three races, which made a huge difference.

Aside from skiing, we spent our days in Chamonix exploring the downtown walking street, riding the tram up to Aguille du Midi (where you can see the top of Mont Blanc), and trying to watch NCAA's, biathlon World Champs, and the final World Cups of the season. It was definitely a busy week to be a skier!

APU twin-sies Rosie and Chelsea showing off their hops

Downtown Cham with the girls (Annie P. photo)

The tram up to l'Aguille du Midi may
be even steeper than the Dachstein tram. 

But the views at the top were breath-taking

Rally crew for riding the tram- Reese, Packer, #Annie(s), and Ben

Mont Blanc is the highest point in central Europe at 15,781 ft. 

We were stupid-happy at the top! It may have been the altitude,
but I just couldn't stop smiling

Anne is just so happy right here

If you're brave, you can ski down from this point, but it takes
3 hours to descend. Serious vertical

The top of the tram with Chamonix in the valley below

Just wow

After a slightly crazy 3 days of travel that included a 5 hour drive to Munich, a plane to Salt Lake, and then another 5 hours to Sun Valley, I'm back with my GRP teammates at our place in SV, and couldn't be happier. We'll be racing SuperTour finals here starting this Saturday, and after our 4th race my season is officially over! The skiing up at Galena Lodge is awesome and I can't wait to have my family here this week to watch me race. Thanks for reading, au revoir!

Racing in Rogla

After a fairly long stint (6 weeks) in Craftsbury smack dab in the middle of the ski season, I was definitely raring to go on an adventure. Especially since I spent the last two weeks of that time fighting a gross virus, and not training or working as much as I wanted to. Needless to say, I was psyched to join the rest of the US crew racing OPA Cups! OPA Races are the SuperTour or NorAm of central Europe, except they include a lot more countries: Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, etc. Because the level of racing is higher here than in US SuperTours, they're a great opportunity for US skiers to get European racing experience when they are no longer a U23, but not quite qualifying for World Cups.

Caitlin and I flew from Burlington to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, via Amsterdam. It's always a bummer to fly through a major European city and not get to explore it, but after all we're here to race, not sight-see. I got pretty excited in the Amsterdam airport though because I have Dutch heritage and a lot of childhood memories of Tulip Time and wooden shoes back in Holland, Michigan. I ran around taking pictures of everything, so I apologize for the next bit....

Want a huge chunk of
chocolate right off the block?
Schipol Airport is your place

AND...the biggest wooden
 shoes I've ever seen

TULIPS! Favorite flower
of the Netherlands

So anyways, we made it to Rogla, in Slovenia, previewed the courses, did some intensity, and fought the jet lag.

In case you're like me, and know vaguely where Slovenia is but also are a little bit like, "Ljubljana, what?", here's the quick geography lesson. Rogla, where we did our first races, is the red dot

Our races were a skate sprint and a 15k classic mass start. This first OPA race weekend was a little bit of a contradiction for me. On the one hand, I knew I would still be jet-lagged with only four days to adjust and I knew I hadn't done quality intensity for a while because I had been sick. It was gonna hurt. But on the other hand, these are also really competitive European races, so I wanted to race fast and represent the US team and Craftsbury well. Without dwelling on it too much, I had okay races, finishing 21st in the sprint and 20th in the 15k. Learning how to perform when you don't feel that great is important, and something I still need to work on. I was happy to place better at these races than I did last year, while at the same time knowing I could do better. Onward and upward! I have two more weekends in Europe to do FIS races and OPA Cups, and I hope to improve in each one. I was also pumped to see Caitlin have really solid races; she was top ten in the distance race and she is now in Lahti, Finland to race the World Cup there. WEE!

Big thanks goes out to NNF (National Nordic Foundation) for supporting this trip, and to our trip leader Bryan Fish and wax techs Pat, Mike, and Tim. These guys work incredibly hard to make sure we have the best possible skis, set-up, and transportation, and they also keep it fun and low-stress for the athletes.

I don't have many good race pictures (hopefully next weekend I'll work on that), but I do have a few that give you a sense of what it was like in Rogla. General impressions of Slovenia: friendly people, fairy-tale like countryside, tons of snow in the mountains, and a bit of quirkiness.

Exploring some nearby castle ruins with the APU team was definitely a highlight

It was spring in town where we stayed, but up at the venue it was a winter wonderland. Here's the stadium pre-sprint day 

When your selfies get photo-bombed by the Italian coach (center)... The Italians do it right at these races- mixing fast racing and professionalism with a lot of fun

Between training sessions we watched World Champs non-stop. It was so inspiring to see the US women cruising onto the podium in the 10k skate. Here's my former PC teamie Rosie in the 30k classic, live on Eurosport!

I'm so happy to be back in Ramsau now! Doing a 4 day training block/ski vacation = pure skier bliss

Thanks for reading, I'll check in after the race in Austria and once we make it to our next destination for OPA Cups- Chamonix, France.

Auf weidersehen!