A Big Week of Skiing!

I just finished up a 26 hour week of skiing on Eagle Glacier! The glacier is located just outside of Girdwood, Alaska and sits at 5,500 feet. Thanks to Alaska Pacific University Ski Team, I and a few other guest athletes were invited to train at their August camp. We spent the week focusing on skiing and skiing only. Days were spent skiing twice a day, reviewing technique, resting, eating (a lot!), and sleeping. The accommodations were nothing fancy...25 people bunking in one moderately sized building with one kitchen, and two bathrooms. But I do have to say that we ate like kings and queens up there!

The skiing was great! In August the snow is usually a bit wet and slow and crevasses become visible. These conditions are not always the most fun to ski in, but it is good to practice in because you never know when you will have to race in them! (The conditions were similar to those found in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.) Our first couple days were filled with sunshine, but that quickly changed to clouds, fog, rain and wind. The weather changes very quickly up there...you might begin a workout in the sun but it might change to rain and fog by the end. While the sunny days were fewer than the rainy and foggy days, it was those sunny days that made up for the less pleasant ones. I have to say that it is one of my favorite places to be on a nice day!

A great advantage of going up to the glacier is getting the opportunity to train with new people and a different team. It is always interesting to see how other teams train and to try new things. APU has a great team of very talented athletes, so it was fun for me to get to train both easy and hard with the girls.

After being surrounded by white snow and lots of white clouds for a week, it is fun to hike down into the lush green forests. A two hour hike across the glacier, down scree, glassading on snow, and bush-wacking through thick brush brings you to Crow Creek road.

Overall the week up the glacier was very successful. Many hours of good hard training were put in the bank. I am sticking around Alaska for another 10 days to enjoy some fun adventures and to spend time with friends and family.