With finals finished everybody split up for the holidays. A few of the Nordic girls geared up for nationals in Anchorage, Alaska, some of the alpiners traveled to races in Steamboat Springs, CO, some stayed in Salt Lake City, others traveled to their respective homes all over the world and some, like former Utah skier and now a graduate student, Ingvild Flatland from Norway, were adopted by families like mine for the holidays.
The two of us made the ten-hour drive to Bend, Oregon on Ingvild’s birthday and made it home in time for a birthday dinner and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, her favorite. I’ve made the Salt Lake-Bend drive enough times to have made friends at different gas stations and rest stops along the way which makes the trip entertaining. We also stopped and ate lunch with Utah skier Rose Kemp in Boise, her hometown. My three weeks at home were like an Avatar whirlwind that consisted of everything from several lunches at the Taco Stand, to showing Ingvild what Bend is all about, to making dry ice bombs big enough to rip sturdy plastic buckets apart and create shock waves! Luckily, the weather was ideal for training and doing fun stuff for most of the break. Ingvild could not believe that in December it could be sunny and nice like Easter every day!
One of the highlights was the annual New Years Relay in which having a good costume and actually making it to the starting line after perhaps not enough sleep the night before, might be more important than going the fastest. Ingvild and I killed it as a two-person team (I raced two legs) with awesome outfits for having whipped them together the morning of the race.
My break came to an end with the Pursuit Race at Mt. Bachelor after which I jumped in the car and drove back to Utah the same day.
Now the whole team, including a few newcomers to the group, is back in Salt Lake ready to get after it in the upcoming season!
The two of us made the ten-hour drive to Bend, Oregon on Ingvild’s birthday and made it home in time for a birthday dinner and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, her favorite. I’ve made the Salt Lake-Bend drive enough times to have made friends at different gas stations and rest stops along the way which makes the trip entertaining. We also stopped and ate lunch with Utah skier Rose Kemp in Boise, her hometown. My three weeks at home were like an Avatar whirlwind that consisted of everything from several lunches at the Taco Stand, to showing Ingvild what Bend is all about, to making dry ice bombs big enough to rip sturdy plastic buckets apart and create shock waves! Luckily, the weather was ideal for training and doing fun stuff for most of the break. Ingvild could not believe that in December it could be sunny and nice like Easter every day!
One of the highlights was the annual New Years Relay in which having a good costume and actually making it to the starting line after perhaps not enough sleep the night before, might be more important than going the fastest. Ingvild and I killed it as a two-person team (I raced two legs) with awesome outfits for having whipped them together the morning of the race.
My break came to an end with the Pursuit Race at Mt. Bachelor after which I jumped in the car and drove back to Utah the same day.
Now the whole team, including a few newcomers to the group, is back in Salt Lake ready to get after it in the upcoming season!
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