Just past Solstice...

First and foremost, happy 60th Birthday to my Mom, Chris!

We just crested the longest day of the year in Alaska and now that we're on the tail end of Solstice it means only one thing: the days are getting shorter.  While we still have plenty of light, post June 21st makes the upcoming ski season seem like it's encroaching slowly but surely. 

The sixteen to twenty hours of day light in AK makes it hard to sleep, especially when the weather is good.  People up here often joke that you can "rest in the fall" which leads to people running themselves ragged when it's nice out, myself included.  June has been a hectic month for me hurrying from one thing to the next. This weekend it's finally caught up with me and I'm having a hard time peeling my tired body off the coach. Luckily the sky is grey so I don't feel bad about resting (or "wasting the day") and Rob is out of town on a trip which I'll admit, allows me to be lazy. 

Here is a recap of why I am so tired: 

I spent the second week of June at the APU training camp on Eagle Glacier. This was my first time at the facility as an athlete rather than a coach. It was awesome to be able to sleep at night and boy did I need it!  Skiing four hours a day on the glacier is tiring. We have a great write-up of the camp on the APU/Fasterskier blog - check it out here. 

I left Glacier Camp two days early because I had previously committed to leading an APU team at the annual Run for Women. I was also really excited to be the "honorary starter" for the race which had more than 7,000 participants this year! 

That night I went to Lee and Colleen's wedding which was a great reunion of friends. Congrats you two! 

The next morning was the start of ............... DEATH CAMP 2010!  Death Camp isn't as knarly as it sounds. The first rule of death camp is actually "no dying."  It's a reincarnation of a camp that existed when my peers were in high school.  Basically its a tough training camp where the athletes train 3-4 times per day and have a ton of fun. As Charlie Renfro (one of my co-workers/coaches) says, "Death Camp is where he decided he wanted to be an endurance athlete.  Camp is based in Girdwood at the base of Alyeska ski resort and kids and coaches alike have a ball..... 

Here's our group crossing the river on the tram... 

Jack and Forrest lovin Death Camp - and representing!

BK came to join us for a day of workouts. Here he shows us the weather forecast on his iphone. The mediocre weather didn't keep us from having a great time. 

Every night at dinner, our team goes around the circle and everyone announces a "highlight" and "lowlight" from the day.  When it came time for Brent to share his, he said that his highlight was seeing how FIT and TOUGH our athletes are.  He acknowledged that the athletes were way ahead of his development curve when he was their age and that he was impressed.  I thought that was REALLY cool to hear - and cool of him to share! 

The Junior team hiked up to Crow Pass when fish scale skis on our backs for some sprint practice!

I'm pretty sure Celia thought it was awesome.  PURE AWESOME - such was the theme of the camp.

We ended a tough training camp with a tough race.  Bird Ridge is 3400 feet of gain in just 3 miles. Here is APU athlete and new coach Katie Ronsse rippin it up!  The weather was perfect mtn running weather: sunny at the base and foggy and cool on top. 

The APU junior girls had awesome races - especially considering the hard training they'd done the days prior.  Many of them PR'd by 3-4 minutes..... although they were disappointed by not running QUITE fast enough to get Eric Strabel to shave his moustache. It seems to be a constant source of motivation for the girls so I suppose I'm glad he kept it. (There was a bet that 4 of the 5 juniors girls had to break 55 minutes... they were close but not quite there.) 

The Bird Ridge decent complete with Lupine

Not only was the week busy but while I was coaching camp Rob and I became an aunt and uncle!  Congratulations to Rob's older sister Erin and her husband Frank for the birth of a healthy 8 pound baby, Rienzi Mae! I hope that I can see her someday sooner rather than later! 

Last but not least, the most unpleasant part of the last three weeks was the gum graft that I had yesterday. The Periodontist cut a piece of skin from the roof of my mouth and sewed it to my gum at the base of my front, lower tooth. I'll spare you pictures but just trust me: it's not pleasant to have two sets of stitches in your mouth. 

