Olympics!

The Olympics were an experience I will never forget.  There is so much going on beyond your own participation but at the same time it is each individual athletes participation that makes it matter.  I learned so much about myself, about sport, about winning and definitely about defeat during my time in Sochi. 

The Olympics are so much more than the few medals that are handed out.  It is about each athlete putting out their best performance for the world to see...even if their best on that day is a 20th place.  It is the act of competing that makes it so special.  Not just the winning.  In fact, on my way home I wore my olympic garb and was asked several times if I was bringing back a medal.  When I said I hadn't brought one home the people often looked discouraged and turned away.  To me, the act of participating in the Olympics was a big deal!!!  I had a great personal performance....which did not lead me to success but I cannot leave feeling like I didn't give it my absolute all.  There were so many other athletes who had great inspiring performances but didn't land on the top step of the podium.  In many ways its the stories of how people got to the Olympics that was interesting to me.  Each athletes story of success and determination is unique.  

Personally, my olympic experience will make me a stronger person.  I feel my journey to this point has been more defined by what I have overcome than my "incredible" success....and my trip to the Olympics was no different.  Coming back from a concussion...I trained extremely hard prior to the Olympics to get back into shape and to feel comfortable on my skis.  The day of my Olympic race was my first day where I felt super confident on my skis again.  In this way I am so happy with the prep that I was able to do beforehand.  Hitting my head was not ideal, but come race day I felt prepared to have my best performance.  The conditions on race day were challenging.  I felt prepared to meet the challenge and ski my best.  In slalom the margin of error is extremely small.  We get as close to the gate as possible because that is the fastest route down the hill.  Both skis always need to pass around the outside of the gate.  Halfway down the course the tip of my inside ski caught on some  grippy snow and I straddled the gate.  I was disqualified from the race.  At the time it didn't feel fair.  It felt like a cruel joke to make it all the way to the Olympics then to not even get to finish the race.  Some athletes were joking that failure in a cross country race is like dying a slow painful death but in slalom (or skiing in general) its like a bullet to the heart.  Failure happens so quickly it is hard to process.  But process it you must (after a damn good cry)....I am definitely not alone in not finishing the slalom race.  At the end of the race there were 49 finishers and 36 women who were unable to complete both runs.  Many of the ladies who didn't finish were on their way to amazing performances such as my team mate Erin Mielzynski and Austrian Bernadette Schild.  When I arrived back in the Olympic Village it was sobering to realize each sport has their own challenges.  There were many other Canadian competitors that had had their dreams a little dashed in Sochi, but they kept their heads up shrugged it off and moved on.  I did the same.  

Another very cool aspect of the Olympics was the camaraderie and friendships built between different sports as we came together in the athlete lounge to watch our fellow Canadians compete day after day.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching Kaillie Humphreys deliver an amazing performance while the men's bobsled team explained terminology and the sport to those of us watching.  We were also lucky enough to be able to watch several other events live including women's snowboard cross, mens super g (where Canadian Jan Hudec was 3rd!!!), mens 4 man bobsled and I was extremely excited to get tickets to watch the mens gold medal hockey game!

I also feel extremely lucky that my family was able to come watch me race.  This journey has been not just my own.  My family has picked me up after my bad crashes and celebrated with me during times of success.  I could not have made it even close to making it to the Olympics without the support of my entire family.  For putting me on skis, encouraging and supporting me to work hard and for believing and allowing me to be the best athlete I can be.  My parents basically allowed me to move out as a teenager to pursue this crazy sport.  I felt their support even through my extreme absense from our family life.  To be able to share this experience with them meant the world to me.  My mom, dad, brother and my boyfriend all came to see me.  After my race they once again helped pick me up.  I could not have been more happy to be with my family after my race.  There is no one better to be with than those whom you love when you feel like the floor has dropped out from beneath you.  Thank you to everyone who helped my brother fundraise to pay for the trip!  I VERY much appreciated having him there!

Below are some photos I took during my experience at the games!

Chilling with the Canadian Womens Olympic Team in the rings!

The Canadian Moose mascot! (Yes, it was that warm!)

The view from the gondola...looking down on the downhill course.  The terrain and size of the mountain reminded me of either Whistler or Kicking Horse Resort. 

They had a ton of different activities you could do in the Olympic Village....I painted this doll!

We found some powder at the top of the mountain!

My boyfriend and I with the Olympic flame in the background.

I found the Canadian Molson fridge in Sochi!

 My team mate Britt and I about to watch the Mens Gold Medal Hockey Game!

Watching the game!

Ski Cross champions Kelsey Serwa & Mariel Thompson (and many other excited Canadian athletes!)

Georgia Simmerling, Kelsey Serwa and I...we were all on the BC Development/ Canadian Devo Team together!  It was fun to be reunited at the games!  We raced together from the time we were 11 to 18 years old!

Mitch, Britt, MP and myself just before walking into the closing ceremonies!

It was an awesome experience-in the true sense of the word- to walk into the closing ceremonies.  Goosebumps, giggles and exclamations of awe from all around about the magnitude of people and space as we entered the Fisht stadium!

A moment of being star struck after talking to the extremely amazing and nice Hayley Wickenheiser!

I would definitely never trade my Olympic experience for anything.  It meant so much to me to be representing our beautiful country.  It gave me such a feeling of pride and appreciation to be competing for Canada.  There were so many amazing athletes from our country and so many interesting people that I was able to meet during my trip.  To young athletes aspiring to be Olympians.  It is so worth the struggles you will face to get here.  It is those exact struggles that will make it so special....no matter your result.

December and January Madness-Shaken not stirred.

It has been a long time since I wrote a blog.  It was not on purpose!  After Colorado I went home to Burlington and had an excellent visit there.  I then boarded back onto a plane and left for Europe once again.  We did three days of training in Veysonnez, Switzerland on some seriously intense ice!  It was great training and I was really looking forward to our next race in Courchevel, France.  The morning of the race was sunny and beautiful.  I did inspection and felt ready to race.  I decided to do one more run in the warm up courses to be as prepped as possible for the race.  Half way through the run my skis got caught in a rut created by the gate hitting the icy slope.  I didnt even have time to put my hands up and I  smacked down on the ice quickly and hard!  I felt my helmet hit the ice.  My immediate thought was "well Im glad I didn't hit my head any harder because it would be terrible to get a concussion right now".  I was more worried about how sore my thumb was.  After pulling myself together and talking to our physio I skied to the bottom of the hill.  I had about 15 minutes to calm down before my race.  I decided to keep my crash to myself until after the race because I figured making a big deal of it won't help me at all.

