Recently, I spent a week and a half in Aspen, Colo., competing at J2 Nationals.
Three areas of the country were represented in Aspen: The Western region, which includes Utah, California, Washington and Oregon; the Eastern region, which includes New England, New York and a few Southern states; and the Rocky/Central region, which encompasses everything from Colorado to Minnesota and Missouri.
About 40 athletes were selected from the Eastern region, based on our results at a series of races held throughout the winter. Six other athletes from Stowe qualified: Bobby Farrell, Taylor Wunsch, Ryan Siegle, Taber Engleken, Dustin Martin and Brad Farrell. Unfortunately, Brad Farrell broke his leg two weeks before our trip, so he was unable to go.
I was really happy to make it to Nationals. I did not qualify last year. Until right before I qualified this year, I was having a mediocre season and struggling with my giant slalom skiing. I really worked hard this winter, but my times did not always improve.
I put the possibility of going to Nationals out of my mind, so that I would have no expectations and therefore no disappointments. I decided just to focus on my skiing and having fun each run in the race course.
Luckily, I had some good slalom runs in the last two races that counted toward qualifying for Nationals. I placed well in the races, which were at Sugarbush, and to my surprise qualified for Nationals. It was a great feeling after my skiing struggles earlier in the season. I was proud of my accomplishment, and I decided to go to Nationals with a “nothing to lose, just go for it” attitude toward my racing there.
All of the racers from the East flew out to Denver together and then drove to Aspen. We all stayed together at the same hotel. This was a fun experience because, being the only girl from Stowe, I got a chance to make new friends with other Eastern girls who were my teammates there, instead of my competitors, as they usually are when we race in the East.
At Aspen, we raced downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom, all on the women’s World Cup downhill trail. We spent the first three days in Aspen doing training runs for the downhill race. We did one run each day, and each day it got a little bit less scary.
The first time I saw the race trail, Aztec, I was terrified. It was nerve-wracking to know that I would be flying down it in a few hours. Although not my best event, once I got used to the steep trail and the high speeds, the downhill was exhilarating and a lot of fun, although a challenging course.
Over the course of our racing in Aspen, I had some good days and some bad days, and some in between in terms of my skiing. The third day of downhill training was my best run, but I carried too much speed into one gate on the final day (the day when the results actually counted) and lost a lot of time.
On the last day, on slalom day, a great first run ended when I had to hike on the third-to-last gate.
Sadly, giant slalom remained a struggle in Aspen, just as it had been for the whole winter.
Despite my below-par race runs, I tried not to worry myself and just have fun each run. As a result, the trip to Aspen was a blast, although I wish we could have had more time to ski the mountain.
The bad part about racing is that you spend all day inspecting the course and warming up and doing your race runs and you never get that much time to free ski on other trails. Unfortunately, that was the case in Aspen. I guess I will have to go back again soon to do that!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Q&A with Annie - Part two
What is your race day routine? Don't spare any details (foods, music, what's on your mind when you slip into the start, how do you deal with nerves, are you thinking when you are racing or just going on instinct and auto pilot)?
My race day routine starts the night before the race. I tune and wax my skis, and I always make sure I have my ski bag packed and everything that I need for the next day organized and ready to go. This means I have less to worry about when I wake up early in the morning, and it ensures that I don’t forget necessities like my wallet, ski boots, etc. (these are things that have often been forgotten by racers and are pretty important!). In the morning on the way to the race or in the lodge before we go out, I eat breakfast, usually oatmeal or a muffin, and drink lots of fluids. When I inspect the course, I don’t necessarily memorize every single turn, but I visualize the line I plan to ski between the gates, and I visualize myself skiing the course. Later, when I am at the start getting ready for my run, I visualize myself once more, and I picture myself skiing any tricky spots in the course. I like to listen to music when I inspect the course and when I am hanging out in the lodge before my run. It can be any type of music, usually I just listen to whatever plays on shuffle on my ipod. The music helps me relax. To try to master my nerves, I just remind myself that the result doesn’t matter. My goal before each run is to ski as aggressively as possible without sacrificing my line between the gates. As long as I have skied as fast as I could have in the course, I am generally satisfied, even if I ended up falling or making mistakes in my run. Before my run I like to get really warmed up and stretched out. I run in place and swing my arms and legs to get them warmed up and loose. In the start I just remind myself to go for it and “leave it all on the hill.” It is hard to say what I think about in the course because looking back, the course is always kind of a blur. I try to keep myself pumped up and aggressive, but my subconscious brain takes over the control of my muscles and my skiing.
What role have your parents played in your racing career? Do you think kids from non ski-racing families can be as successful as kids from ski-racer or skier families?