Thanks for reading/more to come soon! 

Holly :)

Going Skiing! (and the past couple of weeks!)

Well, today is June 6th and in just a couple of hours I will be headed to my first Eagle Glacier training camp as an athlete. Yes, I've been to Eagle before but only in the capacity as a coach or a worker for a pre-glacier work camp party. The APU team will go to Eagle to ski on snow for a week once a month during June, July, and August.

A picture of the Alpine Air helicopter hovering over the training facility

The view from the edge of the glacier over looking Girdwood.... at 5500 feet sometimes we are above the clouds! 

I am looking forward to this training camp for many reasons. Skiing on snow and groomed tracks first and foremost.... but, I am also going into this with a plan of sleeping a TON.  Summer in Alaska is always crazy but the recent good weather combined with my tasks of a coaching and training (on top of other life responsibilities) has left me feeling quite tired.  During my regular in town life, I participate in "active recovery" meaning that I never have time for a nap or even to put my feet up. However, I know that my lack of rest has left me a bit deprived and I am looking forward to a skiing/sleeping camp! 

While I am sad to be missing a couple days of junior and master's practice, I am happy to say that I am coming down from the glacier early to lead an APU team for the Alaska Run for Women, a great event to promote breast cancer awareness in Alaska.  Last year the race had over 5,000 participants and I am hoping that the "APU Nordic Ski Center Girls" team will draw a big crowd.  Girls - if you haven't signed up yet, do it TODAY! 

Otherwise, life has been good and busy.  I often view May as a great time to get in some back country touring style training to rebuild my base and endurance.  Long skis are a good platform for the higher intensity, more structured training that comes with the rest of the summer. Here are a couple of pictures from my recent Alaskan training adventures: 

Rob and I on top of Goat Ridge over looking the Turnagain Arm on our Eklutna Traverse crust ski. We started hiking at 4:45am and this trip took 14 hours car to car.  Good 30/50k training! 

This is what I call "good training."  It's all about keeping the joy and passion alive. In order to succeed, I believe you must love what you do. As a ski racer and coach, I absolutely adore skiing and Alaskan trips such as this are a big part of it. It's those rainy roller ski days in October that provide my with the fitness and strength to ski hard all day - and vice versa. 

Here's a picture from a backcountry training trip where the weather didn't cooperate. Have you ever skied in full rubber ... the kind you would use for fishing?  It may be novel but isn't highly recommended! 

Memorial Day weekend Katie Ronsse (my APU teammate), Rob, Bill Pearson and I got out for a long tour above Whittier.  We had a great day on our tele skis (the snow was too "corny" to use anything skinnier)  and we decided to capture the moment with a sweet ski-guitar shot!

On another note, May featured the end of school for the Anchorage School District. I was happy to fit in a couple of school visits including some time at Chugach Optional Elementary school.  It's fun telling stories about the Olympics and discussing goal setting.  Kids always come up with great questions too! 

If you're reading this I hope that you're enjoying your summer and taking the opportunity to get outside and take care of yourself. Have fun, be careful, and thanks for reading! 

Sincerely, 

Holly :)

Playing Catch Up

Spring has been busy. But I am always busy.  The real reason there's been a lack of blog postings recently is because I can't get my iphoto to work. My pictures are in essence "stuck" on my camera and I can't access iphoto at all - although I know I didn't erase all my pictures. When it comes to fixing technical problems I'm about as worthless as anyone or anything..... I personally don't like blogs without photos so I will do my best to post with some haphazard photos that have been given to me by others while I find someone to help me fix my computer!

Meanwhile, this past weekend in Alaska was amazing. I got out for some much needed adventures - the kind that are good and restful for the soul and mind but not for the body! I'm tired and paying for it this week in training! On Saturday, my teammate Katie Ronsee and I skied/hiked from the South Fork of the Eagle River to Glen Alps.  Conditions were perfect and the trip took us 6 1/2 hours. If that wasn't enough, we decided that that wasn't enough and we ran into town carrying our skis in hands which took another 2 hours.

