Family at Altitude

Enjoying the climbing out West!

The past two weeks have flown by! Brian and I have been training like crazy and I can tell it is making a HUGE difference in our fitness this summer...last summer I was in school full-time and working so I didn't even start training until August! I can't wait to race this season with a full off-season of preparation. It won't make the racing hurt any less but it should help me be more consistent! I put in another solid block of 3 weeks at 25+ hours of training (the most I have ever done in a month), and I am enjoying the last day of my recovery week. I am already chomping at the bit to get after my next block of training so things are going well and I am absorbing the load which feels great!

Beautiful evening wedding in the Sierra's! Congrats Kelly and Fran!!!

Party favors for adults! My Aunt Marcie blowing bubbles with me!

A beautiful hike with most of the family! It was nice to have a recovery week so I could spend a lot of time with everyone :)

This next phase of my training has me hitting big hours again but this time at altitude. Brian and I are in Truckee, CA for a family wedding and family reunion and we decided to stay an extra couple of weeks to maximize our adaptation. We will be heading up to Eagle Glacier afterwards to continue our altitude block as well as get some time on our new equipment.

Straight from NYC and a busy life as a coffee shop and restaurant owner yet still pumped to climb some peaks!

Speaking of new equipment...the press release came out that Brian and I will be switching to Madshus Skis, boots, bindings and poles this season. I could not be more excited about the decision to work with Madshus. They are one of the top ski brands internationally, and that is where we need to be competitive, and working with their staff has been one of the greatest experiences in my ski racing career. Brian and I are dialed in this season and Madshus is putting a huge amount of effort into making sure our switch in an Olympic Year is seamless! We have all of our skis selected and we will get to test them on the glacier months before the season even starts! YES!!! I had the opportunity to race on a pair in May at Mt. Baker and they were incredible!

The best feeling in a race is knowing you have a VERY fast pair of skis on your feet!

The wedding and family reunion are now over but one of my brothers and my sister are staying an extra day to hang out. It's great be with my with family again, although I don't get to see them very often, I am always amazed how quickly we re-connect and love being together. My siblings are all very different and very independent. Each of us has our own passion and each of us are on our own to pursue our passions. I am excited to go to the gym tomorrow with them and introduce them to my world of training for the Olympics!

My "little" brother Calan curling me after dinner.

Somehow all of my younger siblings are much taller than me!