The Snow Gods gave them snow!

And so it begins!

An intro picture to the blogpost ahead

The race season has officially started! This last weekend my team, as well as Team Soldier Hollow,  drove up to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the IMD season opener races. We all piled into Soho's van and drove the 5 hours that it took to get to Jackson. Along the way we maneuvered through a cattle drive, spotted dear, elk, a bald eagle, and watched as mountain goats made their way across the road. It was a pretty eventful car ride! Plus, we go to know our fellow Utah team, Soldier Hollow, a little bit better. 

One of our very fluffy friends that we made on our way to Jackson

Along with the drive up to Jackson on Thursday, we went directly up to the ski venue to test out the race course for the following day. It was like heaven up at Trail Creek Ranch because all you could see for miles and miles was fluffy, white snow! Whereas in Park City, all you could see was the occasional ice patch here and there. 

A beautiful shot of the Trail Creek Ranch.

While we were up there skiing the course on Thursday, we also did a few speeds and starts, just to get used to the intensity. They were all going pretty well, until I finished the last one for the day. I had just given it all I had when I turned around and started skin back. I sort of threw my hands up in excitement because we were finished for the day, but when I dropped them back down at my side, the top of my grip slammed into my leg and the bottom of the pole caught the snow. Before I knew it my pole had shattered. People who had seen it happened told me that the pole snap sounded like a firecracker going off. In frustration, I threw the remaining part of my pole down in the snow and skied off a little bit of my frustration. And when I went back to collect the pieces, there were five to be exact. Most of the time you hear about poles snapping into two or maybe even three pieces, but no. Mine had broken into FIVE. 

Here are three of the five pieces. The last two were having the grip and tip taken off.

After the fact it was actually really funny because most everyone on my team told me about poles that they had broken in the past, in an effort to try and make me feel better. It worked, because for the rest of the weekend they decided that my nickname would be "The Firecracker".

The next day marked the first "official" race of the Intermountain season. I had already been apart of four races prior to the Jackson Hole races. Anyway, the season started off with a 5 kilometer classic, individual start. The course was perfect for people with a strong double pole, so most of the Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy excelled! 

Sarah leading by quite a bit in the U14 Classic 3km.

Jenae demonstrating beautifully how to breath during a race.

Everyone had amazing races that day! Finishing with quite a few podiums and lots of smiles. Karsten won the U18/U20 field, Olivia won the U20 field and placed 2nd overall, Sarah won the U14 field, Aidan won the U14 field, and I placed 3rd in the U18 field and 5th overall. 

Coach Bill testing wax before the classic races.

The next day was made up of freestyle races (or skate). The day before had been slightly shorter for the U18s and older, but the skate races were 7.5 kilometers. The typical distance that we will ski this season will be 10 kilometers, but for these fun races, they decided to have us race a 5km and a 7.5km. 

Olivia leading Leah and Bjork in the skate race.

The skate races were all started as mass starts. Everyone was set up in what we call a "chevron". Meaning that the 1st place person starts in the center lane closest to the front. 2nd and 3rd both start in the lanes to the side of the 1st place person and slightly back. The 4th and 5th place people started a little further back and again, to the side of the 2nd and 3rd places. From there, the other places were placed behind the front row. 

A view of the chevron from the front. (Olivia is 2nd from the left, and I am on the far right).

The skate races finished very well. Olivia, Sarah, Aidan, and Karsten all killed it in their races. Karsten placing 4th, having come back from a broken pole right at the start. Olivia placing 3rd overall and 1st U20, Sarah winning again, and Aidan coming in 3rd. Congratulations to all!

Karsten showing us that this really is a tough sport.

Double poling at the start of the skate 7.5km.

We weren't in Jackson for long though, after all of the races finished up and after all of the awards were handed out, the Soldier Hollow van filled with SoHo and Wasatch kids headed out.

We were excited to be standing on the podium!

West Yellowstone, thank you for the fun memories!

Last weekend my team and I drove from Salt Lake City, Utah to West Yellowstone, Montana for the ski festival help up there. Conditions while we were there were a little bit crazy, but nonetheless, it was quite fun! We were lucky enough to stay for the whole week and we skied the entire time! Our week started off with a 2 hour classic ski. Even though we had been on snow the week prior, we still had to get used to our "snow legs". 

The first day out, the snow we enjoyed an easy distance classic ski on some pretty soft snow. It was actually a really tough workout, because you would go to plant your poles and they would sink into the snow a few more inches. In the afternoon we came back out to the ski trails with our skate equipment. I was a little bit squirrelly to start off, but once I got the hang of it, there was no stopping me!

My favorite training session of the week was probably the skate sprints that we did on Monday. I LOVE sprinting, so this drill was by far my favorite. It was also good for us to prepare for the Super Tour skate sprints that Friday. (Another bonus for me!) 

Throughout the course of the week we focused primarily on skating, because the two races at the end of the week were skate races. This meant a whole lot of technique work and lots of speeds and starts. One of the most important, detrimental parts of a sprint is the start. If you have a quick start, then you are able to carry more speed through the course right from the beginning. But if you have a slow start, it's harder to get yourself moving. 

Me starting my skate sprint

Skiing wasn't the only thing we did while we were there. It's always good to support those who support you, so a few of us sat at the NNF booth at the ski expo one night for a few hours to show our support.

We were proud to show our support for Atomic because of everything that they have done for our team. 

Plus, what's a good ski week without a solid strength session?!

Here is the little gym we worked out in. I'm pretty sure the maximum capacity was 10, but there were 30 of us! Opps!

Sierra, Olivia, and I after we conquered Telly Hill

And to finish of the fun week in West, my team participated in the first two Super Tour races. The first being the skate sprints and the second being the 10k or 15k distance skate. Everyone had exceptional results, given that we were all racing against some of the best collegiate skiers in the country. 

Olivia and I both qualified for the Junior Heats "A final" in the skate sprints. We were the 3rd and 4th juniors after the top 30. The A final junior heat was won by Kristen Helland-Hansen, a skier from Sun Valley, with me coming in 2nd and Olivia finishing close behind in 4th. Pretty awesome! Karsten was 18th overall in his preliminary sprint race as well as the 1st junior overall in the qualifier. In the skate distance, Henry was the 2nd fastest junior overall. Sarah and Savanna both finished 5th in their 5k races with outstanding times! For a team of 12, these results were pretty impressive!

~Photo credits to Skyler Mullings~

Olivia and I representing Wasatch Nordic in the junior heat, A final!

The last stretch into the finish

The week in West Yellowstone was by far the best it's ever been. Being able to share the experience with a new team was even better. 

Thank you to all of the people that made this trip possible! I want to give a huge thanks to both of my parents for supporting me and for allowing me to chance to love what I do! Another huge thanks to my awesome coach, Bill. In the little time that I have spent with him and his outstanding team I have learned more than I ever thought I would ever need to know. My technique has grown along with my endurance and my strength, all thanks to him. THANK YOU BILL! Also, there is no way I would be this determined to ski without the support of my teammates! Each and every one of them has shown me that this isn't something the average person can do. It takes a special someone to love cross-country skiing. So I guess you could say, they're all pretty special.

Thank you, Dad! (And to my mom for taking the wonderful picture as well as for cheering louder than anyone else)

It was tough to say goodbye, but we did it with one last hurrah!

Until next time, West Yellowstone!