I felt race ready when I left the start gate that morning.  I left my crash behind me and went for it.  I made a large mistake before the flats that cost me a lot of time.  I ended up 31st by 0.01 seconds.  So close!  After I got to the bottom I started to feel nauseous and strange.  I headed back to the hotel and rested in the darkness of my room for the rest of the day.  The next day, a day off,  I displayed no concussion symptoms.  The following morning we woke up very early to travel to a race one hour away.  I was not able to sleep that night...maybe totalling about 3 hours.  I felt extremely groggy, nauseous and headachy but I blamed it on my lack of sleep.  After an hour car ride in the dark on winding roads I felt worse.  I tried to shake it off and did the warm up and inspection for the race.  I knew something wasn't right when I couldn't remember the section I had just inspected.   It was really difficult but I decided not to race.  This is when we started to consider that I had a small concussion.  I took the rest of the week off.  On Christmas day I freeskied and I did light training the next two days.  I REALLY wanted to race Lienz.  Though I felt better I was spending an awful lot of time ignoring the fact that I was still feeling a lot of "pressure" in my head and small instant headaches.  I wanted to be better so much that I was ignoring the small signs that I wasn't.  I raced Lienz.  But it was a waste on time.  I felt slow and unable to work my skis.  When I got through the finish line I immediately felt extremely nauseous and got a huge headache on the left side of my head.  This is when I knew I wasn't going to be an "easy ride" with this concussion.  It was 10 days post crash and I wasn't better.  At this time I really took it easy.  I stopped doing everything!  No more light yoga, no more light bikerides, no skiing and lots of physic.  All I could do was knit (a good thing since I have so many toques to make for my fundraiser supporters!)  It was one of the hardest decisions to not race Bormio.  Instead I stood at the finish in the pouring rain cheering on my teammates.  I wanted to be racing.  After Bormio I still wasn't better.  I was having trouble with headaches still and I knew the travel schedule we keep in Europe (we travelled almost every 36 hours while we were there) wasn't helping me at all.  I spent all of my days alone in hotel rooms without access to internet, and thus family and friends back home (as well as entertainment!)  I knew I needed to go home to get better.  I left on the 9th of January and returned to Burlington to rest.

After a week of sleeping, eating and resting I felt much better.  My only issue was small headaches I was still getting.  I went and saw the athletic trainer at UVM who was able to treat me with myofascial release on my neck.  Within a few days my headaches were all gone!  After getting cleared by the Alpine Canada docs, I went to visit my teammate Britt Phelan in Mont Tremblant.  We freeskied all day with her parents, my mom and my boyfriend.  It was a great easy way to get back on skis.  The next week I trained in the gym and got one day of training on snow with the UVM ski team before they headed to their weekend carnival.  It felt amazing to be able to ski, workout and watch entertainment on my computer and tv!

I tried to leave for Europe on Saturday the 25th.  I arrived at the Burlington airport to see that the only flight cancelled on the board was my own.  I was rebooked for the following day.  The next morning I woke up to an email again saying my flight had been cancelled!  I luckily was able to call and get rerouted!  I finally arrived in Tarvisio Italy!  As soon as we arrived my computer died!  Its amazing how annoying it is to not be able to use my computer once again!  In Tarvisio we did three days of training there before heading to Kranska Gora.  It was incredible to get to train!  It felt like it had been forever since Id been able to just ski gates.  I didn't feel particularly fast but at least I was skiing.  At this time we were also told we had made the Olympic team.  I felt humbled and excited.  I am so lucky to have performed at the first race of the season given the injury troubles I have had afterwards.  I qualified under the 3rd criteria of two top 20 results.    I feel humbled because this has been my dream since I was 4 years old.  At this point in my career (and in this sport) I feel it is not attending the Olympics that makes an athlete an "Olympian"...its the journey to this point and the luck and timing of your results that got you here.  There are many other Canadian skiers who may not be going to the Olympics this year but are extremely deserving of the recognition of talent that comes with going to the games.  The only thing that held them back from going was bad timing and injuries.  For this reason I am honoured and humbled to go.

Kranska Gora was a bit of a mess.  It snowed over 2 metres in the three days leading up to the race.  The organizing committee did a great job to get the race off as well as they did.  Because I did not qualify and did not race so many World Cups I lost enough World Cup points to no longer be starting in the 20s and 30s.  I had bib 52.  A real disadvantage with the snow conditions we had.  When I pushed out of the start gate I felt ready to race.  Then my body seemed to stop obeying my signals.  The snow felt better than I had expected but after so long off skis my body was not feeling as "sharp" and I simply didn't have to subtle touch on my skis I needed to be fast.  I felt sluggish and not agile.  I did not make second run.

We are now training in Austria before we head to the Olympic Games on the 14th.  I will be watching the opening ceremonies on tv like everyone else.  I feel very lucky to have this time to get my body and skiing re-tuned!  Each run I take I feel a little better on my skis.  We are also doing a great job of dryland in the afternoons and I can already feel my body responding to the activity.  I cant wait to continue training and getting faster.  I also CAN'T WAIT to represent Canada at the Olympics!  There aren't many things that can compare to the experience of the games and I cant wait to get there!  Thank you to everyone for your support and I will definitely be posting pictures etc soon!

Colorado and Levi

Well!  Since starting my fundraiser I have been ABSOLUTELY amazed by the outpouring of support that I have received!  It has been a very humbling experience!  I have a VERY LARGE amount of earrings and toques to make!  I can't wait to start!  This fundraising has meant that my family is finally no longer paying for my very expensive team fees.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!  That is a HUGE burden lifted off of our shoulders.

On Oct. 31st I headed to Calgary for a little testing before heading down for a last little training block of slalom before our first race.  We did 6 amazing days of slalom at Loveland Pass.  The conditions were amazing, which led to absolutely great training.  By the time we finished our camp we all felt very well prepared to race.  Talk about a great team!  As a group this is such an amazing team to train and live with.  We push each other in training and are great friends off hill.  Its a great environment for fostering support and success.

After Colorado we headed to Levi, Finland for our first World Cup Slalom race of the season.

 Training in the morning before the race

 Levi....4pm

My reindeer friend

We did two days of training on the training slope as we adjusted to the time change.  Race day was my first day not feeling super groggy when I woke up.  We did a great warm up on hill.  Our coaches shuttled us around in our Volvo rental cars as we pumped "mad tunes" and did four runs on great terrain.  By the end of our training session I felt sharp and clear about what I had to do on my skis.

