NorAm Races

We're making two trips to Colorado in a short time for races. This first trip is for the NorAm races - one on Friday, one today. There weren't many women racing, quite a few are in Europe for Junior Worlds. The original start lists had 16 but quite a few dropped or were injured during practice or racing. Friday eleven started the race, one was hurt, and Whitney finished 10th. She had a slow first time trial run but did well in the second. Today twelve were on the start list, three dropped before they started. Whitney took a spill on her first run but did really well on her second. She finished 9th so didn't make the cut to brackets but she's happy with how she did. One of the coaches asked her why she wasn't upset about not making the cut. Her answer was that yes, she was disappointed but she hasn't raced in two years (most of these girls have been practicing and racing), she felt her runs, especially her second one today were really good, and she's happy how she's finishing off her racing career. 

Today, like yesterday, she's back on the mountain supporting some friends who are still racing. She's making connections with coaches, hoping to talk to a few next week when we're back out. She's seeking guidance on coaching, how to move up from what she's doing now, what her next steps should be and where. 

We're packing up tonight, an early shuttle pickup in the morning to head down to Denver and wing our way home. A few days in the land of oxygen before we head back out here for USASA Nationals and her final race.

Colorado!

After a super early wake up call on Wednesday, leaving for the airport at 3:30am we've made it to Colorado. We had enough time Wednesday after we got here to poke around a bit. A lot has changed since the last time we were at Copper, which was three years ago. Our favorite pizza place has closed, a lot of other restaurants have closed, new ones have opened, same for the shops. At least the donut shop is still open; we enjoyed maple bacon mini donuts yesterday afternoon after she was done with practice. 

Friday was practice day. Whitney felt good considering how long it's been since she's raced at this level. She got down and said that while she felt like she needed new lungs (hello, altitude!), her legs felt fine. A good sign. She was up and out the door early to catch the competitors lift at 8, a few practice runs, then onto time trials and heats. We'll see how day one of racing goes.

Colorado, Here We Come!

 Plans are made, a tad late, but they're made. Whitney and I are making two trips to Colorado in the next two weeks. Unfortunately there's four days in between her races and I can't take off that much time from work so two trips it is. We head out Wednesday for a NorAm Cup race at Copper, home on Sunday, then back out on Thursday for the USASA Nationals. I'll be coming home on Monday while Whitney stays in Colorado to help coach the Massanutten team. 

I'm looking forward to heading to Colorado again, it's been a long time! Last time we were there was February 2020 when we went to Ski Cooper for the NorAm Cup race. This will be our last trip for snowboard racing so I will enjoy every minute of it. 

Rumble at the River 2022

Once the decision was made that Whitney wanted to race USASA she looked at races and Maine was the best scheduling fit. We made plans and headed off to Sunday River for a long weekend. It was good to be back in Maine with her for races. We poked around Farmington, got pizza at my second favorite place, went to the movies, got dinner another night and ran into a college friend of hers, oh and we went to the races. 

She was super excited to be back on the race course. As usual was the only one in Open Class but it was fine. She was able pick the brain of a coach that she knows well, trying to figure out her next steps in coaching. A good couple of days at Sunday River. We had a nice weekend in Maine.