End of the season "hurrah"!

Oh, hello there! 

I am sad to say that our 2014/15 season of skiing is officially over. My team and I just returned from Sun Valley where we competed in the SuperTour Finals alongside many of the top senior skiers in the country. Yes, the US Ski Team was there too! It was interesting heading right from Junior Nationals to Sun Valley because that meant one week of intense racing to the next. Surprisingly though, I wasn't all that burnt out after Truckee. It was also fun to go to Sun Valley because up at Galena they had a ton of snow! 

Sarah's idea of "enjoying the snow"

WNSA drove up on Thursday and spent that night in town seeing all the sights before we had to get serious again. Our favorite place to visit in town is definitely the Goldmine thrift store. While we were there this time around, two older US Ski Team coats were found as well as a pair of Norwegian race tights and a pair of Swedish race tights. I would say that we cleaned up pretty well! After that we had to head to the coffee shop to refill Bill of his caffeine. It's a daily ritual if you as me. Coffee is one of Bill's main food groups. Anyways, once we got back to the house that we were staying in for the week we decided to go hunting for golf balls because we were living right on the golf course. Once rounded up, the team and I enjoyed an evening of "trying" to play golf.

The next morning we all loaded up the cars and drove to Galena Lodge where we previewed the course for the following race day. We were classic skiing and the klister that we had put on our skis was REALLY sticky…right off the bat I caught my skis on the grainy snow and fell face first. When I sat up I had one full pole and two halves of the other. My second broken pole of the season and neither had been during a race. I guess you could say I'm just too strong :)

Given the elevation gain, Galena was actually a bit colder then Sun Valley. When we got up there to race we were able to wear our full race suits! I guess Mother Nature decided to give us winter for a few more days. It was a classic 10k which I was a little nervous about because I hadn't had a successful classic 10k this season. But when I got into the starting pen I knew that I felt good and ready to race well. That's what happened too! I felt great and had the best classic race of the season! 

The day right after the classic races we went right into skate sprints! Those were definitely my specialty. It was a very good day for Wasatch too! After the preliminary round, Karsten and Olivia had both moved on to the Senior heats and Henry and I were both moving on to the Junior heats. Aside from us, all three of the youth racers placed 2nd in their 5k races. 

Henry's semi final start

Sarah coming in to the finish after her 5k

Instead of having the junior heat racers race in a possibility of 3 more races, they had the 12 junior skiers race in two semi finals and from those they sent 6 onto the A final. I was the 2nd qualified junior right behind Katharine Ogden. My heat was the fastest out of the two and because of that, four racers  from our heat were sent into the A final. The 3rd and 4th place finishers had both made the lucky loser positions. Then about five minutes later we were already lining up to race in our final race of the day. It started off fast and stayed that way throughout the whole 3 minute race. When the gun went off I was pushed back into 5th out of 6 girls racing. Then, around the last corner of the race, which was the iciest one by far, the girl who was leading the pack, crashed. From there I had taken the corner pretty tight so I was right behind 1st and 2nd. All that I had left was the longest straightaway of my life, and I'm sure that everyone who's raced at Galena would agree with me. 

The closer we got the the finish the further it seemed we had, until I crossed the line and it felt like no time had gone by at all. The final results were in: Taeler McCrerey 1st, Katharine Ogden 2nd, and ME in 3rd. It was quite the successful day and I left with a HUGE smile on my face.

See!

"Don't smile! Don't smile! Okay…smile...whatever" -Sierra taking some quality "model" pictures

The coaches conversing

Sierra was unprepared for this picture

Olivia and the Seniors

Sleep and golf took up most of our time on our first rest day of the week. We were all preparing for the relay race the next day which meant we had to save as much energy as possible! The relay was definitely the most important race of the week without a doubt. In preparation for that race, we were told that the weather could be warm and sunny or cold and snowy…two totally different days. So the night before I had basically packed every bit of clothing that I owned. From a tank top to my puffy coat, I was set for anything. I don't know if we were being punished for something or what, but when we got up there to race that day it was the blizzard of the year. You couldn't see five feet in front of you and you couldn't feel your fingers or toes. Everyone was thrown off because of the warm spell that had been put over the western states. That was definitely one of the tougher races that I had ever been a part of. 