The race hill conditions were amazing and the first course was an absolute ripper.  There was an uphill wind so I felt it was pretty important to really "crush" the flats from the very first gate.  There are pretty abrupt rollers on the Levi course but after the training we did this summer in New Zealand where we did a slalom course through a terrain park-I felt very confident about my approach for them.  I ended up skiing the way I have been in training.

First run...coming over the break over onto the pitch.

When I came through the finish on the first run and I saw that I was in 4th I was ecstatic!  What felt amazing about it that I felt I could very easily replicate my skiing for the next run.  I felt calm and tried not to focus on the result of the first run...I still had another run to do!

Second run the course was more turny on the pitch.  I felt I could still rip the flats up top but I wanted to be a little more smart on the pitch.  As I came over the pitch on my second run I hit my forearm very hard on a gate.  My arm went instantly numb!  Not the best feeling in the world but I refocused and continued to fight down the pitch.  I felt I didn't really risk it as much as I had the first run but it was still very consistent.  As I came into the finish I was a little disappointed to see how far I had moved back.  I was 6th with 6 more racers to go.  In my mind I thought I had moved into 13th position (the qualifying criteria for the Olympics is top 12)

Thinking I had just missed coming top 12.

When I realized I had come 11th I was super excited.  I am now half way through qualifying for the Olympics, this is my BEST EVER result and I felt like I skied very normally for me.  It was not a "super human" effort.  It came naturally.  It feels nice to know the training I did this summer was great.  I am also EXTREMELY happy for my teammate Marie-Michele Gagnon who ended up 5th overall.  It was great to see her smiling at awards and I know that our team has the potential to be up there every race!  I can't wait till Courcheval!

Next, we head back to Colorado where I will be competing in the GS and SL Norams that will be taking place in Loveland pass.  I am excited to strap on the "big boards" (GS skis are much longer than slalom....though downhillers have total permission to roll their eyes at my statement)

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me this summer.  It has felt amazing to have such a great result right after all this fundraising!  A weight off my shoulders!

Till next time!

ONLINE FUNDRAISER!!!

I created two new videos I'd like to share with everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30m1NwTb9hw&feature=youtu.be

The first is a video I made of my skiing from this summer in New Zealand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peWDMcKdjAE

This one is a video I made of some of my runs on World Cup this past season.

I would also LOVE it if everyone could check out my link to my online fundraiser.  I am currently trying to raise $10,000 towards my $15,000 team fees for this year alone!  Every dollar donated alleviates a ton of financial stress on my dear parents who are currently footing the bill for my skiing.  As an NCAA athlete I cannot accept prize money or sponsorships so I am really trying to do my part for my career by fundraising!  Any donation amount is acceptable and as I mentioned above, every dollar helps out a huge amount!  I am currently skiing the best I ever have and I BELIEVE I CAN make the Olympics.  I just need the funds now to get me there!

Thank you to everyone who can donate and thank you for reading my blog!  Enjoy the videos!

MY ONLINE FUNDRAISER LINK BELOW

ONLINE FUNDRAISER FOR ELLI TERWIEL

Summertime

      Summer is always an interesting time as a ski racer.  In some ways in doesn't really exist, in others it is the busiest time of the year and in a third sense it is our only relaxing part of the year.  This summer I was centred in Canmore, Alberta to train with the rest of the National Team and our amazing trainer Matt Jordan and staff.  It is possibly the coldest part of Canada (at that latitude) as well as one of the most strikingly beautiful.  It always seems a place of extremes.  The mountains, the wildlife and this year in particular, the flooding!  While we were stationed in Canmore it had a record breaking amount of rainfall which led to a very bulging creek and river.  It managed to damage thousands of homes in the Western part of Alberta and we spent many a day (when we were done training) huddled indoors to escape the cold/wet weather.  That said the training environment was excellent and I think as a team it was one of our most productive training "seasons" yet.  So, in terms of warm summer weather...it didnt really exist.  Until our on-snow camp in Zermatt.

     In Zermatt we had an amazing two week camp.  The weather was incredible, warm enough to tan in the afternoons (or in my case burn) and it also meant really nice hard snow in the early mornings.  Every morning we would wake up around 5 and start our day amongst the hustle and bustle of the crazy tram rides up to the glacier.  Europe really knows how to "pack-em-in-there" when it comes to their transportation.  "Rucksac Bitte!" will permanently be engrained in my brain after my multiple trips to the summer glaciers.  Trying to fit 60 skiers in a tram when our skis and bag packs way more than a person each is always an interesting experience.  Once you get to the top of the glacier though you are treated to the amazing experience of viewing the Matterhorn from a little seen angle.  Often it peaks out of a layer of cloud.  Quite a sight.

     After Zermatt I travelled to Boston, Massachusetts to visit my boyfriend and his family for a week.  It was so nice and relaxing in comparison to the hectic schedule we keep while we are full time training.  The small break allowed me to do a "mini" internship with my boyfriend at his work!  I was beyond excited to be able to go to work at an geotechnical engineering firm and learn/watch what happens beyond the school engineering curriculum.  I loved it!  We dissected site drawings, checked out job sites and made preliminary CAD drawings for the actual engineers to then work with.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  We also took a day trip to Cape Cod which is definitely a place I will be returning to!  After spending a amazing week in Boston I returned to Canmore reinvigorated to train and get ready for our next camp in New Zealand.

     We were in New Zealand for just under a month.  In that time we were a internet "dead zone".  Our first week was spent at the incredibly beautiful Lake Tekapo....with no internet access except for a cafe over a mile away from our house.  It was incredible training and very high volume we had multiple "millennium" days (over 1000 gates) in a row and the weather was once again very much on our side.  After 6 days of great training we headed to Methven to train at Mt. Hutt.  I even trained SG!  We had a great SG/GS block there and experienced some crazy weather days where we were the last people allowed off the mountain.  300 Methven school children were stranded at the mountain overnight as the road down was closed!  After carefully monitoring the upcoming weather and conditions we chose after our stint in Mt. Hutt to head back to Lake Tekapo instead of our original plan to spend the last week of our trip in Coronet Peak.  We finished off our trip with an incredible slalom block.  It is safe to say that it was an incredibly productive camp!  We ended our camp about 3 days early because of an huge impending storm.  The day before we left the winds at the top of Mt. Hutt were 250 km/hr!  Luckily it calmed down enough for us to depart without issue the following day!

I am now in Vermont relaxing, recovering and enjoying seeing everyone from school and my UVM team.  I am not formally attending school this year which has been one of the toughest decisions I have ever made.  It is nice still coming back here absorbing information second hand from my friends!  I cannot wait to start my studies again!

