USCSA Nationals 2017, Bend, OR

Hopefully Whitney will pop in here and give us an update on how it's all going out west. I know they had a crazy start when they left Farmington on Saturday - one of the kids forgot their ski boots (really?!? You're going to a ski competition and you forget your ski boots.). They took a school van and one of the coaches drove his truck to take the gear in. They made a stop in Augusta on the way to Boston and when someone shut the backdoor of the van the window broke. Like they needed that, which meant a detour to Home Depot to get cardboard and lots of duct tape. They made it to Boston ok after that, a bit late but in plenty of time.

From what I heard their flight to JFK then the other Portland were fine. They stayed in a hotel in Portland then went to Bend in the morning. They are staying in two houses, one coach and all the guys in one; Whitney, the other girl, and the other two coaches in the other house. She said they're about 40 minutes from Mt. Batchelor, so not too far but when they go, it's for the day.

How's the weather out there, you ask? Snowy, very snowy. Whitney has sent a few pictures and they're getting lots of snow. I was talking to her today and she said that she was getting buried. Oh, and the fog was rolling in. I watched some of the video that USCSA posted of the women's slalom (ski) and it looked crazy; inches of snow on the course and definitely not ideal racing conditions.

Whitney had a bit of fun exploring today but didn't go too far off the beaten track. On a huge mountain, by herself, in the weather they're having she stuck to open spaces and also to the BX course. She didn't want to get lost or hurt somewhere off by herself. Maybe tomorrow the weather will be better for her to explore or she'll have someone to ride with her.

She sounds really excited about riding in the deep powder, riding on a volcano, and she's just having a good time. For now she can ignore race days and enjoy the scenery.

her view from the chair lift today