Hiking up Ship Lake Pass with skis on my back... we skied from the far left end of picture... 

(Thanks to Katie for sending! I have some awesome ones of her once I can access them)

Sunday was just as nice of a day and Rob and I skied above Whitter, AK - something that we've always wanted to do. The day was bluebird with no wind. It's days like these that make me think that Alaska is the best place on earth (when it's nice!) It was a four hour HAUL to get to our skiing starting point but the views down to the ocean and Blackstone Bay in Prince William Sound made it well worth it. Besides, I'm a complete nordic dork in that I like skinning up just as much if not MORE than skiing down. Can I admit that? 

The four hour haul.... 

Olivia checking out the view

Finally! A good day in the backcountry with Rob! (It was really bright looking into the sun!)

Every good long back country day ends with a ski boot hike!

On another note,

The visit to the White House in late April was awesome. We met the Obamas and the Bidens - pictures are apparently in the mail as they didn't support taking pictures with our own cameras.  All four leaders (Barack, Michelle, Joe, and Jill) were impressive and genuine in person. I had to pinch myself that we were getting to meet possibly the most famous person in the world right now, Obama. Regardless of what you may think of his politics his smile is even more electric in person and he looked at us with the proud eyes of a parent rather than a big political leader going through the motions. Michelle gave each and every one of us a hug!!!!

After the White House visit and USOC trip I stayed in DC two additional days to spend time with my sister who is biking AROUND the country. It was great to spend time with her and get a better idea of her trip. I learned about "stealth camping" which literally means that "she can camp anywhere and everywhere."  Robin is biking around the country with no itinerary and staying in a tent between houses of friends, family, and people she meets along the way. Her blog is called, "On the Road." 

(I will post pictures from these events as soon as I figure out my IT problems!)

In the meantime, here is a blog post that I wrote on the plane from Washington State to Washington DC, still missing some of the intended photos.

Washington to Washington …………

Well, I’m in the air (flying) again. This time the travel isn’t to compete in a race but to visit the White House and meet the President with the rest of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic squad!!!!!!  I’m really excited as this will present a great opportunity to spend some relaxed time with the other athletes – something I didn’t have time for with five separate races in Vancouver.   

The past couple weeks have been crazy busy.  APU community program practices ran through the 9^th of April and we had some great skiing. April can be awesome in Alaska and the skiing opportunities are plentiful.  For those that aren’t sick of track skiing, Nordic groomers are out every day, we hit up the single track and Tussock-skiing in a big way, (almost to a fault in this situation)

Forrest and his REALLY broken ski

The back country is loaded with snow, everyone is constantly checking the Alaskan Highway webcams and 24-hour weather stations in hopes that the crust skiing will set up.  (Skiing to the face of a glacier is an alright thing to do early morning before work!) (show pic from Portage last year) Alyeska, the local downhill resort has a ridiculous base of I don't know how many inches and they announced they’ll go strong through Memorial Day.  The skiing options are just one reason why I like to call Alaska home….

But, time to rewind – I shouldn’t get ahead of myself! Each spring we (the APU program) celebrates the end of the season by having a program-wide BBQ and relay race.  Young skiers pair up with (older) racers and ski a course often filled with fun obstacles and jumps.  There are no times, no egos – and at the end of the race, no one is really sure who won.  It’s great and chaotic…. A fun end of the season event for the different members of our diverse program to get together and exchange stories……

This picture features APU girls from three different levels – Devo girls in front (our middle school program) Junior girls sandwiched in the middle (our high school program) and University Elite girls lining the back. It’s fun to all be on the same team and it’s good exposure both up and down. The younger girls are exposed to “faster, older girls” and they remind us that snowball fights, making hand-made spandex, and beating up on the boys keep skiing fun and fresh. 

