Ski racing demands you to be
flexible with your schedule because it can change at anytime. Weather, snow
conditions, equipment, fatigue or injury can completely alter the plan. The
original idea for August was to do two dryland camps, one in Whistler and the
other in Fernie with a week between training at home. A last minute change
found me back down at Mt. Hood with the BC Ski Team for a nine-day camp instead
of at the gym in Whistler.
This time we were staying right
in Government Camp, a five minute drive from the hill, at the same complex as
both the Ontario and Alberta provincial teams!!! I hadn’t seen some of the
skiers for four months and I didn’t think I was going to be able to see them
again until November. It was fantastic to see everyone and so much fun that we
were all staying close.
 |
| We could no longer ski to the bottom of the first chair but there was still snow!!!! |
The third day on snow I was doing
a GS course and straddled a panel. My right ski caught on the base of the gate
as I fell and twisted my leg around. I took
my first toboggan ride off the glacier and found out I had displaced a small
bone, my fibula, in my ankle (sounds worse than it is!). Another, very annoying
plan changer, but hey, I’m flexible! I ended up being on the ice and elevate
program for the rest of the camp. The solitude while everyone was out skiing
was useful because it a) forced me to start my Athabasca University Introduction
to Psychology course b) gave me the time to start this blog and c) made me that
much more excited to hangout with my friends!
All the provinces got together to
do fun activities like slacklining over the pool, watching the meteor shower and
roasting marshmallows around a bonfire. Our last night we celebrated Randa
Teschner’s birthday with homemade cake and another fire where Randa, Morgan
Megarry, and Logan Thackray played ukuleles to entertain the crowd.
It was really hard for me to say
bye to Randa, Morgan, Nat Knowles, Tianda Carroll, Andy Trow, and Charlie Mcconville
who are all going to school in the US this year to ski NCAA. Being flexible
about schedule changes is much easier for me than being flexible about when I
will get to see my best friends again. I’m really happy I ended up getting to
go back to Hood and had over a week with friends, even though I wasn’t able to
ski for half the camp.
This should be the last I see of
the Oregon volcano until next summer… though you never know! The plan at the
moment is to still go to Fernie mid-month for a dryland camp and then I’m
booked to be on the West Coast Trail the 1st of September. Hopefully
my ankle heals up fast because I was also planning to hike Mt. Cleveland (the
highest mountain in Waterton and Glacier National Parks) while I’m back in the Pincher
Creek area!
The BC Men's Team made an amazing video of them at Hood! Check it out http://vimeo.com/47373854
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