After a bit of a hiatus from maintaining my blog, I am pleased to say I am back!

It has been a couple of years since my last post, for those of you following along I apologize for the cliffhanger. But let me tell you this, it’s worth it. For now, I will leave my absence a mystery as I am still finding the words to describe that chapter. 

This next chapter, I have titled New Beginnings. I am now living up in Anchorage Alaska, attending Alaska Pacific University, and skiing for their elite team. In the short time I have lived here, I have found such an amazing community. So many skilled skiers and climbers I have so much to learn from- I know I’ll have to stick around for a while.

Along with my absence from posting, I have also been out of the skiing game for the past few years. This year, 2023, is the marker of my fresh start! I competed in the US Biathlon Youth and Junior World Trials in late December. Next, I began my career with APU Nordic Ski Club in an Anchorage citizen’s race in late January. Followed by a weekend in Fairbanks for the last Besh Cup of the season. I learned after the fact that Besh Cups are the Alaska version of JNQs (as we called them in PNSA). What a crazy thought that I am out of my Junior National (JN) days now.

With a nice little race lead-up, I jumped into my first Colligate race at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Invitational. What a crazy event, I loved seeing all the friends I made at JNs in their new fits after sifting from high school into their assorted NCAA teams. With a lot to learn, and a ton of strength to grow back, I earned a reverse podium spot on both days (even claimed the highly revered DFL one day). Only space to improve from here! 

XC

After the invitational, my Nordic season wrapped up. It was time to get Eliot (my biathlon rifle) out of her case and build my routine with shooting added back into my schedule. I competed in the Anchorage Biathlon Club’s state championships event in March before migrating down to the lower 48, for USBA Nationals in Casper Wyoming. It was a crazy journey for me to adjust to, Alaska is a little further of a home base than Washington is. With three competitions back-to-back at 2,400 meters elevation, and two training days to acclimate, I was really fighting gravity and sucking wind. These races gave me just the kick I needed after a less-than-optimal performance in December at trials. My shooting was back to what I knew it could be, with a near-90% accuracy percentage over the whole weekend. I even got to see the Methow Valley Biathlon crew- many of which I coached on my gap year (pictured below at the banquet).

Biathlon

Having successfully completed my first season back I was stoked. And a little sad to see it go by so quickly. Thankfully, Anchorage had a couple more hidden gems for me. This past weekend I competed in the NordicX event at HillTop. It was a splendid combination of banked slalom turns, jumps, rollers, and a little jump skating. What I thought was going to be a one-run of chaos and amateurism quickly turned into a competitive series revving me up for the final! To my surprise, I wound up ass-up, pants and glasses snow-stuffed, and behind the pack in the semi-final. Now, NordicX has my attention and stoke for next year! (Not pictured, my rib-bruising face dive).

NordicX

Part two of Anchorage’s not-so-hidden gems is the Alyeska Hill Climb this upcoming weekend! This event is a skate race of 100 men and women beginning at the base of the alpine resort. It climbs up the face of the mountain, with the finish topping out at the tram lodge. I think this one is going to hurt. But with the folks up here, I think the joy and stoke will drown out the noise of pain. I do hope that it is warmer than the balmy spring weather at NordicX- a whopping 14-27 degrees F.

Alright, that’s it for now folks. Thank you for reading!