Late March has now visited us in Vermont a few times this year...

A couple of weeks ago, my SMS T2 teammates and I traveled to Craftsbury, VT. All of my female teammates have been over in Europe crushing the World Cup so I was left without any training partners. The Craftsbury GRP team was so generous to extend an invitation for me to join the Craftsbury "pact." This entailed me quarantining for a week in a cabin and getting a negative Covid test before I could then move in with their team.

I did a lot of yoga, reading and puzzling during my quarantine.

It doesn’t feel like life has changed for me in the last few weeks. Although I am not allowed to go into a grocery store, gas station, friend’s house, etc. I am given access to a wonderful dining hall, safe gym and great skiing. Vermont Covid restrictions are tough, but that makes life around here pretty simple: eat, train, sleep!

The Vermont weather gods have not been super friendly to us during this early season training period and we are still waiting for a big snowstorm to help us out. However, the Craftsbury crew has been hard at work on a 2k man-made loop, now open to Vermont residents. In order to limit the number of skiers on the trail and therefore the social interactions, skiers must book a ski time online with Craftsbury, rent a bib, and wear a mask whenever skiing close to others on the loop.

Craftsbury skier, Lina Sutro and me out on a hunt for a Christmas tree.

Through all of this, we have still been able to get some high quality training in, including a few low-key, self-timed time trials. Far from what a normal race would feel like, the time trials were excellent mood boosters to remind me how much I love ski racing. It’s been hard to stay mentally tough while skiing on 200 meters, then 400 meters, then 1k… but I feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel (in more ways than one) and I will continue to practice my snow dance!

Time-trialing with a small bubble of athletes is better than nothing! (PC: Bill Harmeyer)

It seems as though we still aren't able to plan out more than a few days in advance, so I'm not sure what the rest of the season will bring. However, I'm trying to stay optimistic that all of this hard training will pay off at some point in the near future.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday, enjoy the skiing!

-Alayna