Adventure Season

April is our "off" month as a cross country ski racer. We have no organized training, we don't have to ski, we don't have to rollerski, and we can rest as much as we need. But who are we kidding, there aren't any nordic skiers out there that can rest for a whole month so most of us pick activities that we don't get to do as much as we like while we are racing and training. I would love to hit the beach, but on a nordic skiers salary that's not always possible so instead I took advantage of places that are within a few hours drive.

First I hit the slopes, skiing Alyeska for the first time, then explored some of the backcountry before flying back to Utah to hit the slopes some more.

Earning some turns

The Shakespeare Glacier

Taking in the views at the top of Alyeska

Getting ready to head down the glacier

Alaska had some unreal weather while we were there

And there are always good views when there's good weather

Our beautiful tracks

Having a snack at the top of the glacier, looking over into the Prince William Sound

Marching up the glacier

Soph and I loving some downhill action

We had some great snow coming down given the many dry weeks. 

The Top

That was enough winter for us! Patrick and I then drove south to southern Utah to get our biking butts and legs in shape and soak up some warmth and sun. 

The desert was in full bloom. The cactus and Indian Paintbrush were magnificent. Nils thinks so too!

Bowtie arch

Corona Arch

Peering off Gemini Bridges while riding a new set of singletrack!

Hidden Canyon

Goblin Valley

Lots and Lots of Goblins

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Enjoying the Goblins

This is 1 of 3 valleys full of Goblins

We found a cave

Being touristy in Arches

The desert has some amazing features

Little Wild Horse Canyon

Bell Canyon

The view from our campsite on the Colorado

The top of Poison Spider Mesa

This ride went about like this for me, lots of sand and tricky slickrock

Bartlett Slickrock-some of the smoothest slickrock you can find and lots of fun for biking

Enjoying the rock

Hannah and Elizabeth cruising

Hannah and Nils being cute in Arches

On top of Private Arch

Pat and I-Last time I was in Arches was after I had torn my PCL but was still trying to convince myself I was fine. I was thankful to enjoy Arches with all my ligaments. 

The classic Utah Shot

Swimming Hole!

Nils

Double O Arch

Delicate with the LaSals in the background

We rode 3 new areas of single track in Moab that were all great so we all had outrageously sore bums and a few bruises here and there. This was Hannah's first time in the desert so we spent an afternoon in Arches. It was much too busy for our liking, but a good way to become very thankful for being healthy and fit. We saw all the advertised arches in one afternoon, something that takes a whole weekend for most. We even hit delicate in perfect light! It was warm and sunny and we beat ourselves up, making for a perfect adventure with good friends!

The Last Week

Our last week of racing took place in Anchorage. Being home made it both fun and hard at the same time. The last races of the year can be a tough thing to motivate for and I felt it even harder to motivate with the feelings of being "home" and ready to relax, but it was also great to not feel the stress of being on the road and to have so many people cheering for me everyday. I wasn't very excited with any of my races during the week, but I did have some fun. We started with a 10k skate, which is probably one of my least favorite event, but we quickly moved on to a classic sprint, RELAY, and 30k classic, all events I much prefer. It was fun to race in the sprint with all the girls fresh off the Olympics and the World Cup. The highlight of my week however, was undoubtedly the relay. It was the first time we have had a club relay at Nationals and it was a huge success. It was awesome to get to work with my teammates instead of race against them and to really have some pride on the line for the best club team. I was on APU's 2nd team, so what's so great about being on the 2nd tier team? Well, what's cool is that the 1st team had 3 Olympians and they totally smoked every other team out there, then my team still scored a podium coming in 3rd. So APU had 2 teams in before every other club aside from 2nd place Stratton had even 1 team in, making us the best club. It was a really fun day and I hope we continue to do such events.  Now lots of pictures:

Tagging David in the relay 

Leading Sophie in the relay

3/4 of the relay team

Striding out in the relay

Gritting out a tough 30k

Getting my sprint on

We celebrated Sophie's birthday by dressing up and waiting at the finish for her, then attacking her upon finishing

Singing Sophie Happy Birthday as she crosses the line

More relay fun

Cheering Holly in for our 3rd place relay finish

APU Team 1 and 2

Start of the 30k

Cresting the massive climb in the 30k

Relay Podium

Team Love

Trying to sprint like Kikkan

It's a great feeling to be done. I will now spend the next few weeks evaluating my season, making goals and plans for next year, and doing some active recovery with things like backcountry skiing, biking, and hitting the slopes.