Return to Snow

It's good to be back! Last week I got back on snow for the first time since injuring my knee in March. I am used to a return-to-snow program that begins with multiple drill sets before gradually progressing to more dynamic turns and eventually gates, and while I was careful to make sure I had my feet underneath me, I had no choice but to partake in the 97 inches that fell on the mountain during my time at Alyeska. This meant getting my balance back by dropping chutes and searching for powder stashes tucked away in the trees. I had a great time skiing with friends and family, and I can't wait to get back out on snow; maybe next time in a more controlled environment.

During my visit home Kieffer, my little brother, and I were asked to speak with the Alyeska Ski Club junior program. The athletes were gearing up for the annual year-end USSA race, The Coca-Cola Classic, so we shared a few tips about preparing for race day and dealing with success/failure. It's great to see the future of Alaska ski racing up close, and it was even better to watch them rip some slalom the next day during the races.

One of my favorite parts about growing up racing in AK was having so many great ski racers that I could lay claim to: Tommy Moe, Hilary Lindh, Megan Gerety, Mike Makar, Kjersti Bjorn-Roli, Andre and Suki Horton. I was pretty sure that since we came from the same place, I basically destined to be equally as accomplished (my first Junior Olympics proved to be an serious wakeup call). While Kieffer and I don't pretend to be in the same company as an Olympic or World Championship gold medalist, we wanted to make sure the kids knew that even though AK can sometimes seem like a far off and distant land, in the end it's just a matter of getting from point 'a' to point 'b', and that the fastest person can come from anywhere.

Here are some shots from our talk, it was a fun group of kids. Happy New Year!

Alpine Athlete Rep Election-Success!

Today I was informed that I was elected the Alpine Althlete Rep to the USSA Board of Directors. I am humbled that the athletes chose me as their voice in the board room, and I look forward to listening, learning, and communicating to the BoD the areas most in need of change in U.S. skiing.

The process was more drawn out and draining than I thought it would be, but the support that I got from fellow racers, other skiers, family, and friends was unbelievable and I would do again in a second given the opportunity. One of the best shout outs I got throughout the process came from fellow ITA athlete, teenage girl heartthrob, and nordic badass Sylvan Ellefson who texted me from Finland (i.e. he spent money to call me, and it was a long ass text) to tell me how pumped he was that I was choosing to run for the Alpine Rep position. Sylvan and I have very similar career path getting to the World Cup circuit, and it was really cool to have my phone buzz and see that he fully supported the ideas that I was running on.

The cross-sport cheerleading that goes on within ITA is authentic and it means a lot. The ITA roster is not just a list of accomplished athletes, it's a group of athletes who care about the community they are a part of and genuinely want the best for each other. The pursuit of excellence in sports can be a pretty lonely road, and if you're not going to the ESPY's or at the OTC, it's pretty unlikely that connections like this will be made. Add it to the list why this is the coolest non-profit to work with. I mean, who doesn't want to get a text message from McDreamy?

A First

Yesterday was a first for American ski racing: I was able to watch the Beaver Creek World Cup live on television. Not online through some shady website pulling in a live feed of Eurosport, not through universalsports.com's season pass access, but on an actual television on an actual channel when it was actually happening, all in the USA.

This is a big deal. One of the most common questions I get when I am working with kids on an ITA project is how people can watch me. Specifically, what channel. It can be a bit hard to explain the significance of the sport to someone who is used to every other relevant sport being available at any time on almost every channel. Directing someone to a pay-per-view or a European gambling site doesn't exactly grow a viewer base, so just the ability to know that someone might actually stumble upon ski racing yesterday is comforting. I would have done just about anything to have been on the other side of the lens yesterday, but standing and screaming at the television made me feel a  lot closer to the sport than I have in the last couple of months. Let's hope this type of thing continues.