To finish up the week, I got sick and had a terrible cough. It was a bummer because I really wanted to be a part of the marathons taking place the next day. Because I couldn't race them, I decided to be the feeder. I headed up with Karsten and Henry earlier and got ready to stay out there for the rest of the day. Henry was skiing a 50k and Karsten skied 25. It was essential that they both got a good amount of sugar and electrolytes during their races so that their bodies could keep up with their long races. So I was there! Ready with water, gatorade, and flat coke. It was pretty intense actually, there was yelling and gatorade flying everywhere. The best part about it all though, was that I got to wear the coaches bib…

"My name is Maddie but you can call me Coach"

Even though I wasn't able to race the last race of the season, the sun was out and everyone was having a good time. It was by far one of the best trips that I had been on this season. It was so cool interacting with the US Ski Team and saying "hi" to my idols. It's like for those of you who meet actors or singers at Sundance, these guys are my celebrities. It's pretty crazy when you see them on TV racing all winter and then there in Sun Valley you're sitting next to them having a casual conversation. 

Yes, Jessie did take a picture with us

I want to finish this post off by saying THANK YOU! Thank you to every single person who made this season unforgettable. First and foremost to my amazing parents who understand what it's like to be passionate about something and who work harder than anyone to assure that I get to ski and compete, which is my passion. Next, without the dedication of my coach, Bill Hokanson, there would be no team on which I ski. I wouldn't have had the best season of my life without Bill coaching me every step of the way. His love of the sport is inspiring to me. To the people who drive me everyday to be the best that I can be, thank you! My teammates make training, racing, and skiing in general just that much more enjoyable. Being around people who love to ski just as much as I do is one of the sole reasons that I, in fact, love to ski! All of those early morning distance skis or stair runs would be possible, but not as enjoyable without them by my side. So again, thank you volunteers, parents, cheerers, photographers, coaches, and athletes for such an incredible season!

Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy
To those of you heading off to college (Lindsay, Olivia, Henry, and Karsten), I will miss you tremendously!
Thank you for the memories :)

Aaannnddddd that's a wrap! 

Junior Nationals in Truckee, CA

As our 2015 ski season comes to an end, all I can think about was the incredible week that I just spent in Truckee, California alongside the best skiers in the country. I still can't believe that it all happened because it was over so quickly. But I can definitely say that it was one of the best weeks of my life spent with great people. To top it all off, we were skiing in 60 degree weather for the better part of the week and knowing that we still had snow to ski on was amazing. The Auburn Ski Club really did everything in their power (except for actually making it snow) to assure that those trails were covered with snow 100% of the time.

The complete IMD team

Junior Nationals started off with a long drive through Nevada. And let me tell you, Nevada is definitely NOT known for their scenic drives…But we were driving to Junior Nationals! So we didn't really mind too much. My teammates from Wasatch rode to California with the two skiers and two coaches from Team Soldier Hollow in their sprinter van. We were definitely spoiled to have done that! After the fun 8ish hour journey to Truckee, we made it to the condos at NorthStar, our living quarters for the next week.

Team Utah taking Truckee (minus a few)

The next day everyone headed up to the race venue to check out the ski trails. Once we got there almost everyone put t-shirts on. It was a balmy 63 degrees out… The trails were awesome! There was quite a bit of up and down. It was probably the hardest 2.5k course that I had ever skied.

After another day of training we got together for the first event of the week, Opening Ceremonies! All of the teams were sent down the main street of Truckee to walk through hundreds of people. Once everyone had finished their walk and had gathered, a past olympian took the microphone and congratulated us on our accomplishments and gave up a few of his own World Junior memories. It was already off to a great start!

The first race of the week was pretty fun and exciting. It was a skate sprint, my specialty. The start lists were in order of USSA points, meaning that I was the 13th fastest skate sprint in the country! Anyways, because of the lack of snow everyone had to run for most of their warmup. It wasn't too bad though because before I knew it I was on snow racing! The course was fast and quick, it took almost all of the girls 3+ minutes. My time was 3 minutes and 4 seconds which put me in 5th place. I had qualified for the heats!

Leah and I racing Julia Kern in the quarter final

After a very good quarter final there were three U18 IMD girls moving onto the semi finals. Aside from just the U18 girls, there were four U20 girls, five U16 girls, two U20 men,  two U18 men, and two U16 boys in the final sprint heats! It was quite the day for IMD. We were leading the charge for the most points at the end of the day. Woop woop!

The next few days were filled with even more training and a whole lot more racing! We had a skate 5k two days after the sprints. For most of the week the weather had been in the 60 degree range but for the skate 5k it was cold, rainy/snowy, and cloudy.

