Adventuring in Park City
Park City At Play |
06/10/09Lao Lao, Yummy Yummy
Laos is the most laid-back country I have visited. The people, the culture, the landscape is uniquely and beautifully exquisite. Right now, we’re in Luang Prabang, a bustling city surrounded by tropical rain forest, the Mekong River, mountains and temples. Compared to any other city, this is quaint, quiet, slow, reserved. But compared to where we have been the last five days, it is an oasis of action. We spent the past five days biking and hiking through northern Laos. For reference, the country is pronounced “louse” and the people and language and religion is Lao (no “s”). All are Buddhist, but the people are split into three, agreeable tribes: Lao, Hmong and Kamu. Intermarriage between the tribes is now widely accepted. Initially, I was... Posted at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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05/13/09Grappling with Climate Change
Never let it be said that going back to college is overrated. And if you're going to do it, do it right. While I did my undergrad work at West Virginia University, today a member of the Big East, this week I checked into Stanford of the Pac-10. The difference? The campus adorned with palm trees, eucalyptus trees, flowers that bloom year-round, and what Bruce Springsteen would refer to as "girls in their summer clothes." But this time around I wasn't a student, per se, but rather a "visiting scholar." I told one group that I really wasn't much more than a "writer dude," but nonetheless the university card spells it out right in bold -- v-i-s-i-t-i-n-g s-c-h-o-l-a-r. And they tossed in an office for good measure. Posted at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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04/13/09The end of season 08-09 is the beginning of season 09-10
The beginning was in Solden, Austria and the end was in Alyeska, Alaska. We did a lot of traveling this year and our ski races brought us to many exciting places, but the story of our National Championships in Alaska capped off a season full of ups, downs and lessons. This season I experienced everything from a personal best on the World Cup circuit with 14th place in Solden, to my fist major injury (a broken wrist), to my coach teaching me to go with the flow. On March 23, 2009 athletes all over America boarded planes to fly north, but not many got very far. Between volcanic eruptions, flights were being delayed and turned around. There was a sigh of relief for those of us who finally landed in Anchorage, because for those of you who do not know, you cannot run machinery... Posted at 05:42 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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04/07/09A New Adventure
Another amazing season has completed, filled with some serious ups and downs, World Cup podiums, a new jump, a few crashes and everything that comes along with making sure to be completely prepared for next year's Olympic season. I am now in Park City and back in the gym with our strength coach Tschana, but in a week will be taking a bit of time out of the gym before what will be a very busy summer. The most exciting part of my spring is that I finally have the amazing opportunity to participate, hands on with the organization "Right to Play"; to interact with and make a difference for some of the world's most disadvantaged children. To me, this upcoming trip is part of the full expression of who I strive to be as an athlete, and I couldn't feel more honored to be one of... Posted at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/23/09World Championship Aerials
As an athlete and an Olympian, my life is dominated by flipping and twisting on skis. I wake up thinking about aerials, eat meals, go to the gym, wax my skis, train, get injured and recover, lift weights, travel, compete, visualize, watch video etc, etc, etc … each day with the intention of doing even better jumps the next day. I know that in the big picture of life, a flip and a twist with skis on is not a truly "important" thing, but to me the sport represents much more than that. As an athlete what I truly desire is that each jump represents who I am, and the heart and soul that has gone into each year, each day and each hour of training that has encompassed my life. Some days that is more challenging than others. In the past few weeks I went from the... Posted at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/03/09On the Road - January 2009
The month of January has been full of ski racing and traveling for me and as with all professional athletes there has been a mix of good and bad races. My teammate, Hailey Duke (www.haileyduke.com) and I started out the month in Kirchberg, Austria celebrating the new year by shooting off bigger fireworks than I have ever legally been able to touch in the U.S. and eating homemade fondue. Since then we followed the World Cup circuit to places like Maribor, Slovenia and Cortina, Italy. In the city of Maribor we shopped and in Cortina we ate pasta and gelato for fuel. We also managed to fit in a lot of skiing and are finishing up the month with the announcement of the United States’ World Championship team 2009. I am excited to be attending my first world championship races in... Posted at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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01/28/09A Quick Round Valley Fix
Like most busy parents, I was wild with joy last week when I discovered one hour of time all to myself. It was a crisp, sunny day, the kind of blue skies-without-a-cloud weather that Park City seems to have patented. Frankly, it would have been blasphemy to squander that hour working. Since the dog needed exercise as desperately as I (and Round Valley was perfectly situated on the road to school pick-up), the decision wasn't hard. I grabbed my eight-year-old, ski swap, never-been-waxed, classic cross-country skis, loaded up my golden retriever and headed for the ice rink parking lot. We parked closer to the snow-covered baseball diamond than the rink, walked across the street to the trailhead sign, clicked in, un-clicked, picked up the pup's poop, clicked back in and we were... Posted at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
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01/28/09Big Air Chronicles III - Lake Placid World Cup
The next morning was comp day and I felt the pre-comp jitters, but knew I was as prepared as I could possibly be to debut my new trick in front of friends, family and the hometown crowd. I love competing in the US. Being home and having the support of friends and family makes being an athlete truly worthwhile. Regardless, I was a bit nervous about the added pressure that also comes with being expected to perform on home soil. I had great early morning training and stomped my first jump, a full double full, successfully, landing me in third position going into the final. I was really excited, but was sure to remember not to celebrate too early. In aerials two jumps count, and doing well on the first one leaves no guarantees, other than the opportunity to continue on in the... Posted at 03:33 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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01/26/09Big Air Chronicles IV - Coming Back Home to PC
After all of the excitement of my first podium of the season in Lake Placid, NY, heading to Mont Gabriel, Quebec was a bit of a let down. Temperatures were well below zero and the site wasn't my favorite, but that is something that we have to deal with sometimes and I was determined to get over it and still compete my best. Unfortunately, I had some trouble getting used to the new jumps and by comp day was still a bit off, and found it difficult to get up to speed on my new trick. I touched a hand down on the landing of my first jump and missed landing well on my second jump, finishing in a disappointing 11th place. Thankfully, though not psyched, I rebounded quickly. There were many injuries in Mont Gabriel. A surprising five women were scratched from competition with concussions,... Posted at 08:45 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
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01/26/09Christmas Tree Bailout
I was sitting in front of my computer as I do most every morning checking the latest news headlines: bankruptcy, foreclosure, fraud, economic woes, and bailouts - the deluge was unending and numbing. Bailout, bailout - my morning latte must have been made with beans low on caffeine. Bailout. It finally hit me "Where is MY bailout"? I bought a new GM vehicle this year, I have an adjustable rate mortgage, and my 401K is more or less worthless. Don't I qualify for a handout from the federal printing press? Let me tell you, the answer for once was YES! This year I got a bailout from the feds in the form of a $10 permit from the US Forest Service office in Heber, entitling the holder to cut down a Christmas tree in the national forest. Granted, the permits are more scarce... Posted at 07:57 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