I unfortunately have no program on my computer right now to upload photos from but I will add some photos when I can!

Spring

I found a few photos of this spring to add!  After the busy schedule I have been keeping for the past two years my life seems to have finally hit slow motion for a little while.  I actually have had a little time to sit and think!  

I ended the season off with a third at Canadian Championships.  After coming 4th twice it was nice to finally step onto the podium.  After Whistler I headed straight back to Vermont to finish up my year of school.  As per usual I loved it!  I cannot believe how much I enjoy learning about dynamics, statistics, differential equations etc.   I am happy to say I am through my second year of civil engineering!  I cannot wait to get back into classes....however that will have to wait.  In what was one of the toughest decision I've had to make in a long time, I have decided to take the next year off of school to pursue the Olympic Games.  This may seem like a no-brainer to everyone but me....I still wanted to do both!  However, I am extremely aware of how amazing both options are....there was no bad option just different consequences.  

After I finished my exams in May my boyfriend and I headed back across the country with my car fully loaded!  This time around I decided to take the route through the states-wow was gas cheaper!  I must say that it was a gorgeous drive.  In comparison to last year through Canada where it was about 8 degrees and raining most of the way, this year it reached a soaring 40 degrees as we crossed the American Prairies!  I thoroughly enjoyed the drive across South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Washington.  The incredible change from the Badlands to the Black Hills to the rolling grasslands of Wyoming and Montana were stunning.  I cant wait to go back! 

I arrived home to a flurry of different activities.  I had an amazing week biking, hiking, catching up with my best friends and visiting with my amazing family.  It never seems long enough though.  As I departed there where still so many things I wanted to do and see at home!  However, it was time to fully get down to my job-training!  I drove to Canmore and am now onto week two of our intense summer training.  Despite not great weather (again about 10 degrees and raining) the training has been excellent.  Without school, I have had way to much time on my hands.  It took me this first week to get used to it.  I always feel like I am forgetting that I need to be doing something!  This "quiet" time has really allowed me to do some reflecting, organization and catch up on what feels like a year of missed sleep!  

Here are a few photos taken March-May!

 Arriving home in March for the first time since July and being greeted with a bouquet of flowers from my brother!  Best Brother EVER!

 Skiing 26 cm of fresh powder at my home mountain SUN PEAKS RESORT in March.

 Being thwarted from studying by my roommates hilarious fat cat Meeu.

My amazing boyfriend bought me golf clubs for my birthday!  A total rookie, but I am loving golfing!

Hiking with my best friends near the airport in Kamloops.

The seasons end...

Since my last post, once again, a lot has happened!  I competed in World Championships, tore my quad, attended school, raced NCAA championships, raced in Ofterschwang, raced NorAm finals, went home and now I am in Whistler at Canadian Nationals.

I will start with a little recap of World Championships.  They were in Schladming, Austria this year.  It was an incredible experience in general with massive crowds, lots of pressure, incredible performances and a ton of amazing course work done by the organizers and volunteers.  It was an amazing show.  45,000 people at the finish line cheering.  My performance however was a little lacking,  I was incredibly excited to race.  We spent a week preparing specifically for this race.  I had a better start number than usual and felt ready to rip!  However on the 6th gate or so of my first run I made a small recovery move and felt a very strange sensation in my right quad.  When I got to the finish I was in a very large amount of pain and could barely walk in my ski boots over to the hospitality tent.  I tore my quad.  After some taping by our physio Jenny, some pain killers and gritted teeth I went out and skied my second run.  I ended up 28th.  I was pretty disappointed with this result given that I had just come off of my best result ever in Maribor.  I ended up not being able to ski for the next two weeks because of my quad...very disappointingly I had to miss a University carnival race as I could not put pressure on my leg.

After some rest I got ready to race NCAA Championships in Middlebury Vermont, a mere hour away from Burlington.  It was a great event.  I got some good training in beforehand in both GS and Slalom and felt confident our team was as strong as last year.  Our first race was the GS.  I was happy with my first run and went into the second run vying to move into the top 5!  This was not to be.  On the long flat section in the middle of the course I lost my outside ski to some soft snow and got pulled onto a late line.  I ended the day 11th.  Our Nordics had a great day the next day as well and we went into day 3-the slalom day in the lead!  I was feeling very ready to race!  I was excited to ski my best event and I felt I needed to redeem myself after coming 11th in the GS.  Once again, it was not to be.  Upon coming onto the pitch I slid out of the course on my side and had to hike a gate.  Unfortunately there are different hiking rules for different types of slaloms (single pole, or ones with an outside gate)....and I hiked the wrong way!  I was disqualifed from the race.  I was extremely upset.  Less for myself....blowing out of the course is not that uncommon in slalom-but for my team.  I really felt (and still feel) like I let them down!  It is a much different experience to race as part of a team. You neither win nor lose based on just one performance but a good performance can inspire and a bad performance can dampen the effect of the team as a whole.  We have an undeniably great team.  I just wish I could have helped out more!  After the second run of the slalom I quickly packed up all my stuff and drove 3 hours to Montreal to board a flight to Europe.  I arrived in Europe on saturday and raced the Ofterschwang Slalom World Cup on Sunday.  I could feel immediately that my legs were extremely tired.  I tried to push through and go for it but at the end of the day you need your mind and your body to cooperate.  I ended up 37th after the first run.  I watched from the sidelines second run as two of my teammates put in amazing performance.  Anna Goodman came out of retirement to end up 15th overall and win the second run!  Mitch Gagnon ended up 4th...her best slalom result of the year.

I flew back to Burlington on Monday and wrote a midterm on Tuesday.  I flew back out again Wednesday morning to head to Squaw Valley for the NorAm finals.  Sometimes it is amazing what you can accomplish!  The first day of racing I ended up winning!  I was very happy and content to have a good result after so much travelling.  The next day I dnf'd in the second run but it was very hard to be in a bad mood in the Tahoe area as the weather was incredible!!!  I ended up 3rd overall in the NorAm slalom standings.  Something I was very happy with considering I skipped a norAm series in February to go to school.  The GS races were personally not very good performances but again worthy to note the amazing weather and the great course prep by the race organizers and volunteers!

From Tahoe I got to fly home (to BC) for the first time since last July.  I got a little teary when the plane landed and I saw all the places I had been missing so much!  It is amazing how many small changes can happen in 7 months!  Needless to say it was incredible to be home with family and great friends for the past week!  We got an amazing 26cm powder day as well which was my first day of free skiing all year!  Loved it!

