The 2014-15 season is well under way now but before I get
into what’s going on right now I’m going to jump back and do a quick recap to
wrap up last year. National
Championships were a great event again this year with Corner Brook and Blow Me
Down Ski Club playing host. Thank you to
the organizing committee and all the volunteers! We had a mix of weather conditions as to be
expected in March, but thankfully nothing too extreme. I had the chance to ski some of the rec
trails on a blue bird training day and was impressed with the trail
system. Some really nice stuff further out! As a whole my Nationals were mediocre with a
few highlights.
After a crash and broken pole off the start line of the Team
Sprint Final, Andy and I clawed ourselves back to a 4th place
finish. It would have been great to see
where we could have finished if we hadn’t had the crash… hopefully we can find
redemption at the 2015 Nationals. I won
a bronze medal after a really good effort in the 15km Skate event. I also qualified 3rd place in the
sprint race, but unfortunately missed out on the A-final by 2 hundredths of a
second.
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Top: Good feelings to be on the podium at Nationals.
Bottom: Made it big in the local paper! |
Post-Nationals I headed back to Canmore for a little over a
week. Had an awesome day downhill skiing
in fresh pow at Sunshine, raced Sharkfest (3rd and 2nd
place finishes) and partied in Banff.
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| Spring-time fun in the mountains! |
And finally it was time to go home. Feeling worn out I boarded the plane with a
sigh of relief. Through April I enjoyed
some low key days and spending time with my girlfriend, family and friends. Snow was still prevalent so I did some skiing
when I felt like it. I competed in a few
fun events (Run & Ski, Orienteering, Biathalon Balloon Toss) and joined NDC
TBay for a 5-day volume skiing camp. I
felt like I was getting back to my skiing roots and I think I needed to
rediscover that.
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| Last Big Snowfall of the Year in TBay |
Beginning of May I travelled to Canmore to kick off the new
season. It was hard to leave home behind
once again, but I got into the regular training routines with our first
training camp right away and morning skis at Sunshine were spectacular. Conditions were like mid-winter with fresh
powder the first few days and we had some unbelievable crust skiing days as
well. Things were a little up in the air
with a new coaching system being put into action, however the camp went
smoothly and things started to fall into place pretty quickly after the camp.
It’s one week into June now and I’m feeling like
I’m on the right track. I had a solid
month of training in May. I’ve been able
to implement my training strategies. So
far the changes in the system I’m working under have been positive. I’ve been doing this ski thing for some time
now and like any other career or job there are days when I wish I was doing
something else, but the majority of the time I can’t believe how lucky I am to
be living this life. I love training,
being outside breathing in fresh air, and working towards a big goal alongside
likeminded people.
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Top: Andy in a snow covered gondola on our way up to Sunshine and skiing!
Bottom: The TBay guys getting their skis ready for another blue bird ski day. |
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| The photo speaks enough words on its own. |
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Top: Summit of Heart Mountain
Bottom: Jana further up the ridge closing in on Grant MacEwan Peak |
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| The Heart Mountain Horseshoe ridgeline |
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