Marathon Season

While Zoe's been racing up a storm on the OPA and Scando circuit (7 races in 10 days), Morgan and myself have been hitting up the domestic marathon circuit. Morgan skied to second in the Noquemanon, a 50km classic race held in Marquette, MI.
 Next up for me was the Boulder Mountain Tour. The competition this year was going to be pretty stiff with the Sun Valley gold team girls (Chelsea, Nicole, Mo and Alexa), Rebecca Dussault once again kicking ass, and other top notch skiers looking for a race to fill in the gap this time of year. Right off the line it was pretty hard for me to hang on and I did the best I could to ski efficiently and draft off the other girls. The pace let up after the first couple kms but it was still the most focused I've ever had to be during this race. I was not a contender in the sprint finish in which Rebecca took the win, Mo 2nd and Chels 3rd. I bobbled behind them after getting towed to the line by my Bend buddy, Jason Adams...probably wouldn't have made it there without ya.
Next up was a few days of recuperation, Sun Valley style, before heading down to Colorado. We had two gorgeous days of sunshine and skiing at Galena and Sun Valley Nordic Center.

Found a fellow ski bum in Sun Valley, yes those are gold

Friday brought another day of racing, the Teva Mtn Games 10 km skate. Morgan showed her sprinting prowess and took the preem by a toe over Rebecca. I got unlucky in the start and ended up on the ground in one of those hilarious nord pile-ups. Came out of it with both poles intact but one dangling bootcuff. Rough day to say the least. Morgan skied to a strong 4th place and set herself up well for the Ultimate Mountain Challenge which encompassed a randonee race the next day and a hill climb the day after that.
Morgan's first rando race included 9500 ft of climbing with hairy descents through steep trees and huge moguls. It was an accomplishment for anyone to finish, not to mention put on spiked running shoes the next morning for the Vail hill climb. 
While Morgan was busy putting the hurt on at 10,000 ft, I went over to Aspen to race the Owl Creek Chase, a point to point 20 km skate race. While I was disappointed with result, I was happy to get a good week of hard efforts. Between the Boulder, the Teva games and the Owl Creek Chase, there was some good training for the race beginning with a capital B in a little place called Hayward...

Euro update!

Campra, Switzerland!

The most random thing that happened to me on my way to Europe was seeing my dad on his way back from Munich in the DC airport! I knew he was coming back the same day but I had no idea where or through which airport. What are the odds?! Lucky for me because he was able to pass off a few Euros that weren’t of any more use to him… ;) I met the rest of the Canadian contingent at the Munich airport and we drove to Campra, Switzerland that afternoon.

Classic sprint qualifier in Campra

Me and my teammate Alana

 Campra is a small place, but the mountains are huge and the skiing is sweet. We’ve been good at making our own fun. Hallway bocce, exploratory runs, cards, visiting the local dairy that specializes in squash and fig yogurt…so yummy! Its been fun to see old friends who used to ski on the college circuit, friends from my days living in Ramsau, Austria and a teammate from last year’s World Uni Games who is spending the year in Italy and came to visit.

Hallway bocce. It gets intense.

 The first day of racing was a classic sprint. I qualified 12^th and made my up to an 8^th place finish, 2^nd in the B final. The second day was a 10km classic in frigid temperatures and I’m pretty sure hurricane force wind! The third day was a 10km skate mass start. I wouldn’t say the second two races were my most stellar performances, but hopefully I worked out the travel bugs.

A fashion must in Latvia!

Alysson and Alana in Madona, Latvia

So awesome to find my old Utah teammate Kjersti Bø in the chocolate aisle of the grocery store in Madona!!

We're in Latvia now and getting psyched up for a 15km skate tomorrow and then its off to Estonia.

We didn't get a Latvian stamp in our passports, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an Estonian one!

- Zoë

Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia? YES please!!

I arrived yesterday back in Salt Lake after a 2 week trip to Whistler, British Columbia and Canmore, Alberta. The races in Whistler were qualifiers to travel with the Canadian team to OPA and Scandinavian Cup races in Campra, Switzerland (Feb 3-5), Madonna, Latvia (Feb 8-9) and Albu, Estonia (Feb 11-12). My 4th in the 15km pursuit and 3rd in the 10km classic earned me a spot on the team! The trip leaves on Sunday for two weeks and I'll be traveling with 2 other girls and 4 guys. I'm psyched! A huge thanks to the Rocky Mountain Racers crew who took me on as one of their own, looked out for me, made my skis wicked fast and gave me bomber kick!

One of the many fun things about ski racing...the friends you make from all over the world!

10km skate podium, Canmore, AB

10km skate, Canmore, AB

Speed skating at the Olympic oval in Calgary instead of skiing in the -35C outside temps, brrrrrr

Check back for updates. While I'm in Europe the rest of the Stella girls will be ripping it up at the Boulder Mountain Tour in Sun Valley, ID and Owl Creek Chase in Aspen, CO!

- Zoë

Teton Ridge Classic

Three of the Stella girls made a trip up to Driggs, ID for an awesome weekend of skiing and racing.

Evelyn, Katie, and Morgan
photo credit: Emma Garrard

We drove up Friday night and previewed the 13k classic only loop at Teton Valley Ranch. It was incredible! Not only was it REAL snow but it was also longer than 3k!!! We wanted to keep skiing into the darkness..

photo: Emma Garrard

Saturday was an action packed day of racing! Katie won the women's 14k and Evelyn and Morgan took 1-2 in the 28k. There was a huge crew from Park City up from the race and so there were lots of racers. Katie's fiance Justin gets a special mention for entering the "touring" class... not only was it his first time on classic skis but he also wore a pair of Katie's glittery purple tights!

Sunday we all went for a really nice ski up Teton Canyon. Highly recommend this ski as it looks at the Grand Teton almost the whole time!

Check back soon =)

Morgan

New Years Relay, Mt. Bachelor

The New Years Relay at Mt. Bachelor is definitely the first most important race kicking off the 2012 calendar. And when it comes down to it, everybody knows that winning the costume contest is as, if not more important than winning the race. So I'd just like to throw it out there that Fred and Wilma Flintstone's stellar outfits took home the costume prize! My teammate Skyler, a junior who skis for MBSEF, killed it as Fred and did an awesome job on his skate leg!

~ Zoë

Wilma... please notice her golf ball sized pearls....

Fred and Wilma Flintstone!

Daniel's Summit

Daniel's Summit not only gets "best snow in town" award but also the best ski of the year!!! The area is normally groomed for snowobiles but these days you see more lycra clad skiers taking advantage of 30 miles of *snow covered* groomed trail!

New Suits!!!

Check it out....

Stay tuned for more pics and a real update in the next few days...