I arrived in Whistler yesterday and tomorrow will be the Canadian National Slalom race.  Looking forward to it!

A fresh start!

Since my last post much has happened!  January has been a busy month!  Zagreb was an incredible race for team Canada....and North America in general.  5 North Americans in the top ten and 3 Canadians!  Wow.  That is a first in a long time!  I unfortunately had a mistake early in the first run which costed me the race.  But despite me personal bad luck it was a joyous departure that night to Egypt!  Our team this summer decided to try a different approach for our short break in January.  We had five days off and it was actually cheaper for the team to send us to an all inclusive resort in Egypt then to send us home.  Not to mention the warmer weather and relaxation factor of a "mini vacation", it was a greed that we would try it this year.  I must say that it was a great trip.  Since we didn't have to travel nearly as far and didn't have to deal with jet lag it was time well spent.  We stayed in an area called El Gouna that was about 20 minutes outside of Hurghada.  This is on the eastern shore of the red sea.  Some of our adventures included riding camels. eating camel, driving dune buggies and ATV's across the desert, participating in a show that involved a man wielding and swallowing large dull knives and sun tanning.  We had a great time.  I would say it was also a great experience to travel with my team mates outside of a skiing environment.  We each have a very set routine on ski trips and on this mini vacation we were able to really just relax and enjoy each others company.  At the end of the trip we headed back to Austria for a few days of training before the Flachau night slalom.

Flachau this year had excellent conditions.  It is always a hill that makes me feel confident and excited to ski.  It it a rolly course with huge cheering crowds and a great atmosphere.  My thought at the top of the course was to ski like I had nothing to lose.  Starting in the mid 40's means that I have to beat 15 people to make it into the "flip".  You don't beat 15 of the top 45 racers in the world without putting your heart and soul into it!  I pushed out of the gate and really made myself attack the course from top to bottom and was incredibly happy when I crossed the finish line into 21st position.  I was thrilled to know I would have a second run and have a fresh course to ski on.  I wanted to not think about just finishing for the points but really racing the second run with the same attack as the first run.  I was thrilled to achieve my first top 20 result of my career.  I ended up 17th after a very interesting second run race.  I returned to the hotel after the race and immediately starting packing.  7 am the next morning I left to catch a plane back to North America to compete for my University team in Lake Placid, New York.  I arrived around 11 pm Wednesday night, attended my three classes Thursday (I currently am taking Differential Equations, Dynamics, Statistics for Engineers and Environmental Systems) and after class I boarded the team van and headed out to race again.  Friday we raced GS and I was pleasantly surprised to come in 3rd overall with UVM sweeping the podium.  The next day we raced slalom and I tried to ski it the same way I raced the world cup.  I figure every race is an opportunity to work on my "attack mode" and ski with precision and fluidity.  I was very happy to win the race and help UVM win the overall Carnival.  It is incredibly fun to race as a team.  The excitement of standing at the bottom and knowing we as a team need to perform makes it so exciting to watch and motivates everyone to really take care of their teammates.  Not to mention the amazing food brought to each race by each teams parents.  It is an incredible atmosphere and I found it an incredibly refreshing experience and a month of World Cup.  Sunday I again boarded a plane back to Europe.

We trained for a few days in Hinterreit, Austria.  I was happy to feel very solid on my skis.  I am happy with what I am working on and have a good idea of what I am working towards with my skiing.  As a team we headed towards Maribor, Slovenia with great spirit and feeling good on our skis.

Maribor was a great race this year.  It marked the first World Cup start for one of our young Canadian racers Mikaela Tommy of Quebec (watch out!  she's ripping in GS!)  and it was the first time in three years there has been enough snow to run the race.  The crowds were bulging thanks to how well Tina Maze has been doing this year.  It is always incredible to see over 20000 at the bottom of the course.  I started 46 first run.  I knew there were a few holes in the course but I felt that if I just stayed in the rut and really attacked like I had been training they wouldn't be a problem.  I crossed the finish line into 28th place which I was happy with but felt I could have skied a little better on the pitch and the bottom. I wanted to let it go a little more on the bottom and stand a little taller on my skis to take better advantage of the flats on the course.  Second run the snow looked amazing and standing in the start I knew how I wanted to feel on my skis in the course.  The actual skiing on my run felt not much different than how I feel in training.  I felt I let me skis run, I rolled my knees and ankles into the turn and I focused on moving forward the entire run.  I was very excited when I crossed the line into first but didn't think that would last for very long.  It was my first time standing in the leaders box.  I wasn't really sure what to do so I just watched the other racers skiing down and was a little incredulous as I managed to hold the lead for about 7 racers.  After I left the leader box I continued watching the race with the rest of my team and cheered with the crowd as each racer came down.  It wasn't till about 5 before winner that we realised that I still had the winning time for the second run.  I was once again slightly incredulous as my time continued to hold as the fastest for the second run.  When Tina Maze came on course as the leader after the first run the crowd went wild.  It is always an amazing thing to be in someones home town when they are in the lead.  The amount of excitement is palpable, the crowd pulses with energy and the sound decibels increase exponentially!  Tina had a super solid run and came down with a second run time that was 0.07 of a second ahead of mine.  Overall, she won over the second place finisher by 0.86 seconds and I ended 17th-tying my career best finish.  The first thing I did when I got back to the hotel was call my parents and let them know how well the race went.  There is nothing like sharing good news with your family.  We all got a little teary-eyed on the phone as we giggled at how crazy it seemed that I could have that kind of time on the second run.  I know that I had so much of an advantage starting early in the run but it still felt incredible.  After the race we packed up and got back into the van for the day long journey home.  I arrived home last night and the airline lost my skis.  I am hoping they will show up tomorrow.  I attended my classes this morning and felt the effects of jet lag as I sat through three one hour and 15 minute long classes.  I am so happy that I have interesting classes!  I am looking forward to resting, training, studying and relaxing for the next 10 days before doing one race for my UVM team then heading back to Europe for WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!  All very exciting!

Till next time,

Elli

A New Year

Hello Everyone,

Wow.  2013.  How easily time flies when your busy and having fun!  The year 2012 had many ups and downs.  Mostly ups.  Its been a year of schooling, lessons learned on and off the ski slopes and incredible friends.  I know I am extremely lucky to be able to race World Cup and complete University level schooling at the same time.  It has been no small task.  A few almost sleepless nights and many hours in the gym, classroom and planes later I am happy to say...according to my mom...that I am 37% of the way done my Civil Engineering degree AND I am happily competing in Europe.

