Ready for our Final Glacier Camp of the Summer

All the pre-glacier preparations have been made and we are looking forward to another week of on snow training on Eagle. The coaches do an immense amount of work on the machinery and facility, but each of us athletes also help out to make the camp a success. Prior to each camp we make a gigantic Costco run, pick up donated bread and bagels from Europa and AK Bagel Factory, box everything up, drive it all down to Girdwood, store it in the fridge and freezers at Alpine Air, and wait for a clear sunny day to have it flown up to camp.
Then Alpine Air sling loads the luggage up to the glacier so we can consume massive quantities of food and fuel our passion for training hard.
I am looking forward to getting in as much skiing as I can handle and quality team bonding time in our home away from home!

Blueberry Saturday

Symphony Lakes valley-- a beautiful photo thanks to the artistic talent of my life-long buddy, Miss Anna Barnwell.Jesse Carlstrom on his way toward the Flute Glacier. Jesse's is a great adventure buddy because he's up for glacier chasing-river crossing-talus scrambling running adventures, he brings chocolate, and rolls with the moto that "every good adventure involves bush whacking".
Skier or figure skater? I vividly remember announcing to my parents for the first time that "I'm going to go to the Olympics". I was about 6 years old and was prancing around the living room after watching Michelle Kwan perform. It's pretty cool to still be able to chase my childhood dreams at age 23 and have a shot at turning those dreams into reality.
Mom berry picking in her Northern Fruit Company hat. I wouldn't be able to live as I do right now without the support of my family, friends, and a sponsor like Northern. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

July Eagle Glacier Camp Photos

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.

An Overdue Update from the Land of the Midnight Sun

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!

Death Camp

Last week I got a chance to help out at the APUNSC Junior team's "Death Camp". This rigorous training camp was inspired by the "Death Camp" that many of the former East High athletes still speak of fondly. Props to our energetic junior coaches, Holly Brooks and Charlie Renfro, for making it happen. The lovely ladies.The camp kicked off with a 21k rollerski from Indian to Girdwood, AK. For many of the kids there was a sense of accomplishment after they rollerskied to camp in a headwind. Several of the kids admitted that "it was longest rollerski I've done in my life!" We stayed in the Challenge Alaska building and ate like World Champions should-- thanks to a few of the super-Moms who volunteered throughout the entire week.
Nathanial retrieving his shoe from the mud during our run on the Winter Creek trail. Morgan, helping me learn to ride a one-wheeled bike (thanks to Celia for the photo). I am now agog over unicycles. I don't usually have a penchant for buying "things", but this toy may have to be an exception.Juliet--an APU development team athlete and my unicycling inspiration. Lots of training, exploring, laughing, eating, story telling and sleeping. Who says "Death Camp" can't be fun?
A dip in the glacial stream after a long, challenging day of training. Summer days don't get any better than this!

A Start to the Summer

Callie, Mom, and Coda watering down the garden and yard so that we can enjoy the reap the fruits of their labor later this summer and fall.
The Fitz getting in a lot of quality base training this spring --and lookin' good in the process-- so that she can expect to see the fruition of her hard work later this year.
Just it takes initial work to get the garden growing, the spring is also a time to build the fitness foundation so that there's something to work off and have to show for later. I undoubtedly carried the highest training volume that I've ever held for the month of May-- we'll see if this makes a difference by the time winter rolls around. Either way, I've enjoyed myself. Being out of school for the first time ever and having countless sunny days made it easy to work-out and "training" often feel more like "playing". Some days spent outside training were purely for pleasure.
Leah Besh feelin' the flow on Memorial Day weekend.
Neil, Leah, Kelly (above), and Jesse (not pictured) helped me negotiate through the rocks, rapids, and eddies in Willow Creek. This was my first experience in a river kayak outside the Wednesday-night roll sessions in the pool with the DU kayak club. It was far more challenging and exciting than I expected. I was a total tyro but loved every second of it-- including the 2x that spent without my boat after I capsized!
I can now check off "kayak down river rapids" from my "life list", but the net outcome of the experience actually made my life list longer. The thought of kayaking a Class IV river or paddling the _____ River, is now something I may have to jot down on the list. I haven't reached the 100 mark yet for the life list though, so in terms of reaching that number it was a productive adventure!

Northern Fruit Company Sponsorship

I am proud to announce that Northern Fruit Company will be my new sponsor!
Northern Fruit Co. is located in Wenatchee, Washington, the apple capital of the world, and is committed to providing customers with the highest quality of fresh fruit. At Northern they grow and ship over 1 million boxes of the best apples, cherries, and pears to over 40 countries each year.

As a Nordic skier with aspirations of competing at the Olympics and World Championships I am honored to recieve their financial support that will make it possible for me to spend my time devoted to training and competing. I pledge to represent Northern well, and I plan to spend more of my time volunteering with the youth and encouraging others to pursue their dreams and lead active, healthy lifestyles. A huge thanks to Northern and Doug Pauly-- I appreciate the generous support and look forward to being part of the Northern team.

Heather Zimmerman to Complete 48-hours on the Birkie Trail

WHAT: My fabulous friend, Heather Zimmerman, will be running and biking for 48 consecutive hrs.
WHY: To raise money for the development of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, supporting the Central Asia Institute.
WHEN: This weekend, Friday May 8th- Sunday May 10th.
WHERE: The American Birkibeiner trail in northern Wisconsin.

GO HEATHER! WAY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

See http://hzimm.wordpress.com/fever-cure/ for more information, how you can contribute, and for LIVE updates during the 48hrs (including photos, videos, and kilometers covered) during Heather's journey! Find out more about Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute at www.ikat.org.