An Open Letter to Austin Huneck

Dear Austin,

I’ve liked you ever since you first arrived in Alaska. You’ve always been such a great guy to train with, to travel with, and to race with. Everyone on this team has benefited from your experience and wisdom, and we like your taste in music, too. We’ve had a few good laughs over the past year, and your teammates clearly like and respect you.

We are a team who always supports one another. We encourage each other and we want our teammates to succeed.  This past weekend in Vail, however, you really went above and beyond for one of your teammates. You knew that Hannah needed a little extra motivation for this weekend’s race – just that little extra incentive to help her find her way into the top five on the result list in this weekend’s college race.  Being the true teammate that you are, you knew just what it would take to help Hannah reach her full potential, and score a ton of points for our UAA Ski Team this weekend.

And that is why you now have Hannah’s name tattooed on the inside of your lip.

During Hannah’s second of two laps on Saturday, when I was giving splits and shouting encouragement on Minnesota Hill, it was clear that Hannah was skiing an inspired final two kilometers. She was going much faster than anybody else at that point, and she was quickly moving up through the field, going from somewhere just outside the top ten at the halfway point, to fourth place by the time she crossed the finish line. I could see that she had a look of determination on her face as she charged past me and I assumed it was because her parents had come all the way from the Land of 10,000 Lakes and were standing just 30 meters farther up the hill than me.  But now I know that in fact she had visions of her name gloriously displayed inside your lower lip. (Although I can’t completely discount the effect of Craig and Kim being there; I’m sure their presence helped, too.)

Lately, I’ve been hearing Skiwolves using the term “#oneteam” when referring to our little gang of misfits and freaks. I don’t really know what that term means because I don’t speak Instagram, but I think you’re probably the living embodiment of the sentiment behind the hashtag. After all, it takes an enormous load of generosity and integrity to not only promise to get a tattoo to help motivate a teammate, but then to follow through and stay true to your word. I like Hannah. And I like her name, too. If I were to get a name tattooed on my body, I think the name “Hannah” would be fairly high on my list of options. Nevertheless, I probably wouldn’t get the name Hannah, or any other name, tattooed on my body unless I had a real good reason. You told me yesterday that “Hannah earned it.” That may be true, but you have earned my respect for your integrity and your willingness to help out a teammate.

I know I have a bit of a reputation as a teller of tales from years gone by on the UAA Ski Team. I can tell you today with sincerity that the story of Austin, Hannah, and the tattoo will be a tale that will be told enthusiastically for as long as I’m involved with this team. And by the grace of the good Lord above, that will be for many more years to come.

Sincerely,

Your Friend Adam

Vikings!

It's a quiet weekend in the Twin Cities. Half the population of Minnesota boarded an airplane yesterday and flew to Denver. And so it was that Kim and Craig Rudd, Doug Keller, Kathleen Miller and Hannah's aunt Dawn came strolling up the driveway to our team house here in Vail yesterday evening.

We stayed in Steamboat for a few days after our races because of the good training that's available there.

It was Natalie's birthday and that's why she has this carrot cake (with carrot skier sculpture) on her lap.

Apparently, we're not in Anchorage anymore.

Tuva signed up for all the toughest engineering classes. Toom has a college degree in engineering. And even he's stumped. This is the sort of thing that reconfirms my wise decision to choose a major in the social sciences when I was in college.

Whenever we have a little down time on the road, Marine lets me slink off to the local alpine hill for a few runs. Chute 3 at Steamboat had plenty of snow in it this past week!

And the tree skiing was divine, too.

It's always a nice change of pace. And doesn't require a bunch of heavy breathing.

Meanwhile, for the athletes back at the house, the work doesn't stop.

Tuva says "hello" from the road!

Are they real cowboys yet?  You decide.

So anyway, like I was saying earlier, soon after we rolled into Vail for our second weekend of RMISA racing, half the population of the Midwest rolled in right behind us. And it's a good thing, too.  Michaela took the weekend off to recover from a recent cold, but Hannah was primed and ready to have a great race, and all she needed was a pack of wild Minnesotans cheering from the side of the trail to help her achieve her best college result ever. It was a fun moment to be part of, and it would have been a very different day without Kim, Craig, Kathleen, Doug and Dawn here to share it!

Kim, Craig, Kathleen, Doug, and two people who apparently like the Nanooks more than the Seawolves.

The ski tuning is always sunny and comfortable in the Rockies

Marine. Focused. Getting it done.

Espen

Magnum

Austin

Siggi

The men of UAA

Michaela was disappointed to be skipping these races to rest and recover, but it did give her more time to hang out with her mom.

Tuva

Here's Hanna - charging!

Hannah again.

Natalie

Jenna. Sometimes the most interesting things are going on in the background.

Anna. Fully committed. Again - check the background.

More Anna

Guess who?

Tuva and Natalie

Kathleen, Doug, Kim, and Dawn

Hannah and Michaela

The racing's over for the day and it's back to the grind. But I think something good will come of Tuva's physics class.

More racing tomorrow, and then we'll all fly back to Alaska and Minnesota tomorrow night.  The word on the street, though, is that Hannah's folks are planning to come back for more racing next month in Aspen. If their influence there is anything like it's been here, then there's good times ahead for the Seawolves.

ps. All the good photos in this blog post were taken by Kim Rudd. All the crappy ones were mine.

Steamboat Mass Start

We're off to a good start. After our first weekend of racing, we're satisfied with where we are now, and looking forward to getting faster as the season progresses. Steamboat Springs has been good to us so far.

Hey, look who came to help us wax our skis - it's Seawolf sophomore alpine skier Sky Kelsey! He's spending this winter getting his shoulder fixed so he'll be ready to get back on the hill next winter, but the shoulder sling didn't seem to hurt his abilities as Sigurd's serviceman today.

At the 800 meter mark.

The mens' start

A zombie?  No. That's Maggi asking for refreshments.

More zombies?  Austin.

JC didn't have time for drinks.

Neither did Espen.

Why is there nobody besides Sigurd in this photo? That's because Siggi dropped them about 400 meters earlier, on his final push to a 3rd place finish today. This was the top of the final climb, with 1.8km to the finish.

Anna on the podium

Siggi on the podium

This isn't all of us. But it's most of us.

On the Road Again

Here we go!  

We're in Steamboat Springs, Colorado now for the first set of RMISA races of the NCAA ski season.  We've left the cold and ice fog of Anchorage behind for the deep snow, dry air and sunny skies of the Rocky Mountains. 

Our last day in Anchorage before our first RMISA road trip. Hard intervals in ice fog at Kincaid Park.

At the team house here in The 'Boat. Yoga and stretching under the watchful eye of the elk, led by Hannah.

Jenna

Mt Werner. And Magnum

So far this week, we're all smiles!

Norwegian mango burritos for dinner (with "forsikrings lefser")

no caption is necessary 

The NCAA and FIS regulations are always changing. We needed to measure Anna.
Good thing she's eligible, because she was third today.

Pre-race meeting.

Here's Magnum in his first RMISA race.

Espen too.

Austin

Sigurd - giving full gas

It was Tuva's first RMISA race too. 

Here's Hannah

Jenna

Anna, in the finish push.
You've probably noticed there are no pictures of Natalie here. That's because I got so excited that it's her birthday today and I forgot to press the button on my little camera.

With our first day of RMISA racing behind us, we're off to a good start and ready to build on this as the season progresses toward the NCAA Championship in Bozeman in a couple months.