I finished my final exams just before heading out to Panorama, BC for some NorAm races.  I showed up feeling almost light headed my brain was so emptied out!  It felt very good to race and relax!  The slope we race on in Panorama is demanding and steep.  It was a great race to get back into racing after a short break and really put the hammer down.  Though I was not completely happy with how I skied I came away with s 4th and 3rd place finishes in the Slalom and a 13th and 11th in the GS's (which I was actually happy about considering my lack of training and racing in that discipline lately).

After Panorama we headed to Sweden for a World Cup Night Slalom in Are.  Are is a seriously beautiful place.  The ski resort is on the side of a lake and at this time of year only sees light until about 3 pm.  It was basically like skiing in a sunset all day.  The race hill had perfect grippy snow and fun terrain.  I was incredibly excited to ski it.  I felt I had a good run.  I was very aggressive and clean but I was too round in the middle section of the course.  I ended up 31st.  One position away from making top 30.  It was a hard place to be in as I felt I had skied well and I REALLY wanted to race that second run.  Positively though it was my second best result ever in a World Cup.  From Are we flew back to Zurich and headed to our "home base" in Saal Felden Austria for some training days.  We struggled a bit with weather but we had some great training.  It was also Christmas while we were there which was very difficult.  I think being away from my family during the Holiday season may be the hardest part of our jobs.  I am a very family oriented person and so being alone in a hotel was pretty hard.  I feel lucky to have such great team mates and coaches to celebrate the holidays with.  We made the best of it by having a great Christmas dinner and exchanging small gifts and cards.  We trained both Christmas eve and Christmas day.  The training was excellent.  We went into our next race in Semmering, Austria feeling better prepared than the other teams that went home for Christmas.  Semmering was also a great race.  I loved the hill again and felt ready to ski with confidence.  I came down after my first run into 28th position.  I was very pleased with this as I started with bib 47.  My second run I also felt good.  My top interval was fast and I made it to the bottom with very consistent skiing.  I ended the night in 23rd position.  A tie for my best ever placing in a world cup.

We are now back in Saal Felden and just enjoyed the New Years eve festivities of Austria: FIREWORKS.  It sounded as if there was a war raging outside the hotel as every party group lit off fireworks!  It was an amazing cacophony of sound and light.  Today we had a very low key day off and will drive tomorrow to Zagreb, Croatia-the location of our next race.

Hope everyone is starting the New Year surrounded by family and friends,

Cheers

Elli

Oh how time flies when your having fun!

The view from the bottom of the chair at Coronet Peak, New Zealand.  (Queenstown is just slightly to the right of this photo)

My University of Vermont team proudly showing off our championship rings from last years NCAA Championship win!

Physics Class:  Electricity and Magnetism

September started off with a BANG!  While I was still in New Zealand my second year of Civil Engineering at the University of Vermont got underway.  This semester I am taking Statics (the study of structural bodies in equilibrium...i.e. Bridges, Buildings etc), Electricity and Magnetism (an introduction to circuits and wiring basically and how electricity works!), Geomatics ( An introduction to Engineer Surveying and GIS...i.e. the people you see on the side of highways and job sites with the yellow tripod and a meterstick) and lastly an online English course.  So far these courses have been extremely interesting!  They are not the easiest courses out there but I wouldnt change what I am studying for anything!  I am really enjoying Statics especially.  I cant stop looking at cranes, building and bridges without thinking about the applied loading  and moments created about their joints!

After New Zealand I went back to Burlington for two weeks then it was off again back to Switzerland. We had a great two week long camp in Saas-Fee.  Despite getting altitude sickness for the first time in my life and some bad weather days it was an excellent camp!  After Saas-Fee we headed home for the final three weak break before the season began.  

Beach Volleyball Court in Saas-Fee, Switzerland

                         

                                     

Meui, my roommates cat taking a nap

Burlington is a beautiful place in the fall.  I had a great time at home trying to find the brightest leaves.  I was also thoroughly amused by Meui, my room mates massive ginger cat.  While at home I had my classes and labs as well as all of my workouts to do.  I felt very busy but I had a great time!  I left Vermont on Sunday the 28th of october very comfortable that I was going to have an easy trip over to Europe.  This was not to be the case.  As you may know this was the day before Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast.  My flight from Burlington left a half hour late (this seems fairly standard now from Burlington on United)  this made me a little nervous but still left me with 30 minutes to switch gates to my next flight in Newark Airport.  Unfortunately when we arrived we were told we would have to wait on the tarmac because another plane was currently sitting in our gate.  We ended up waiting 30 minutes.  I missed my flight to Munich and after immediately heading to Customer Services realized I was in big trouble.  Staring back at me from every TV screen in the airport was the massive photos of Hurricane Sandy and warnings to basically not be anywhere near New York City or New Jersey (Newark airport is about twenty minutes from downtown New York...and in New Jersey).  I arrived at the desk after waiting in line for 20 minutes to the news that they could only book me on stand by the the night of the 31st.  That was the earliest flight available from the east coast to Europe.  The airport was closing by this time and I started to weigh my options.  I looked into hotels near the airport (though the prospect of sitting in a hotel during a hurricane wasnt very appealing) and very luckily for me my boyfriend told me to look at buses.  There were none running to most of the big urban centers ( they are all along the coast) but I found one going to Albany and booked it.  It was the very last bus leaving New York City.  The rest were cancelled indefinitely.  I made my way on public transit from the airport to Newark Penn. Station.  Must say it is very confusing that there are a New York and a Newark Penn.  Station twenty minutes apart.  But I arrived there ok and was confronted with a closed Greyhound station!  Luckily for me after about twenty minutes of tense waiting my bus did show up.  I feel very lucky that I was able to get out.  At that point the city was warm and very still.  No cars or people on the streets and lit up skies from the low cloud.  It was eerie and silent.  New York without people is a bizarre place.  I arrived in Albany at 2:50 am.  My boyfriend drove my car down from Burlington to pick me up.  We arrived back in Burlington at 5: 40 am...just as it started getting light.  After a few hours nap I headed to class for the day.  What else can you do?  I immediately got in touch with the National teams travel agents and arranged for a new flight out of Montreal the next day.  Then we settled day and waited for the hurricane to hit.  Each gust of wind seemed like the start of it and each cloud the first of many to come.  Luckily, Burlington and most of Vermont escaped unscathed but we watched on TV as the every place I was 12 hours before was drowned in water and cut with wind.  Once again,  I feel very lucky to have been able to get out of Newark.

