Just a little...

Can go a long way.
Today the National Nordic Foundation, an organization out to support development of nordic skiing through funding World Juniors, Scando Cup, U23 Championships, OPA Cup, etc, is asking everyone to donate just $25.00.

Please consider giving $25.00 today to support not only me, but every other skier from age 15 on up who is trying to make their dreams come true.

http://ccgeneralfund.causevox.com/4eaac877306c1

Follow this link to the donation page and to learn more about the National Nordic Foundation

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

As we pulled into the parking lot today, we had 2 people come to tell us that there was lots of bear activity still going on. Not being a fan of bears, I wasn't too excited and when I saw this: 

I just about died

This is Becca's foot, size 42, which is not small and this is one of the smaller footprints we saw. One was about the width of 3 of my feet combined. The tracks went on every trail, were going in every direction, and were most certainly fresh as it snowed last night. This is definitely a large brown bear that appears to be somewhat confused. (Thanks Becca for the pics!) 

This is a series of bear prints and the remains of its snack...

 One woman warned us that her dog was barking a lot and kept finding dead animal remains in the woods, nothing like a bunny rabbit snack. I just hope bunny tastes better than a spandex covered skier. 

Other than the silly bear, the skiing in AK is probably the best skiing in the world right now.

But, it was a chilly 6F this morning. Nothing like frozen nose hairs and burning lungs. 

Fortunate

Yes, I am stuck in cold, dark Alaska, thousands of miles away from my boyfriend and family, frantically trying to write term papers before I start racing and fighting off a nasty cold that hit me hard this past weekend, feeling a little sorry for myself, but guess what?

THERE IS SNOW HERE!

So I have quickly gone from feeling sorry for myself to feeling very fortunate that I can ski when very few people in the world can right now. 

Some former teammates and my boyfriend traveled a few weeks ago to Muonio, Finland, which lies on the Arctic circle making it even darker than Anchorage and they have been dealing with this:

(patrick photo)

Rain, incredibly dirty snow that was saved from last year, and every other elite skier in Europe going around the same 3km loop all day long.

We had a team time trial up on Hatcher's Pass on Saturday. It was a brisk 8F with a nice wet wind blowing making for some burning lungs and nearly frostbitten appendages, but excellent skiing conditions. It felt great to go hard on snow and to practice racing in winter conditions, after all, West Yellowstone is not known for it balmy November temperatures. 

I came down with a bit of a nasty cold after that, always good to get that first winter cold out of the way as well, so I have been resting up and going on some snowy adventures around campus as well. It snowed a good foot overnight turning everything into a winter wonderland. All the 50+km of bike path here are groomed once the snow flies so you can ski just about anywhere in Anchorage! The picture up top is the bike path bridge over one of the main roads. 

This is what Anchorage considers a plowed road....This is one of the main drags across the whole city and it is slick as all get out. With the bike paths groomed I am very close to giving up my car for some commuter skis. I have never seen a city that regularly gets snow be so incredibly bad at removing it. It's quite humorous until you are trying to drive somewhere. 

Just over a week until our first set of races!