div!–StartFragment– p class=”MsoNormal”span style=”font-size:13.0pt;font-family:ArialMT”Thank you all for your birthday and holiday wishes last week! Well, I am finally catching up with you and a have some photos of where I have been racing the past few weeks. These first ones are from Ostersund, Sweden./span/pp class=”MsoNormal” style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:ArialMT, serif;font-size:180%;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: 17px;”A bit of holiday cheer on the course./span/span/p/diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/SykSSCeZufI/AAAAAAAAArs/B7jqAhwWmEc/s1600-h/IMG_0022.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/SykSSCeZufI/AAAAAAAAArs/B7jqAhwWmEc/s320/IMG_0022.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415880128001063410″ //adiv style=”text-align: center;”This is the stadium. From left to right you have the finish area, the start area and the firing range. The city of Ostersund is behind and below this venue which sits up on a hill. The ski course is in the foreground. If you could guess which time this photo was taken, would even imagine that this is about 3pm in the afternoon! This far north the sun is only ever rising or setting. On this particular race day we competed under very bright lights./divdivbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/SykSRvj1UrI/AAAAAAAAArk/QPNbSSCu5j4/s1600-h/IMG_0021.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/SykSRvj1UrI/AAAAAAAAArk/QPNbSSCu5j4/s320/IMG_0021.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415880122923569842″ //abr //divdiv style=”text-align: center;”Looking due west towards Norway from the ski course./divdivbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/SykSRRBpssI/AAAAAAAAArc/Xbe_Lb07xZY/s1600-h/IMG_0020.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/SykSRRBpssI/AAAAAAAAArc/Xbe_Lb07xZY/s320/IMG_0020.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415880114727137986″ //abr //divdivThis past weekend was the Scandinavian holiday, Santa Lucia. It is a celebration of lights ushered in by “Santa Lucia” in a white gown and a crown candles. One of our teammates, Tim Burke from Paul Smiths, did exceptionally well here this week and during his prize giving ceremony in the city center we were entertained by traditional Swedish music and winter celebration.br /span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color:#0000EE;”br /span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color:#000000;”br //span/spandivspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color:#0000EE;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color:#000000;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; “img src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/SykSSRUB0ZI/AAAAAAAAAr0/8YIVAMm1nMs/s320/IMG_0023.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415880131984085394″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //span/span/spandivbr //divdivI really enjoy skiing here in Ostersund and was here only a few months ago for a training camp. I felt ready for the season, but unfortunately had a challenging start this year. And as I am learning, that is sometimes how sport goes. Week one of racing is complete, and now its off to Hochfilzen, Austria./div/div/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1362992899157556571-3594802966011734646?l=comeskiwithme.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