APU girls: front row: Devos, second row: Juniors, third row: Uni/Elite, top row: Morgan Flynn :) 

APU Junior Boys: Ray, Thomas, Doug, Forrest and Jack

APU Masters, Sam and Berit Flora 

The month of April represents a “changing of seasons” for anyone involved in skiing.  Our year isn’t based on the calendar but of course, the season of winter….This time of year coaches are usually frantically busy in the office planning the next season and athletes scatter near and far for some well-deserved R&R. This is the one time of year when it’s really “OK” to let your guard down and not train if you don’t feel like it (Otherwise, we’re busy training daily 54 weeks per year.)  As an athlete and a coach, the past couple of weeks have been crazy as I have my planning obligations as a coach combined with the body-fatigue of an athlete that needs a break! 

Kikkan, James, and I did a "Ride and Ski with the Alaskan Olympians" event free to all Alaksan kids. Here we are signing posters..... (Thanks to Lars Flora for organizing!)

Last year Rob and I rested up from the season on the north shore of Kauai. This year, instead of beaches and bikinis I opted to visit my family in Seattle enroute to Washington DC.  Spring time is often my favorite time of year in Seattle. I think my eyes and brain where on sensory overload as the flowers and flowering trees were out in full force, aroma, and color. While Anchorage may hold skiing over Seattle, Seattle definitely holds the cards for growing season and spring time beauty. 

Between nights in Seattle I was able to spend some time at my family’s cabin at Snoqualmie Pass where I learned to ski.  It was really special to spend some quality time with my parents, brothers, and uncle.  One day we even took a day trip to the Columbia River Gorge for a desert hike to see the flowers in bloom.  This involved skiing out of the cabin, driving to Vantage to visit Petrified Tree State Park, hiking and running in 70 degree weather, then driving back only to ski back into the cabin in my shorts.  Cell phones and internet don’t work once we’re there so evenings are often filled with dinners aided by the light of the fireplace and Willie Nelson in the background. It’s nice to un-plug and focus on good dinner conversation rather than new email updates on my Anderiod J

Well, that’s it for the pre-WA DC update. I’m excited to see the other athletes and equally excited for my two additional days in DC.  My sister has been biking her legs off to meet me in the capital.  Also, one of my best friends from college will be in DC Friday night so we get to go to dinner!  

Until next week and thanks for reading,

Holly J

APU Celebration and Fundraiser Event

Spring time for skiers is time for rest, reflection on the past year, the beginning of the NEXT training year and of course, some fundraising efforts.  The APU team is hosting the first annual celebration/fundraiser event on Tuesday evening on the APU Campus.  Funds raised will be used to offset ever-climbing travel expenses for young and aspiring athletes. If you're in Anchorage, we would love for you to join us.  If you are outside of Anchorage but still wish to send a donation, that can easily be arranged. There is no cost to attend the event and we are going to have some awesome items up for bid.  Just annoucned today is a training trip up to Eagle Glacier via Alpine Air Helicopter ride to ski with us during one of our summer glacier camps!!!!!  Additionally, the APU Board of Trustees will be MATCHING EACH DONATION AT 100%!!!!!!  Your donations are tax exempt and we hope you'll consider it!  If you would like more information or have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Last but not least, please help us spread the word about the event by letting others know it is happening. Thank you! Sincerely, 

Holly :) 

Sneak Peek into a few Auction Items......

APU Nordic Ski Center Celebration & Fundraiser  

A few of the live and silent auction items for fundraiser benefitting 

the Competition Fund of the APU Nordic Ski Center are listed below. 

Weekend stay at Alaska’s Fishing Unlimited Lodge on Lake Clark 

Weekday Powder Passes for 2 at Alyeska Ski Resort 

A Talkeetna getaway (includes a flightseeing trip/glacier landing 

for 2 in the Alaska Range with Talkeetna Air Taxi AND lodging at 

the Talkeetna Roadhouse) 

Nordic ski packages (including boots, bindings, and skis) from 

Rossignol AND Salomon 

Lessons with APU Olympic skiers Holly Brooks and Kikkan 

Randall 

A weekend of Cat skiing for two with Chugach Powder Guides 

Skiing and lessons in Bend, Oregon with Olympian Lars Flora 

(includes airplane tickets for 2 from Alaska to Bend, Oregon 

Please join us! 