The next day my good friend Ben drove me to Montreal and dropped me off.  My route to Europe this time took me through Toronto.  A much safer route!  In the Toronto lounge I had a most amazing act of kindness!  I happened to also lose my credit card while I was in the Newark airport.  While in the Toronto lounge I happened upon a sale online on a pair of boots I have been looking at since the summer.  Jokingly (well kind of jokingly) I called my brother to beg him to buy them for me since I had no credit card to pay for them.  A lady sitting near me heard this conversation.  She bought my boots for me!  I am still amazed at this.  She didnt even want me to pay her back!  Never has someone offered to purchase an item for me out of the blue!  I will definitely be sending her a very kind and thankful gift when I get back as well as a cheque for the boots!  I will also never forget her kindness!  I am super excited to get my boots!


So after this exciting trip I landed safe and sound in Europe and proceeded via train to Solden.  We did two days of soft snow training and relocated to Reiteralm where we had another two days of great training.  I am now in Helsinki about to board my flight up to Levi!  I am very excited to race this Saturday in the first World Cup slalom of the year!

Solden, Austria

Sample of my statics homework!

Summer 2012

Hello everyone,

This summer has gone by in a flash.  It seems like yesterday that  I was pulling into Canmore after driving across Canada for my five weeks of Dryland with the Canadian Ski Team.  During this time I also started a distance e. Multivariable Calculus course.  So this summer when I have not been in the gym or on the ski hill I have been solving double and triple integrals!  Our dryland in Canmore went amazingly well.  At the end I felt strong, healthy, fit and ready to get on the ski hill!  We did some very diverse training this summer including but not limited to boxing, diving, velodrome cycling, pilates, yoga, power lifting etc.  It was great to try new activities!

After Canmore we headed home for a very needed break.  This was only my second week home since last January!  As is usual when at home the time flew by seeing friends, swimming at the lake, working out and getting all appointments out of the way before I headed out of Canada for the extended part of a  year.

I left home and flew to Munich in July.  I had a whirl wind tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland within one day as I had to go get boots fit in Austria in the morning then drive to Zurich that same day.  Amazingly it only takes about 5 hours to drive!  From Zurich the next day we took the train to Zermatt.  This is the town right below the Matterhorn.  For those who don't know the Matterhorn...its the mountain that is featured on the Toblerone Bar!  We had an epic ski camp with a ton of freeskiing and drills.  Considering how variable the weather is known to be in Zermatt the camp went by very smoothly with us only missing three days of skiing due to wind and rain.  At the end of this camp I was very happy with my GS and Slalom.  Making progress it both events.

During our stay in in Switzerland the Olympics started.  It is always interesting seeing the Olympics.  Especially when you are trying to qualify for the next ones!  It was incredible to watch the opening ceremonies and see the emotions playing across the athletes faces and think "wow, that could honestly be me in 2 years".  Makes you see the ceremonies in a different tinged light.  It was, as always, incredibly hard to tear ourselves away from the tv screen for the next two weeks.  After I arrived back in Burlington I would watch the track and field events then go do my sprint/interval workouts afterwards in the cool night air.  Even the Olympic commercials seemed inspiring!  Its kind of funny looking back at the 2010 Olympics and knowing I was in one of those commercials!

As I mentioned above after Zermatt I went back to Burlington.  I will be missing the first week and a half of school so I decided to use this time in the summer to meet with my teachers and get my textbooks before heading down to New Zealand.  My parents visited during this time and I was able to give them the full tour of my new home!  This was of course an extremely weird feeling!

I have now been in New Zealand since the 12th of August.  So far our camp has been great!  We spent the first 9 days of skiing in Mt Hutt, which is right near Christchurch.  The snow was excellent, and we had mostly sunny skies!  We stayed in the little town of Methven where there really isnt anything to do!  This turned out very well for me as it left me plenty of time to concentrate on Calculus!  Ive been burning through it!!!  We just made the move down the Queenstown to train in Coronet Peak for the remainder of our camp.  We have had two days off.  Looking at the Coronet Peak across the lake for the past two days has me excited and I cant wait to ski again tomorrow!

Hope everyone had a great summer!  I will try to keep my blog more updated in the coming months!

The end of my freshman year...and the beginning of something new!

Hello everyone!

Since my last post I have been incredibly busy hitting the books studying for final exams!  I am happy to say that today I am officially finished my freshman year of civil engineering!  WOW!  How did it go by so quickly?  I could never have imagined how much I enjoyed this year.  I have really been enjoying school the past few weeks.  Its the first time since before ski season that I have been able to get into a rhythm and have a set schedule.  It was nice.  My marks really took an upturn since the end of the ski season and I feel like my exams went fairly well!  Today I showed up to hand over and test my final project in Matlab (a computer programming course).  We had to make a computer script which would tell the iRoomba robot (you know the little robot which is actually a vacuum) to sweep an area looking for "survivors" in a "disaster zone".  Our teacher set up rocks, water jugs, "cliffs" (black paper) and walls which our robot had to navigate.  It was really cool to see something that I designed on the computer take shape in real life....well sort of.  As I walked out afterwards I felt an immediate sense of FREEDOM!!!  And the thought "Well what should I do now?".  And as usual that thought led me to the great gym on campus for a spin and lower body.  This April/ May has been great for my favourite activities of running and playing tennis.  I even got new grips for my tennis racket....BRIGHT Pink (So I'd better improve my game quickly!!!!).  About a week and a half ago I ran 10 miles!  That is the furthest I have ever gone!  So its been a great spring!

Today I can officially say that I have been selected to once again be on the Canadian Team!  I am SUPER excited to represent Canada and the University of Vermont in the upcoming season!  I will keep everyone updated throughout the summer!

Thanks for all the well wishes and support it couldnt have been done without you!

Elli

The end of the season

The University of Vermont Alpine Ski Team Girls
My NorAm plate!
A really cool wall in Zagreb, Croatia
UVM winning the NCAA title!

This has been my most busy season by lanyards. The combination of school and skiing has been difficult, rewarding, tiring, stressful and strangely successful despite some setbacks.

