(Almost) End of Season Wrap-Up

We just got back from our last trip to Massanutten for the season. The next couple of days Whitney can go, the weather just isn't going to be cooperative - too warm and/or rainy. Also at this point in the season she's getting pretty physically beat up and tired. It's time to take a break for a week or so before Nationals. The ski area closes on Sunday so it's the end.

The "bad" things this season:

• Coaching chaos! After Scott got hurt and was out for the season, for a while Whitney didn't know who the coach was going to be on a given night. It was rotating coaches for a while.
• The crazy weather. The snow started falling early and lasted long into March. That was good, except that we also had several rainy days, sleet, and crazy thick fog.
• Ten year old boys. Enough said.
• The long drive. For whatever reason, the drive seemed really long this year. Maybe it's just because we know how long it is now.

The "good" things this season:

• The coaches! Even though it was crazy for a while, Whitney had fun meeting the different coaches and felt it was good having a different set of eyes every so often on her skills. She also learned different things from the different coaches.
• The weather was both good and bad. The early snow got the resort open early, which meant that she could start boarding early. Even though she was there on several rainy days, the plus side was that a few times she was the only one there for the team practice and got individual coaching. The snow has kept coming, they got almost a foot the other day and spring is just around the corner.
• Improved skills. For a while, especially because of the coaching problems early in the season, Whitney felt she was stagnating and not getting better. Once things stabilized (there was one pretty regular weeknight/Sunday coach, rotating ones on Saturday), she said that she really felt her skills were improving.
• Awesome boarding! Because of the early snow and all the snow that's fallen this winter, there was some pretty awesome snowboarding. Whitney really enjoyed her time at Massanutten again this season, learning from the coaches, having fun with the team, a trip to New Hampshire for a couple of days of boarding there.

Still to come this season before it's completely over is Nationals. She and I leave next Friday along with one of her coaches. I think we're all looking forward to heading out to Colorado. I'm hoping for sunny days with bluebird skies. It's so pretty out there! I remember standing on the mountain near the top of the snowboard cross course last year just being amazed at how big and amazing the mountains were out there.