Weird, Warm Winter

This has been the weirdest, warmest winter so far. It was cold enough at night for a few days that Massanutten was able to blow some snow, then it got warm and it all melted. I think they made more later and were open a day or so then had to close because on Christmas it was 70* outside! So there's been no snowboarding in Virginia so far and I'm doubting that Whitney will have the chance to hit the slopes before she heads back to college. It is supposed to get cold again towards the weekend so snowmaking should resume but we'll see how long it takes to get open again. Not really worth it for a season pass for Whitney at this point.

Up in Maine they had some snow over the weekend and are under a winter storm warning tonight/tomorrow. That means that they should have some good snow on the slopes when she gets back and also probably in town. Hopefully she'll have plenty of time to get out on the slopes before she has a race. She just found out that the Maine Mountain Series is moving the date of the first bx race to February. Major bummer. Her boyfriend was going to drive back up to school with her and watch her race next month. It also means that she won't be coming home for her February break since the race is the end weekend of break and because of that she won't be racing down here. Maybe she should have stayed part of the Appalachian Series. Oh well. It will all work out in the end.

Where's the Cold....and the Snow?

Here in Virginia we had a few days in the 70s recently. Not exactly snow making weather. Even in Maine it's been a tad on the warm side. From what I've been hearing from my source in the North, she said it's been in the 50s and not nearly cold enough for her. She loves the cold weather and they're not getting it. Sunday River had some man-made snow and opened for weekends last month but I'm not sure if they're still open or not. Hopefully the cold will return and the snow will come with it. As far as I know Sugarloaf has had some snow on the peaks but not really much. They posted some pretty pictures of "snowliage," snow on the peaks and pretty yellow and orange trees in the valley. The college has posted the ski and snowboard team schedule and the good thing is that races don't start until January. By the time she gets back to school after Thanksgiving she should be able to get on the slopes.

A Great Day in Maine

So if the highlight of her year was becoming National Champion in April, the second highlight came yesterday. The snowboard team coach, who also is in charge of the alpine operations certificate at UMF, invited Whitney to sit in on his class last night because Seth Wescott was coming in to speak. He's one of Whitney's idols. He grew up in Farmington and his "home mountain" is Sugarloaf, which is where the UMF team practices. He is a two time gold medal winner in the Olympics for boardercross (2006 Torino, 2010 Vancouver), he also has a gold medal in the World Championships as well as several silver medals in the World Championships and Winter X Games.

Seth is one reason she went into boardercross. I'm not sure what the class was about but she had a chance to talk to him for a few minutes after he was finished then the two of them walked out together (neither was staying for the rest of the class). She was super excited last night when I talked to her! She had the chance to talk to him for about 15-20 minutes after the class and they talked about her snowboarding, his snowboarding, and he gave her some advice on next steps in her snowboarding career. She found it interesting that he started doing half-pipe but moved to boarder cross when he saw people like Shaun White coming up behind him. I think that was probably a good move! He thought it was funny that she didn't do half-pipe because mom said no and she was not as coordinated as you need to be to survive half-pipe (never mind the fact that there are no half-pipes in Virginia).

I'm so excited for her to meet one of her idols, especially since she missed her chance to talk to Alex Deibold (bronze medalist, 2014 Sochi Olympics) when we were at Nationals in April. This sounds like a good start to her season...now for the snow to start falling.

Fall into Winter

Tomorrow is October 1 and a new season is getting so close. There are signs of it everywhere - the leaves are slowly starting to shed their green and change colors, pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks and Panera, the weather is starting to cool down which means that in New England it's getting really cool, especially at night. Another sign is that we got an early look at the Appalachian Series schedule for the winter. The big news there, at least for us, is that there will be a bx race at Massanutten again and the timing is such that Whitney will be home from school on her first spring break (or is it her winter break, I'm not sure). Whitney has already registered with USASA again and has made some big changes. She's moved up to the Open class and she also switched to the Maine Mountain Series. The good news is that since she's the Jams Champion from last season, she has an automatic invite to Nationals this year.

Another sign of the coming season is that dry ground training has started up in Maine. Whitney has had several meetings with the ski and snowboard team at school and they've started running and working out. She said that the other day they were playing football. Not sure how exactly that gets them in shape for skiing or snowboarding, but it sounded fun.

The snow is going to start falling in Maine pretty soon and they'll be able to start making snow there long before we have a chance to here in Virginia. Here's to an awesome season!

Making Progress Towards the Season

Winter is getting closer. The weather may not feel like it (it was still hot and humid until yesterday) but the calendar, my email, and my Facebook feed say otherwise.

Signs of the coming season -

• Whitney registered yesterday with USASA for the new season. She's moved to the Maine Mountain Series and to the open class. Should be a challenging season for her. {we'll miss the Appalachian Series}
• Whitney has a meeting with the UMF ski and snowboard team in a couple of weeks.
• I've seen postings on Facebook from the Appalachian Series director that she's been making phone calls about the new season. That means that she's calling resorts to set up the competition schedule. She can't say anything yet, but I sure hope there's a race at Massanutten.
• Also on Facebook I saw a posting by Whitetail about getting ready for winter.
• I had an email today from Copper Mountain that they are opening on Nov. 6. Yes, they're in the Rockies but that's soon! Hopefully Sugarloaf, which is where Whitney will be this winter, will be opening soon after that.
• Bob and I have been talking about which ski passes would be best to get this year. We'll have to take a look at our options and figure out when we'll be down at Massanutten. We also need to decide if Sarah is getting skis for Christmas or if we're going to rent for her again. 

I'm looking forward to winter. Once I see Whitney's schedule I'll make some plans to head to Maine and watch her race. I'm not sure what I'm going to with all my free time this winter; for the first time in four years I won't have to take her to practice or races.

A New Season, Just Around the Corner

It's getting towards the end of August and a new season is just around the corner. No, really, it is. USASA is opening it's early registration for the season on Sept. 1. I just saw something today on the Appalachian Series facebook page about training for coaches. All the snowboard gear has been pulled out and weather reports are already being checked. OK so the gear was pulled out to be packed in the car to make the trip to college. Exciting times! Whitney's plan is to compete for the University of Maine at Farmington while working toward her bigger goals. Being on the team will push her, she's not used to strength and condition training, working out before the season starts, and I'm sure the practices will be more than she's used to doing. Hopefully the coach will know something about boardercross and will help take her to the next level of competition. Lots of unknowns right now. If you're interested in following her adventures this season her instagram and twitter feed can be found at whit_lemay.

What Was I Thinking??

I haven't been on my bike all summer. Just wasn't interested this year. But did that stop me from signing up for a ride that was today? Nope! What was I thinking?? I even signed Bob and I up a month ago for this 25 mile ride, had the date in the back of my head, and did nothing about getting on my bike. So last night Bob and I went out for an 8-mile ride, just to take my bike for a spin and so today wouldn't be my first time in the saddle. Good thing we went out! Found out my rear break wasn't working at all. When we got to our turn around point, he messed with it and got it fixed. Better last night than this morning. So this morning we were up early and out the door by 7 to get to the start by 7:30 to meet my friend. We were on the road riding just before 8 and finished in 2 hours, 15 minutes, pretty darn good for not riding at all. I was happy to finish before it got too hot. I'm still in one piece, I'm just going to have a sore tush for a few days. And now my bike is back in the garage, we'll see if I pull it out again this summer.