Before we knew it we were already watching the midweek awards and looking forward to the next races. Compared to last years midweek awards in Stowe, I would say that Truckee pretty much nailed it. After watching the videos made by athletes everyone was given s'mores. mmmm!

5 U16 girls on the podium for the skate sprints at the midweek awards ceremony

3 U20 women on the podium at the midweek awards

Leah and Riley representing IMD for the U18 girls at the midweek awards

The third race of the week was a classic 10k. It was extremely hard but now that it's over I can say that it was actually pretty fun! Because there was a very small amount of snow in Truckee as a whole and even less at the venue, for the 10k we had to ski the 2.5k race course four times to complete our race. All I can really remember from that race is the crazy mass start and how right off the bat a huge mass of girls went down all across the course. Fortunately I was able to avoid the crash which was quite an accomplishment for me because over the course of this season I'm pretty sure I'd been taken out in about 50% of my races that I'd been in.

Me finishing the final hill in the 10k classic. Photo creds to Skyler Mullings

Enjoying some beach time during our trip to Truckee

After a week filled with trips to the lake, grocery store, and lots of rounds around the 2.5k course at the Auburn Ski Club we only had one more race. It was by far the most exciting and energy-filled race of the week. Everyone was ready to ski fast and kick some butt!

 The relays teams were made up of three people each skiing one lap of the course. I was skiing the first leg, the leg that they usually call the "scramblers". I started near the back of the mass start but when I came into the tag zone I had our team in 8th place! That was a very good way to wrap up the week of racing in Truckee at the 2015 Junior Nationals!

The starting leg of the relay. Thank you for the awesome photos Mark Nadell!

Hanne skiing the second leg alongside Annika

Monika finishing off the relay for us

Hanne, me, and Monika after our relay

Before I finish this blog I really just want to thank everyone for the hard work during the course of the Junior Nationals week. It couldn't have been possible without the PistenBully and the man in charge of moving all of the snow onto the course. And to all of the incredible race volunteers, thank you for all of your hard work! Next, the IMD team would not have been possible this year without our team leader, Gordon Lange and of course Rick Kapala. To all of the wax techs in charge of making sure that our skis were always fast and race ready, thank you for the speedy skis! But finally, I want to thank my two age group coaches, Tanner Weigand and Dragan Danevski for all of their motivation, patience, and support! Tanner's pump up music really made the trip.

Until next year ~ Nice racing by all!

McCall for the win

After what feels like a very short season of training and racing, we are finally getting ready to head to Truckee, California for the 2015 Junior Nationals! The final deciding race was held last weekend in McCall, Idaho. The whole intermountain squad made the long trek to these beautiful trails in the Ponderosa State Park. It was definitely worthwhile, because we were able to ski some fun trails and we experienced some of the most beautiful sunsets that I have ever seen!

The beautiful sunset of day 1, featuring Payette Lake

The first day of racing was classic sprints. In the prelim everyone has stellar races and everyone qualified for the heats. In the quarter finals a good majority of the Wasatch athletes moved on including, Karsten, Henry, Sarah, Olivia, and myself. Everyone else was close by a hair. After those races we moved on to the semifinals. I was in the second semifinal with Olivia. Sadly, I had a bit of bad luck and backtracked a little bit on the uphill by literally falling on my butt. It was all good though because Olivia was able to move on to the A final! I got to represent Wasatch in the B final. Woop Woop! Olivia skied into second place and made everyone very proud while I also made the second position in my final. Sarah, originally a U14 but skiing up to U16, finished 5th in her B final. Karsten and Henry both skied very well and finished 3rd and 4th. Overall, it was a good day for Team Wasatch! 

After a fun first day of racing, we hit the town and decided to check out some of the local thrift stores. Our treasures were quite astounding...

We decided that Jenae needs to model ski goggles

And that Olivia needs to model mens clothing

On Sunday morning they held mass start skate races. Almost everyone skied a shortened version of the races that they usually ski. For the U18/U20 women, the distance was only a 5k where we usually ski 10k. It was very fun though! The course was extremely fast and the race was over before you even knew it. 

Later that day was the naming of the 2015 Intermountain Junior National Team. Everyone was obviously very excited and nervous. Mostly me! A solid season of racing and training there brought an even more solid team for the Intermountain Division to send to Truckee, CA. 

The 2015 Intermountain U18/U20 Girls Team

Let's hope for snow (in Truckee mostly)! Bye bye for now.