May 4th, 2010 7-9p.m.  

APU Atwood Center 

Hors d’oeuvres, desserts, drinks will be provided. 

RSVP to Phyllis Gross at pgross@alaskapacific.edu 

or at (907) 564.8250 

We look forward to sharing a season's worth of skiing  

One Month Post-Olympics

I've been home for less than a week after 24 straight days in Northern Maine.... I coached at JOs, hung out in the "county" for a week, and then raced in the US Nationals 30k and Super Tour Finals. The season is finally over. I say "finally" not because I'm burnt out but just because my first Super Tour race of the season seems like two life-times ago.  A lot has happened between West Yellowstone in November and my return to Anchorage March 30th. I'll let the photos tell most of the stories...... 

After two weeks of sunshine in the county we raced the 30k in fresh, falling snow. I ended up third in a 4-way battle for the podium. After the 30k, we had one "off-day" before the start of Super Tour finals - three races in three consecutive days. 

What did we do? Fast and Female Madawaska!!!!!!  Fast and Female is originally Canadian and FF Maine was the only place in the US to host other than Anchorage. Reno Deprey, one of the APU Master skiers helped sponsor the event with his wife, Becky Manley.  Reno grew up skiing and coaching in Madawaska so they had signs (and even ski trails) honoring him. For those that aren't familiar with Fast and Female it's an "empowerment through sport" event that brings top female skiers in the country to give all-day clinics to girls ages 9-19.  Skiers are broken up into groups, spend time skiing and learning skills from top female athletes in the country, eat lunch together, story time plus Q&A, and then it's followed by a poster signing session.  It's a FABULOUS program and this is my third Fast and Female event. I hope that other locales are able to host FF as I feel like it's a really effective program for communities. 

Pointing to Reno who by the way just celebrated his 80th Birthday.... he just won his age group in the Birkie by MINUTES. Very cool to have a ME-AK connection!

Here is my group of girls posing with the Fast and Female logo.  Left to right is Alice, Hallie, Amanda, myself, Vanessa, Shelby, Danni, Cassie, and Vicky.  These girls were so much fun!!!!

Part of Maine Winter Sports Center's outreach programs includes mobile trailers with ski equipment to outfit those that don't have their own gear.  These guys were efficient in getting everyone outfitted - plus the trailer were sweet. I think more places could benefit from a project like this. If kids never try skiing they don't know what they're missing right?

After skiing we had lunch in the cafeteria. The food was awesome and the event volunteers had a slide show of the ski stations already playing on the wall with a soundtrack and everything. They did a phenomenal job organizing - top rate! Taz is pictured above excited about her tray with at least eight separate compartments!!

Here is a group FF shot taken from the roof.  The even actually happened on a Thursday and girls from the Madawaska schools were excused from classes to attend.  (They told me the boys were super jealous!)

The following day we had our first of three super tour races.  The women's race was a 7.5k classic mass start with three "preem" stations at 1k, 3k, and 6k.  Rebecca Dussault and I continued our close finishes at the line with this lunge at 1k.  It's funny because I'm not used to lunging for a line, then continuing to race.  I had to be careful not to lunge so far that I would fall over. (That happens quite often!)

Preem winners received time off their overall time and Kikkan received 250 bucks for being the first women to 1k

Here is a picture of the men's mass start.  I think there were close to 100 men starting this race on fast tracks with some fun corners.  This format made for some fun spectating.

Kate Fitz's (an APU teammate) extended family made the trip to Madawaska to watch her race - they brought this sign to cheer her on! 

