Precip: first SNOW, then RAIN!

That said, if you have no expectations about the weather, you cannot be disappointed. The typical first move on Eagle is to climb out of bed and pull the blanket covering the window tacked to the wall away and see what you’re in for that day…. “Is it blue bird and sports bra or is it ice-pellet shrapnel and windbreakers?”  This camp was the later…. Because I knew the forecast going into it, I thought this was necessary:

While the “pure enjoyment” part of me wishes that we had sunshine everyday, or even for ONE DAY, I know that we gained MORE by skiing in challenging conditions…… by doing intervals when it was 32 degrees and snowing…. (Poor Pete iced so bad he fell on his face and broke his ski). 

When the going gets tough there are two options: you can give up and create excuses or you can work with and overcome the situation. You can tough it out. No, the skiing may not be pretty… you may not be proud of it but maybe you’re even the fastest one out there that day? Who knows….

Erik Flora, our coach is famous for all kinds of lines and points.  He emphasizes and re-emphasizes things with new found enthusiasm all the time.  One of his favorite talking points on the glacier is to speak favorably about the “difficult weather.”  He makes the point that Eagle features conditions that are similar to the last three championship cycles.  He has a good point: 

1) In Oslo/2011 we raced World Championships in front of tens of thousands of spectators in pea-soup fog; Conditions often found on Eagle Glacier.

2) At the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver we raced in our fair share of either rain or slush up above our boots; Conditions often found on Eagle Glacier.

3) In the 2009 Liberec (Czech Republic) World Championships they raced in poor conditions and wild grooming; Luckily our grooming is mostly awesome these days thanks to our new Pisten Bully! However, there was one day that the wind drifts were so bad that all twenty of us completed our training session “tailing” the Pisten Bully so we could ski in the tracks before they “blew in” with fresh snow!

This camp, due to the low snow, the skiers enjoyed a daily commute on the Pisten Bully down to skiing. One of my teammates likened it to riding the school bus to school; our skis and poles were our books, our workouts our assignments, and our post-training granola bar our “sack lunch.”

Okay, this was HILARIOUS. Right before we left, Eric and Reese made a deal:  Reese could smash a rotten tomato in Erik’s face and Erik would earn $5.  An amount, which he pointed out would otherwise take him 30 minutes to earn at his $10/hr job.  This situation goes to show that we’re not a rich sport, but what we lack in dollars, we make up for in passion!

Speaking of Reese, check out his latest video account of our final glacier camp of the year (including the tomato incident) here: 

After this structured, ski-only schedule it was time to get out of the Anchorage Bowl and see some new territory.  I realized that between summer school, glacier skiing, and intensive training I haven’t left South Central Alaska since May.  While I enjoy being home, the redundancy of my days, (especially when it’s bad weather) starts to get to me and I need a change of pace.  So, a couple of weeks ago I booked a mileage ticket to visit my good friend Sarah Schoen in Juneau.  While I have lived in Alaska for six years now there are still many, many parts that I hadn’t seen and I was curious to explore the South East.  

Now, I know that the weather in the South East is unpredictable at ANY time of the year but after spending almost a week there I am AMAZED at how much it rained.  In many ways, it made ol’ANC look like dry Arizona in comparison. I resorted to borrowing Sarah’s “Rain Moo-moo” which was actually a rubber Helly Hansen rain jacket that went down to my mid-shin. On Friday night we attended Juneau’s First Friday event, an art opening where all the downtown galleries and shops have open houses to display local artist’s pieces.  At least half of everyone in attendance were wearing Xtratufs, (brown rubber boots) even at the wine tasting event: Rubber in Juneau is a Nordic Skier’s Spandex, a surfer’s board shorts or a Seattleite’s favorite coffee mug. 

It’s funny what people do in order to adapt to bad weather.  Juneau folks definitely have the creative bug….. Theme parties are big: one night there was a fried chicken party at a bar.  Sarah also told me about a theme party her parents attended in Juneau when they were young where everyone showed up in their swim suits with a lawn chair…… the heat was turned up and they sipped on Margaritas; all the while it was pissing rain and perpetually 50 degrees outside.  Instead of either of these options we chose to pick blueberries in a downpour:

Now it’s time to head back to ANC to get back to work. I have a busy couple of weeks ahead of me with fall classes, a 2.5 week visit from my brother, a three-week block of power training and then it’s off to Park City for a two-week altitude/sunshine training camp. Two months of preparation left and it’s off to Europe for race season! It’s going to happen quickly!! Tighten your seat belts! 

Also, if you’re looking for something to do (!) check out this recent “Pro-Workout” I did with Faster Skier the other day here:

Until later, enjoy the fall and thanks for reading and following along!

Sincerely,

Holly 🙂