The Hoffman Chronicles: Part 2 – Summer Skiing, Baseball and Rodeos

This is the second installment of a seven part series in which the US Ski Team’s Noah Hoffman recounts his 2010-2011 season.

8/16/2010

My training so far this year has progressed really well! I feel fit, my energy has been really good, I’ve really enjoyed all of the travel, and my technique work is slowly but surely heading in the right direction. Since my last update I’ve been to two US Ski Team Camps in Bend, Oregon and New Zealand, I’ve done three stints in Boulder working with one of my coaches on technique, I’ve participated in a couple of development camps in Park City, and I’ve been having plenty of fun as well.

Our camp in Bend was really fun and productive. We had a little bit of everything in terms of weather, but there was plenty of snow and the skiing was good. The Canadian National Team came down for the camp as well. They have some incredible skiers who were top 10 at the Olympics, so it is always a great opportunity to train with them. They are also a really fun team, we are all good friends, and they add a ton to the camp.

After Bend I packed up my stuff from Aspen and moved out to Park City again for the summer and fall. I was lucky enough to be invited back to live with the Adams, the same family I was with last year. Again, it is a great situation, they are incredibly generous, and they make training and living super easy. I really enjoy staying with them.

In mid June, two of my teammates, one of my coaches, and a couple of friends flew out to Denver to watch the Rockies take on the Red Sox at Coors Field. Everyone in my group was an avid Sox fan, so I had to represent the Rockies well. We had a ton of fun and saw two awesome games.

The Rockies pulled off the first game with a walk-off home run in the 9^th by Jason Giambi. The Red Sox won the second game in 10 innings in the best baseball game I’ve ever seen.

Soon after I got back, my friends and I went on an outing to the Oakley Rodeo in Utah. It had been a long time since I’d been to a rodeo and two of my friends had never been. We all dressed up for the occasion, but my outfit took the cake.

After a good training block in Park City, I packed up for my first trip ever to the southern hemisphere. We stayed at the Snow Farm near Wanaka, New Zealand. It’s about an hour and a half north of Queenstown. It was so fun to be in mid-winter conditions in July and August, but I definitely missed summer. For the most part, we had incredible weather down at the Farm.

The views were spectacular as well.

This was the view from our bedroom window. On the other side of the building the ski trails were pretty spectacular and great training.

I got to do a lot of training and two races while I was down there.

I took 5^th in the first race, a 15 kilometer classic mass start, against some world class skiers from my team and the Canadian team. I won the second race, a 10k individual start skate race, against a much weaker field. Results in the middle of the summer don’t mean very much, but it was a good indication that I am on the right track. However, I still have a long way to go to be able to ski with World Class skiers in the final 2 kilometers.

After New Zealand I came straight back to Aspen to spend some time at home. This past weekend I got to go to my uncle’s wedding in Durango. It was a great event and really fun to see most of my mom’s side of the family.