When I came back from Barcelona I was motivated, caught up in school and super excited about the upcoming races. That Friday I was racing the Williams Carnival in Jiminy Peak, Massachusetts when I suffered a concussion during my second run. I didn't think much of it initially. I didn't lose consciousness I just realized that I had really rung my bell. However as soon as I got up and skied towards the finish line I became nauseous. A symptom that stayed with me for 11 days. I was unable to attend school or ski. I stayed in a dark room and tried not to think. I have never felt so stifled. I have had other concussions but none where my symptoms lasted so long! It was very frustrating. I finally visited a chiropractor who treated my neck for whiplash and that finally started the process of relieving my headaches and nausea. Unfortunately, because of this I was unable to attend the next World Cup race in Ofterschwang. In retrospect it is very sad because it was my friend and Canadian Team member Erin Mielzynskis first World Cup win! As soon as I got the clear I did one day of training then headed to Boseman, Montana to compete with my University team in NCAA Championships. It was a very fun and exciting week which culminated with the University of Vermont team winning the NCAA championships with the largest margin of victory since the new points system came out! It was amazing to be a part of a team with so much momentum behind it. It was also fun cheering on our Nordic team whom we never get to see race. They did a great job!

It wasn't until afterwards that I found out that our team, as National Champions, will get to shake hands with the president of the United States! As a Canadian, shaking hands with Obama was not something I ever thought I would get to do! I am very excited!

When we returned we immediately drove up to Mont Garceau Quebec to compete in the next NorAm series. I came 7th in the GS and 5th in the slalom in Val St. Come. After that quick trip we returned to school to hit the books for a week. This past weeks weather in Burlington was amazing. It was nearly 30 degrees every day. I played a ton of tennis, attended an outdoor BBQ, went biking and running and thoroughly enjoyed the incredible summer (in March!) weather. However, this weather decimated the snowpack in the east. NorAm finals in Le Massif and Mont Ste. Anne Quebec, were supposed to be a full schedule of racing from Downhill through to slalom. Unfortunately, the only race they were able to hold were the slaloms. So yesterday in about 15 degree weather we raced the final NorAm slalom. It was very interesting snow and a beautiful clear blue day. I ended up 9th after making a mistake on the second run and truly not skiing my best. After two weeks of sitting and the subsequent lack of training I did not feel comfortable on my skis all day. HOWEVER, I am extremely happy and proud to say that this was a good enough result to secure the OVERALL SLALOM NORAM TITLE!!!!!!! YAY!! After two years of losing it on the very last day I finally have garnered my own World Cup spot for next year. I couldn't be more happy!

Tomorrow we will race the Canadian Nationals Slalom (the other events were cancelled). This will (I believe) be my last race this season. I am very excited to race and also very excited to be able to fully commit to my schooling for the rest of the spring! I feel I am still catching up after missing so much school in February and early March.

Looking back over the season I am very happy with how it went. I gained my first World CUp points, raced in 5 World Cup slaloms, raced the full NorAm circuit and won the overall slalom title, was named rookie of the year for the Eastern Inter-Collegiate Ski Association, raced at NCAA championships and achieved all eastern and all american first team status in both slalom and gs, my team won the NCAA title (HUGE DEAL!!!) and I get to meet Obama. Not a bad year!

To finish off this post I'd like to thank everyone for all their support this year. I couldn't have done it without you!!! I'd also like to say that obviously skiing and University can go hand in hand...something I really wanted to prove this year. Just because you are not on a national team doesn't mean you cannot achieve success. It is possible to get an education (even in a hard discipline like civil engineering) and still be an elite athlete.

Hope evryone has an awesome spring!

Back to Europe....

Since my last post I hammered the books at school...and did a little skiing! I competed in my first Carnival Races with my University team. I have to say they are incredibly fun races! There is nothing like having a pretty good field of athletes...and parents that bring a load of food! It was like a mix of ski racing and soccer (remember how all the parents would bring orange slices?)! It seemed that the parents of the different schools were competing for who could bring the best spread! We ended up with sandwiches, oranges, apples, gatorade, incredible homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and wait for it....strawberry cheesecake...AT A RACE! It was very hard to hold back on the cheesecake until after our second run. Another great feature of these races is the team spirit. It was lovely to be in the finish line and have your entire team cheering for you and vis versa. UVM did incredibly well at both the Carnivals I attended. The boys swept the podium almost every day and my team mate Christina won the first GS...I was second and I won both the slaloms. It was a great experience!

After the carnival two weekends ago I received some terrible unexpected news that my Opa (my grandfather) died. It was incredibly hard to be away from my family during this time. It was also difficult because I haven't seen my Opa since July. I still cannot believe he is gone. The following Tuesday I left to compete in the NorAM series in Vail Colorado. We started out with GS. This is an event I feel I am always still having to readjust to. I ended up 11th and 10th. I had better luck in the slaloms. I ended up 3rd and then 2nd. I had an interesting experience as I really wanted to do well at these races in honour of my Opa. The first day when I finished the second run I had a serious moment of fighting back tears. Not because I was particularly unhappy with how I skied but I had wanted to win for my Opa and I felt I let him down. After a few minutes my more rational brain kicked in and I realized it was incredibly vain and selfish of me to think that way. My Opa would just be happy that I was doing something that I love. He taught me how to be an incredibly hard worker and to enjoy the small things in life. He taught me about caring and being gracious with others. These are traits I hope I never lose sight of. I will miss him incredibly but in myself and my family I know he will always be around in our actions.

After the NorAms I headed back to Burlington for a quick two days at school then this Wednesday I boarded a plane for Barcelona to compete in the World Cup slalom race in Soldeu-Grandvalira, Andorra. Yesterday the GS was cancelled due to high winds so they moved the slalom race up a day to give themselves a better chance of getting the GS off on Sunday. My bib today was 44. The hill was in great shape and the snow was grippy and hard. The terrain was flat and rolly onto the steepest/longest pitch I have skied this year. I knew that the pitch would give me trouble as I havent skied a pitch in a very long time and with the super grippy snow it is very easy to make a mistake....and starting 44 you cant make a mistake and come top 30....or not easily. Out of the gate I felt really good. I felt like I was letting my skis run and felt I was carrying speed despite the head wind. I made a big mistake coming onto the pitch which ended up costing my a second run! I came into a delay a little in the backseat and with the snow being super grippy it shot me out towards the outside gate....and I ended up crawling back into the course on the pitch. I then attacked the pitch as best I could but I am not good enough on pitches to make up for my mistake up top. My first two splits were good enough to be in the top 30...but I ended up 39th and .33 out from qualifying for second run. SO CLOSE AGAIN! I know I had a ripper up top and I know that I can make it so once again I am going to take the positives out of this race and wait impatiently for my next shot. I will be racing in Ofterschwang in Germany in the first week of March. Until then its back to school and the rest of the Carnival series.

THanks everyone for the support and I hope everyone is having a great February. I would ALSO like to put out a HUGE congratulations to fellow BC skier Ben Thompsen who came 2ND today in the World Cup Downhill in Sochi Russia. It is SO good to see someone do well who hasnt followed the traditional ski racing route!