Checking In

Hi SkiPost,

Sarah here checking in. I am currently back in Sun Valley after a solid on-snow training camp up in Canmore, Alberta. The Gold Team headed up there at the beginning of the month for about 10 days of skiing on the man-made loop at the Canmore Nordic Center. Frozen Thunder is an event that happens yearly at the end of October through mid-November in which the Nordic Center rolls out snow kept from the previous winter. Skiers from all over Canada and the U.S. come to take advantage of the early season snow. We were lucky to overlap some with BSF Pro and Team Birkie, it is nice to be able to mix up the training partners and work with people from other teams. For training, we mostly hit the ski trail twice per day alternating between skate and classic. One afternoon, we took a break from skiing and ran/hiked up a peak right out of town that overlooked Canmore. With about a 2.5K loop of skiing it was nice to mix it up and explore with a different training modality.

At the top of Ha Ling Peak

The main focus of this camp was to get on snow and work on technique. The Gold Team coach, Chris, worked with us a lot by taking videos and analyzing what to change or work on technically. One of my main technique focuses of the camp was full weight transfer in my V1. Oftentimes, I rush from ski to ski with a quick tempo and do not let myself take full advantage of gliding. I spent a lot of time without poles practicing shifting from ski to ski and gliding. It is important to pick one or two focuses per skate and classic and commit yourself to working on them. Having too many focuses can be overwhelming and counterproductive.

Working on striding in Canmore 

Towards the end of the camp, the Canmore Nordic Center put on two time trials. The first one was a 5k classic individual start followed the next day by a 10k skate individual start. It was awesome to get an opportunity to put on the race boards and practice going hard on snow! The Gold Team had some solid efforts and we are all stoked for the upcoming season. 

Gold Team Team Pic

Currently, we are a bit snowless in most of the West. The original plan was to head over to West Yellowstone for a FIS race and some training. However, that race was cancelled due to the lack of snow so I will hang out in Sun Valley until it is time to head to Duluth for the start of the SuperTour season. While it is for sure a bummer to not be on snow, it is important to stay calm and confident with training and be flexible in plans. The trails are still great here for running, and we have been able to spend a lot of time on the roller ski treadmill for intervals and speeds.

Happy skiing!