I met two local girls that attended Fast and Female and were out at the races to watch.  Coincidentally their names were "Holly" and "Brooke" so we had to get our picture taken together!

Some of my Fast and Female girls came out to the races and brought their friends - thanks for cheering girls!!!

The APU coaches worked extremely hard during our time in Maine. We had four races in five days and there were two venues approximately 1 hour apart.  It made for some long hours and complicated logistics for them... plus some sticky klister conditions. (This is head coach Erik Flora's hand after the race)

Here is the sprint podium. I was third again!  This time to Ida Sargent and Kikkan.

After the sprint it was time to re-fuel and get ready for the next day's hill climb.  Becca choose some "poutine" which is a Canadian and Northern Maine specialty.  Yes, that's french fries with cheese curds covered in gravy.  I don't think there is any lack of "energy" in that plate of food!

Here is the final podium after three days of Super Tour racing following the last race - the "hill climb." I was third again!!!!

Here is a fun shot of Brian Gregg with his Super Tour cash winnings.  After USSA didn't pay the series winners last season they decided to try and salvage the reputation by giving this year's winners hard, cold cash.  Brian won the distance title after an entire season of racing. I think he bought a used Volvo with it.... right on Brian!

The following day I started my long trip home.  Four flights and approximately 24 hours later I met Rob at the Anchorage Airport baggage claim.  Coincidentally he had arrived from Colorado at a similar time. (It's sweet to carpool home from the airport with your husband - especially after you've been traveling different places!)  Since it was 2am in the morning it was technically Rob's birthday.  I brought him what was a beautiful, authentic Boston Cream pie which had melted on the subsequent flights.  I had candles but no lighter due to TSA. It still tasted good - and for those of you that know Rob, he isn't picky!

After we arrived home at 3am, it was straight to work the next day for both of us. No rest for the weary! It's been GREAT to be home and reconnect with friends, family, and all the people that I coach that have been so supportive of me over the past couple of months.

(The kids are spelling "APU" with their bodies.... if it wasn't completely obvious!)

On Friday Charlie Renfro and I took the APU devo and junior skiers down the old "Flat Top Flyer" course.  This was an old race that is completely downhill - Glen Alps to Hilltop on Nordic Skis.  It only lasted three years (?) and was finally cancelled due to too many broken bones including Kikkan's back.  We didn't race it but we sure had a good time.....

This year our only casualty was Ana's ski.  It was a huge bummer but at least it wasn't her arm or leg :)

After our downhill ski, one of the APU juniors that I coach, Mackenzie made the special trip to deliver a gift..... apparently she painted this in art class during the Games - she got an A. I have to say, it's one of the nicest, most thoughtful gifts I've ever received.  I'm truly honored by her efforts and will cherish the painting. Thanks so much Mac!!!

I've been home for almost a week now and it's been crazy - but fabulous.  I love being in Alaska, looking out at the mountains each morning, sleeping in my own bed, talking to my husband in person rather than over the phone or texting.  Life has been high-paced with work, catching up on "life" and all the additional responsibilities of an Olympian.  I have tons of requests and plans for speaking engagements/appearances, classroom visits, ski clinics, non-profit auction donations, thank yous... I'm excited because this is my turn to give back to a community that has done so much for me.

Amongst all the craziness I carved out some time to spend with Rob this past weekend.  We did our second annual back-to-back uphill/downhill ski races at Alyeska and Alpenglow.  This shot was taken on the chair lift at Arctic Valley.  This was our first time back since getting married there in August.  Sweet day, blue sky, good snow, BBQ on the deck. No complaining here.... 

I've also taken up a new sport thanks to Greg Matyas at Speedway Cycles - Winter Biking!  Yep, this is my new "FATBACK" bike complete with wide tires that float on top of the snow. I took it out for my first time this morning and had a blast.  I've envisioning a sweet combined crust trip complete with winter bike and skate skis - stay tuned! 

Thanks for reading - Enjoy Spring! 

Sincerely, 

Holly :)