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!