Snowy SoHo? I don't think so...

So we say goodbye to another great weekend of racing and hello to a whole new one! Weekend after weekend we go from race to race. But don't worry, it's not without a huge smile and lots of excitement. 

This past weekend was the second IMD qualifier race at Soldier Hollow, in Midway, Utah. (About 20 minutes from my house!) That made for some pretty comfortable races because we were able to sleep in our own beds and ski on our own courses. But just to ensure that we knew both the sprint and 4k courses, we went out on the Thursday before the races began to get a feel for them one last time. 

On Thursday, the courses were solid, icy, and fast, but when Friday rolled around, we found a whole new beast to conquer. Snow-condition-wise…it was slush! Complete slush…because the temperatures hadn't reached freezing the night before. Plus, it was extremely foggy and that made the visibility extremely low. It was like getting used to the course all over again. We had to work extra hard to ski fast and well in those conditions because finding balance was questionable and with every step forward, you would sink back into the snow a little ways. VERY frustrating. We made due though, we put our game faces on and conquered the slush!

Soldier Hollow the day before the slush...

Friday's race was a sprint, so it took the whole entire day to get through all of the races. Which meant letting 700+ skiers race the course... After my qualifier race, which actually went pretty well, I had to wait for about 2 hours before I was be able to compete in the heats. It was a worthwhile wait though, because it meant that I was able to go out and race again! So after a fun few hours in the Soldier Hollow Lodge, I made my way back down to the stadium to race again! With a sprint, the longer you warm up, the more ready you will be for your race, so I warmed up for a good hour. It payed off too! In my quarterfinal, I sat in 2nd place around the course up until the last turn into the finishing stretch. At that point I was boxed in and pushed back to 4th place. That would not have allowed me to move onto the semifinals so I had to do something about it! And I did! Because the girls on either side of me were V2ing very close, I mustered up all of my strength and double poled out of the cluster. That was able to secure me a 1st place finish in the quarterfinal, which meant that I would move on to the semis! It was also the talk of the afternoon! 

Just before I double poled to the front in the quarterfinal. Photo thanks to Skyler Mullings.

In my next race, I was up against my own teammate, Olivia, and four other girls. I wasn't in the top three at the end of that race so I didn't move on to the A final, but I did still get to race the B final. After a short 10 minutes of rest in between the semis and the B final, I was racing again! Not paying attention tot the technique involved, this was probably my best race. When I made it up the first hill, I looked back and nobody was behind me. So I kept going and when I made it to the top of the second hill, still, no one behind me. At that point all I could focus on was keeping my balance and holding my position. Once I was up the final hill for the last time all I had was the straight away into the finish. And before I knew it, I was crossing the finish line with a feeling of relief washing over me. 

Finishing 4th in the semifinals. Photo thanks to Skyler Mullings.

My final sprint of the day.

The sprints on Friday were a testament to how strong and driven everyone on this team truly is. Even though we had tough conditions, crazy wax, and stiff competition, everyone pulled through and raced their hearts out. The results showed just how incredible everyone skied: Karsten with a 1st in the sprint and an 18th in the 15k after double poling the whole entire race. Henry with a 3rd in the sprint and a 3rd in the 15k after also double poling the whole thing. Olivia finished 1st in the sprint and 8th in the 10k. Lindsey with a 48th in the sprint and a 44th in the U18's. Jenae finished 12th in the sprint and 10th in the 5k. Savanna with an 11th in the sprint and a 34th in the 5k. Sarah with an impressive 27th place in the sprint after racing up into U16 and a 31st in the 5k. Grace with a fantastic 52nd in the sprint and finally, ME, with a 7th in the sprint and a 41st in the 10k. 

Olivia and I after some great sprints!

As these races have come and go, I am sad to say that the SuperQualifier is officially over. But now we have more races to prepare for as Junior Nationals is just around the corner. And it's going to be great! None of this greatness would have been possible without the perseverance of my incredible coach, Bill, and his handy "waxmen," my dad and Kory. Aside from the guys who got us movin on that snow, the people who I should really thank are those who cheered. Not just for me, but for everyone! Thank you for motivating and for yelling loudly. To all of the coaches, parents, spectators, and professional cheerers who spent their weekends out at Soldier Hollow, THANK YOU! Your cowbells were much appreciated.

Sarah's first time experiencing the sprint heats!

Now on to the Boulder Mountain Tour next weekend! Wish me luck!