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!