New Zealand Bound

Hello everyone!

I am on my way to New Zealand for a 4 week camp! Will keep you posted as soon I get there!

Cheers!

Elli

Summer and beyond!

Hello All!

So it has been quite a while since I last blogged. Sorry. I have been working really hard lately and haven't had a chance to sit and think for a while!

This past 2 months I have been working non-stop on our home reno project. It is going really well but a little slower than initially planned (you could say renovating an old house is like opening a can of worms)...but I won't go that far. It has been a great experience which has taught me a lot about the construction business and how to work in close quarters with my whole family! It really has been good. I don't think I have been home for such an extended amount of time for the past few years....well actually since I finished school...this has been my longest stay at home. To qualify I did go away a couple times but they were under a week so don't really count!

So far in July I have gone to Whistler for a dryland slash ski camp and I am now in Canmore visiting and training with my friend and teammate Kelly McBroom. I leave for New Zealand on the 28th of July. So yeah...my stay at home is over for now. I will be in New Zealand for 5 weeks which will be very exciting as I have never been to New Zealand.

Ta ta for now!

Home Reno!

New floor in bathroom
Hard wood floors!!
2275 kg of concrete later....

dirt everywhere!!!

Hello all!

So I have been so busy I haven't been able to et on-line to blog lately! My family bought a little dilapidated house in Kamloops which we have been renovating! What hard work!! My mom and I lugged 2275 kg of concrete out of the basement!! We have taken out walls...and removed a ton of lath and plaster!! Hard work aside it has been very interesting, and very fun!!! I love seeing the progress that can be made in such a short time!!!

So that has been my whole June. I am now in Whistler for two days training with my team mates Kelly, MP, and Britt in the gym! It is sooo nice to see them after so long puttering around in Kamloops!

Photos from the spring!

The view down from the top of Mt. Rundle!
At the top of EEOR in Canmore! Top of Mt. Rundle with Kelly!
My new cousin Sawyer!
Working with my horse Shimmer
Rockclimbing at Lac La Roche

Back to work!

Hello everyone!

It has continued to be a great week after getting home from Maui. First of all, I am the proud new owner of a car!!! Yay first time having my own car=more independence yes! I have a 2000 VW Passat...very pretty! Thank you to Kamloops Mazda for giving me such a good deal on a Volkeswagon!!

In other news I learned this week that there is good hiking around Kamloops!!! My friend Bre, my brother and myself hiked up the hoodoo's behind the Kamloops airport. They are so beautiful!! Such distinct features and peppered with bits of quarts and jade...and cactus!!! I got some cacti stuck in my ankle!!! Ouch...but I had revenge by collecting a bunch, peeling then eting them!! To anwser the question I know is coming....yes they are edible...yes someone informed on the subject told me...and yes they taste like chicken.....wait a tic....Kidding!! Just checking if you were paying attention!! They taste like a very watered down pear. Worth trying once in your life if only to say you've eaten cactus! Whatever the case it was a great hike in lovely Kamloops sunny weather!

I also went outdoor rockclimbing for the first time in a very long time! I have climbed indoors quite alot in the past few years but never had to opportunity to commit to the outdoors! I went with my friend Bre and her boyfriend out to Lac le Roche about a 30 min drive from Kamloops. I discovered that I was actually a little freaked out to belay back down the cliff! Going up no problem but coming back down took a second before I felt confident in my repelling abilities!

This week is about getting back into the swing of summer life as a ski racer...aka getting back in the gym and skiing!! Yesterday I drove out to Canmore in my new car! Today I went skiing with Jay Keddy (a nat. team coach) and it was excellent!! I feel like I learned a ton and that my skiing is already better! We worked on narrowing my stance, "clapping" in between turns and running a deeper line. I am going to ski for the next few days and I can't wait to continue working on these things! Hill in the morning gym in the afternoon...ah to be back in business!

Until next time!

Elli

Maui and Home

Hello everyone!

I just got home from a wonderful week in Maui!

I am now home and back to getting ready for another ski season. I have been doing lots of other sports recently (today I went outdoor rockclimbing...hiking yesterday) and next week I will get back into the gym for "real"! Looking forward to it!

Spring is in the air!

My dog Jazz after her first dip of the year in the lake!



The slalom of Nationals with Britt Jaynk

So I have been taking it nice and chill since finishing my race season at Spring Series in Nakiska on the 1st. I went home and fore ran the Canadian Masters Nationals which was a blast. It is incredible that you can ski race until your 90 (yes there was an incredible man there who's birth year was 1919!!!). If that is not motivation to live long and prosper I don't know what is!

I accomplished some real days of rest and got a few days of skiing in with my family! I also got to do a day of free skiing with my coach from when I was on the Sun Peaks Alpine Club, Johnny Crichton, who is still my favourite coach I have ever had! It is amazing how much confidence someone can inspire in you in just one day (thanks Johnny!!)

On the 9th I flew back out to the Banff area to have a great ski day with my buddy Mike Schneider who is out this direction to do his level 4 ski instructor exam (Good Luck MIKE)! We had a great day freeskiing the world cup downhill run at Lake Louise (much nicer to do on GS boards than DH's!!!).

Today I trained slalom at Norquay with Steph Irwin, Kelly McBroom and the BAR ski club. Again it was great! There were two courses set up, a drill course and a normal course. The awesome axis was off the charts (thanks mike for the quote!!). This was followed by lunch out in Canmore, a wicked game of scrabble, meeting Kelly's cool cousins and their cute dog Bruno, dinner at the grizzly paw-followed by crepes then....then to finish off an amazing day we saw three bands playing at a local coffee shop!! I absolutely loved the live music and drinking herbal tea!! The bands were Peter Katz (amazing lyrics and vocals), In-flight Safety (great sound!) and Yukon Blondes which blew the roof off the place with an incredible jam session at the end of their set...followed by an encore which resulted in the whole tea shop erupting into a dance party! I had no choice but to support them by buying a whole bunch of their CD's!! (Got to support the artists you know!!)

So basically my life has been great lately and I am hoping the trend will continue-on and off snow!

Cheers everyone...hope you are having an incredible spring!!!

Elli