Life doesn't get much better than this...
Blue skies and picturesque trees- the view from the trails this morning.
I'm over two and a half weeks and four races into two months of travel, training, and ski racing, and not even a recent lingering head cold has been able to bring down. So far I've experienced no shortage of: abundant snow (and snowstorms), camaraderie, holiday spirit, great food, fantastic training, successful racing, beautiful scenery, fast skis, and plentiful amounts of fun! Since mid-November I've been on the road with my APUNSC team. We started out in West Yellowstone, Montana, where an incredible snowstorm made for an exciting Thanksgiving weekend of race postponements, stranded race timers and TDs, stuck and unstuck vehicles, closed and re-opened roads and passes, and a particularly memorable morning of playing in the snow, followed by some incredibly successful APU race performances.
West Yellowstone, MT: mid-storm.
It was a great beginning to our trip, as the team showed that we were not only an incredibly cohesive group, but a well-trained, focused collection of athletes.
APU Ladies having FUN! A deck-jumping, snow-loving romp in the bottomless West Yellowstone powder.
The APU ladies after cleaning up in all four races (over three days) of the West Yellowstone SuperTour.
APU athletes eating well. Celebrating Thanksgiving early (ahead of the opening races). Overwhelmingly the best APU athlete-cooked turkey day dinner yet!
After a solid block of racing and an over-distance workout on the Rendezvous Ski Trails in West, we packed up our bags, our hundreds of pairs of skis, our wax benches, our massive quantities of leftover food... and began the annual pilgrimage north to Silver Star Mountain in the heart of British Columbia.
We couldn't have been more excited to see the... 100+ km of twice-daily groomed trails, fairy tale village, and signature Silver Star snow-loaded trees. This place is truly Nordic skier heaven!
We're several days into our training camp here in Silver Star. Intervals have hammered out at the race venue at Sovereign Lakes, but I've been hit my a little cold. After hard racing in West and two lengthy days of driving, my body needed a little rest and was sure to let me know. Luckily, this bug was short-lived, as I was able to get out on the trails today (after a couple of days of rest). It was a perfect day to get back onto the trails, with temps in the mid-20s F, blue skies and beautiful views of the rolling hills below the mountain. It was also a great opportunity to test some of my classic skis, which were delivered to West fresh from the grinder.
Getting a feel for both my new skis and my recently ground skis is always critical heading into the season, so that race ski selection is streamlined on race day. With the help of the APU wax staff and the support top-notch grinders this process has been very productive, and I've learned a ton about my fleet over the last couple weeks. After having excellent skis in all four races in West, it felt good to get out on a few pairs of classic boards today to get a feel for them in Silver Star snow conditions. With some good testing and a great ski under my belt today, and my cold winding down, I know I'll be ready to hit the race courses at Sovereign in a little less than a week!
Thanks for tuning in! Until my next post, happy trails!
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