I realize I've been been negligent about updating my blog in the past weeks. This bespeaks of the difficulty I've had in spending my spare time in front of the computer screen when it's nice outside rather than the number of stories and experiences I would like to share.
So, what have I been up to in the past 6 weeks? Here are a some stats and pics from several of my summer excursions thus far.
Number of ..
...movies or TV shows I've seen this summer: 0
...concerts I've attended: 1
...bears I've seen on the Hillside ski trails: 2
...days I've been completely caked in mud: 4
...times I've eaten salmon for lunch or dinner: up to 5x/week
...tests I've taken: 5 (4 ski-related tests, 1 GRE Exam)
...personal records I've had in those tests: 5 (Taking a test for the first time can count as a PR too, right?)
...times I went classic skiing on snow: 11
...days I've been thankful to be home in Alaska: Every Day
APU ladies on the run: Holly Brooks, Kate Fitz, Ky Eiben, Kikkan Randall, Katie Ronsse
Ronsse and Randall ready to ascend Hatcher Pass road and put our sprint skills to use if need be.
Family bonding time-- Ronsse style.
Steffi the expert razor clam shoveler.
Ronski struggling to catch those speedy clams but enjoying the mud in the process.
Ein mehr scenery photo from Miss Wunderle, my wunderbar Deutsch buddy...
The view outside the tent at 11pm-- don't put away the sunglasses just yet! The weather in AK this summer has been phenomenally nice.
But there have also been a few days where the only glasses needed were ones to keep out the rain and snow. This occurred on the volcanic-ash covered glacier in the fog, which often looked something like this:
Even if each day wasn't a blue-bird day, I felt like I made considerable progress toward my technical and goals in each training session. You can find out more about the training camp on
Becca Rorabaugh and
Kikkan Randall's blogs.
Erika Klaar, Becca Rorabaugh, and Peter Kling lookin' good even in their grungy gear. We should be back to living in our aerie on the mountain-top for another week of on-snow training next week. We will leave Sunday if the acrid smoke outside from forest fires decides to clear so we can train hard without threatening the health of our lungs. More to come!
Flora and Strabel- our innovative, hard-working coaches ready to saddle up and chase around the skiers on the snow machine. 
Laura Valaas skiing strong and getting video taped by the Erik-Eric snow machine duo. The footage we get from this type of taping is invaluable for technique video analysis sessions. Plus, it's fun to pretending you're leading a world cup race when video cameras are following you!
The black and white volcanic ashen snow-scapes were barren yet beautiful. At times it was a skiing paradise up there-- sunny, stunning views, and firm tracks. At other times we didn't see anything other than shades of gray within a 25ft radius. 
The blue ice is beginning to show through a month or two earlier than normal due to the warm summer.
Erika Klaar-- aside from training, Miss Klaar helps her family run High Tide Arts in Homer. This includes everything from sewing headbands (like the one pictured) to backpacking in the Brooks range to collect reindeer antlers. Pretty cool!
Team ATOMIC skiers: James Southam, Bart Dengel, Katie Ronsse.
Mike Hinkley- a new addition to the APU Elite squad. Mike and I have grown up skiing and racing together-- from Alaska Winter Stars and SHS to DU and now post-collegiately for APUNSC. It's comforting to be back on the same team with someone like Mike.
The hardy crew that opted for hiking rather than taking a helicopter down. We dropped down 5,000ft to the lush smells, sounds, and colors of a more typical summer in a matter of hours rather than minutes. 
How many athletes can you find amongst the Fireweed in the photo? I spy 4. I was the slow kid in the back of the pack who couldn't stop picking salmon berries. All in all, it was a successful week of training, where I handled the highest volume of ski-specific training that I've ever carried. We have another couple weeks in town training until we will be back to the glacier for our final on snow camp of the summer.
