Davos Week 1

This past week we have been in Davos, and actually it has been almost two weeks now, as, due to lack of snow, our races in France planned for this coming weekend were moved to Davos as well.  So, this weekend we will be racing here as well, tomorrow with a 10k skate and Sunday with another skate sprint.  Europe has been having a very tough snow year so far, and Davos is one of the few places in central Europe with any snow at all.  So, as as a result, we will not be spending the holiday break in Les Saisies, France,  but will stay in Davos for Christmas as well!  I am bummed not to be spending the time in France, as it is one of my favorite places to ski, but most of the team will be together this way, making it more festive at the holidays!

A photo from the 10k Classic last weekend.

Sadie, popping champagne to celebrate finishing her last college class! Impressive lady to be able to manage school and skiing while on the road.  Congrats Sades!

Holly was in Davos for a week preparing for the two marathon races she competed in this weekend in Livigno, Italy, so she stopped in for dinner one night and we got to catch up!  Plus, she then went and snagged a 2nd place in the 42k skate on Friday!  Congrats Holly!

Jessie found a bit of chocolate....just the small sized ones!

A few of us drove over the pass last week to get some different skiing terrain in Livigno, Italy and we followed this most of the way over the top.  A snowblower that was blowing the snow from the side of the road into the dump truck which was then taking it to the course.  Pretty incredible how much snow they had to move to make these races happen.  No job is too big here to put on a World Cup.

After our ski in Italy we stopped in for a pizza and at the end of our meal we were offered a taste of many different regional liquors, as well as this grappa.

Just a cobra and a scorpion marinating in there.  No big deal.

Nice shot of a perfect Davos day (minus all the snow that should be here!) from our deck at the Hotel Kulm.

Vitamin D. Erik and Sadie soacking it in.

Lullaby time.

Caitlin Gregg has been with us this last month as our continental cup leader from last season!  Its always so fun to have another face along with us.  She has been keeping close tabs on her husbands races and keeping us informed.  Here she is checking his results while pumping some heavy iron!

The Kaffee Klatsch is a common stop for us here in Davos, mostly because of their beautiful Cappuccinos!

Always good to get a little spa time when possible.  Tough life....

And on a completely different note; Meet Addison Wubbles!!!  Alex and Cory Wubbles, my very good friends (Cory is also one of our wax techs, though he is taking this year off) had a healthy baby boy on December 8th!  I am so excited to meet this guy! Lucky little man to get parents like these guys.

Lillehammer Triple

We just arrived in Lillehammer, Norway for our second weekend of World Cup racing and our first mini tour of the season, which is usually held at the opening World Cups in Kuusamo, but this year it has been moved to Lillehammer, which is fun, as the venue is new last year and we will get an opportunity to really race all of the courses and loops.  Today was a skate sprint, tomorrow is a 5k skate individual start and Sunday will be a pursuit start 10k classic, based on the results from the sprint and the 5k.  It is a really fun format and I am hoping to be able to chase some people down in the coming days!  

It was a really fun day here, as Celine Brun-Lie who joined our women's team camp in Alaska this summer and hosted me at her house two summers ago in Oslo was second!  It is not an easy ladder to climb up in the Norwegian team or just in the World Cup field in general, so to be on one of those podium steps is a really special experience, and Celine has been really patient with a very tough battle, so to see her succeed today was so inspiring for me.  I am so happy for her.  Congrats Celine.  Thanks for reminding us all the importance of belief in yourself, belief in your process and your way and not to ever give up.

Celine, showing some emotion after securing second place in today's sprint.

Noah, still smiling with a broken fibula.  He actually just had surgery in Vail yesterday morning, so already on the road to recovery.  He is expecting to be back for World Champs in Falun, Sweden in February!  Send speedy recovery wishes his way!

Jessie and Soph just being great people.

Our team PT for the last 3 weeks has been Pete Dickinson from the Methow Valley in Washington.  He has been incredible to have on the tour with us, never too tired to work on whatever we need, even our boots! Thanks for all of your time and knowledge you have shared with us, Pete! We can't wait to have you back again in the future!

Some "dry needling" on my shoulder, which is a sort of acupuncture technique to get some muscles to relax.

Skiing in the heart of winter in Sjusjoen earlier this week.  So nice to be on real, white, beautiful snow.

And with the Norwegian tundra all around, on the Birkebeiner trail, ahhh, couldn't be better.

The views were beautiful.

Like I said, beautiful.

Reese Hanneman took this picture of me after our ski one day.  If you haven't checked out his photography, you should.  His website is: http://www.reesehanneman.com.