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!