Transitions

The view out my window onto my deck as I write this.

The training season has ended. Now the racing season begins. It's winter solstice. It's dark in the north, but the snow lies deep and fluffy on the ground. The skiing here is so good now! There's no place I'd rather be at the moment. 

Before snow came to Anchorage, we had a week of amazing ice skating on alpine lakes that would normally be covered in snow. It was an opportunity not to be missed!

But our team is scattered far and wide. And I'm flying to Utah tomorrow. We have to go where the races are. The word on the street is there's not really any snow in Utah. 

Our alpine skiers. In Yukon Territory.

We've had a good transition to winter. We have a big team this year. Lots of new faces. Our new skiers are bringing a lot of good energy into the mix. I'm pretty fired up to go out on the road with this group. I think we all are.

Astrid. On her way to a time trial win.

Alpine training camp finished up and I made my way off the chairlift and back to the cross-country scene at the beginning of December. It's a safer sport, generally speaking. I was reminded of this last week when I heard the news that Head Coach Sparky had a wreck in Jackson Hole while coaching our alpine skiers, tore his achilles, broke his ankle, and went directly into surgery. His is not a job that's easy to do while on crutches. Get well soon, Sparky!

Sparky

But the alpine and nordic skiers on this team are close, and I was so happy to see, during one of our recent time trials with APU, Olivia, Ella and Carmen come marching in a few minutes before start time, carrying a huge mobile speaker, to cheer for our nordic Seawolves out on the race course on a dark, cold Sunday morning. This is what college ski racing is all about!

Ella, Carmen and Olivia. Making a lot of noise out in the woods.

Last week, we raced the first period of the Super Tour series, the highest-level racing circuit in North America, the results of which are used to select American and Canadian skiers for the World Cup. Everyone who's not on the World Cup circuit was here. Four high-quality races on perfect snow conditions was a great way to get ready for the heart of the winter racing season, which starts in the beginning of January, and ends in mid-March. 

Trond and Lindsay invited us all to their house for a Christmas party last weekend. We had a wonderful time together, but the highlight of the evening was the appearance of Niva's guinea pigs.

Putting on the interval-workout jerseys. At Kincaid Park.

We are a team with a lot of fresh faces, loads of new energy, and an openness to learning, improving, and becoming successful on this very competitive NCAA circuit. One of our skiers told me earlier today she thinks it's gonna be a really good winter. I agree with her!