Shutdown

Late last March, I could tell that the entire crew at the UAA Nordic Ski Team Blog needed a little break. The staff writers were running low on ideas, the copy editors were showing up late and missing deadlines, and even our custodial staff seemed low on morale. After a long ski season, our management team was getting tired of the relentless pressure from corporate for increased profits, and from our shareholders for increased dividends. The vibe around HQ was not good. So I made the difficult but necessary executive decision to furlough the entire staff (without pay) until fall. 

And I'm glad I did. After a half-year break, the entire UAA Nordic Ski Team Blog staff has returned to their tiny cubicles refreshed and ready for a new start. At our corporate campus, the air is abuzz with energy, new ideas are being kicked around over lunch in the cafeteria, and the brainstorming is non-stop.

And it's not only the Blog staff that's refreshed and ready for a new season. The UAA Ski Team itself is also awash in new faces, and Trond has that excited, giddy laugh that he gets when he starts thinking about ski racing, ski racers, and skis. If you know Trond, you know what I'm talking about.

So we're off on a new adventure!  As my counterpart, Volunteer Assistant Alpine Coach Morten Kjerland told the alpine skiers today: You only get four years to be an NCAA student athlete, and the clock is already ticking. So all of us here at the UAA Nordic Ski Team Blog are fired up for a new year, ready to make every moment count, and make lemons into memories!

Two weeks ago. Already snow in the mountains above Anchorage. We'll likely be skiing next month.