Chez Dunlap

Today was a two-workout day at Hatcher Pass.  But we needed to rest between outings, and hanging out in the vans in the parking lot for five hours just doesn't seem like good ski team policy.  Rhonda and Russ Dunlap invited the team to come to their house in Palmer near the bottom of Hatcher Pass to eat, rest, and relax between workouts.  It turned out to be a very good, productive, and fun day of training, and we couldn't have had such a good day of skiing without Rhonda and Russ' hospitality.  Thank you so much!

We started out with some classic skiing:

Coach Andrew and the women's team

Erik Bjornsen and Lukas Ebner were freshman teammates on the UAA Ski Team back in 2010. Lukas is now a senior and Erik is on the US Ski Team. Erik joined us for today's training, and I know Lukas enjoyed the opportunity to do some training with his old teammate.

I wasn't going to take this picture until Andrew pointed out that the sunbeam was focused directly on the Dunlap's house - and brunch!

Brunchtime!  If this was my house, there would have been a few slices of bread on the counter, a jar of peanut butter, maybe a little jelly, and a bucket of water to drink.  Fortunately, we were at Russ and Rhonda Dunlap's house.  We feasted on quiche, salmon, and BACON!  I haven't eaten that well in a long time.

Post-brunch, there were songs to be sung by the fireside.  Here's Etienne and Russ; dueling guitars on "Horse With No Name".

Second workout - skating.

Marine and coach Nicole.

Coaches meeting - Nicole and Andrew discussing the issues of the day.