My parents have played a huge role in my ski-racing career. They taught me to ski and fostered my love of the sport. I think the time we put in skiing as a family definitely put me at an advantage over other kids who did not come from skiing families. When I started ski racing my parents took me to all of the races, and we would ski all over the mountain after the race. Since neither parent ski raced, let alone lived near any major ski areas when they were young, they are always enthusiastic about every run they get on skis, and they always try to ski at races. They tease me that they should be going to the ski academy because they appreciate it more than I do. Also, my parents have funded my skiing career, although in recent years I have been contributing a bit. Without them, I would never have been able to start ski racing, let alone attend a ski academy. They have put in a lot of time and effort into the ski club at Suicide Six, so that my sister and I and other kids could race there. Most of all, my parents have been my supporters. They have cheered me on, and they have been the ones to whom I came crying when I was disappointed or upset.
With your busy life on the ski racing tour, do you have a social life? What does your winter social life consist of? Seriously. Do your friends back home get what you're doing?
In the winter, my social life is definitely different, although I spend just as much time with people my age as I do in the off-season. Since we all ski race and have early bedtimes before races and sometimes need days to rest and stay home, ski racers tend to hang out together in the winter. There is a great group of kids at MMWA, and I love spending time with them. Without that team aspect and being surrounded by other people who are doing the same thing, I would not enjoy ski racing as much as I do. I don’t have as much of a social life when I visit home in the winter because I generally like to spend my time resting and doing nothing because I am usually so busy. I generally just visit with my closest friends when I come home. My friends in Woodstock understand my ski career pretty well. Some of my closest friends ski raced for a few years when they were J5s and J6s, so they have gotten a glimpse of the sport. Also, they got an idea of how full the racing schedule is from my freshman year at public school when I missed so much school to attend races. A lot of kids I knew from Suicide Six still race, so I still see some friends from other academies who actually started out at Suicide Six.
How will spend your summer?
This summer I will definitely be working a lot! I try to save up some money for the ski season and to pay for summer ski trips, but what I earn gets used up really fast. I would like to ski this summer. In past years I went out to Whistler in British Columbia and skied on the glacier there. Last year, I went with a group from MMSC to Les Deux Alpes, France. The glacier was huge and the skiing was amazing. That area of France was beautiful, and it was a great experience. This next summer I hope to go back to France or to ski at Mount Hood in Oregon with the MMSC group. Aside from work and skiing, I like to spend the summertime playing tennis, hanging out with my friends, swimming and enjoying the warm weather.
My race day routine starts the night before the race. I tune and wax my skis, and I always make sure I have my ski bag packed and everything that I need for the next day organized and ready to go. This means I have less to worry about when I wake up early in the morning, and it ensures that I don’t forget necessities like my wallet, ski boots, etc. (these are things that have often been forgotten by racers and are pretty important!). In the morning on the way to the race or in the lodge before we go out, I eat breakfast, usually oatmeal or a muffin, and drink lots of fluids. When I inspect the course, I don’t necessarily memorize every single turn, but I visualize the line I plan to ski between the gates, and I visualize myself skiing the course. Later, when I am at the start getting ready for my run, I visualize myself once more, and I picture myself skiing any tricky spots in the course. I like to listen to music when I inspect the course and when I am hanging out in the lodge before my run. It can be any type of music, usually I just listen to whatever plays on shuffle on my ipod. The music helps me relax. To try to master my nerves, I just remind myself that the result doesn’t matter. My goal before each run is to ski as aggressively as possible without sacrificing my line between the gates. As long as I have skied as fast as I could have in the course, I am generally satisfied, even if I ended up falling or making mistakes in my run. Before my run I like to get really warmed up and stretched out. I run in place and swing my arms and legs to get them warmed up and loose. In the start I just remind myself to go for it and “leave it all on the hill.” It is hard to say what I think about in the course because looking back, the course is always kind of a blur. I try to keep myself pumped up and aggressive, but my subconscious brain takes over the control of my muscles and my skiing.
What role have your parents played in your racing career? Do you think kids from non ski-racing families can be as successful as kids from ski-racer or skier families?
My parents have played a huge role in my ski-racing career. They taught me to ski and fostered my love of the sport. I think the time we put in skiing as a family definitely put me at an advantage over other kids who did not come from skiing families. When I started ski racing my parents took me to all of the races, and we would ski all over the mountain after the race. Since neither parent ski raced, let alone lived near any major ski areas when they were young, they are always enthusiastic about every run they get on skis, and they always try to ski at races. They tease me that they should be going to the ski academy because they appreciate it more than I do. Also, my parents have funded my skiing career, although in recent years I have been contributing a bit. Without them, I would never have been able to start ski racing, let alone attend a ski academy. They have put in a lot of time and effort into the ski club at Suicide Six, so that my sister and I and other kids could race there. Most of all, my parents have been my supporters. They have cheered me on, and they have been the ones to whom I came crying when I was disappointed or upset.
With your busy life on the ski racing tour, do you have a social life? What does your winter social life consist of? Seriously. Do your friends back home get what you're doing?
In the winter, my social life is definitely different, although I spend just as much time with people my age as I do in the off-season. Since we all ski race and have early bedtimes before races and sometimes need days to rest and stay home, ski racers tend to hang out together in the winter. There is a great group of kids at MMWA, and I love spending time with them. Without that team aspect and being surrounded by other people who are doing the same thing, I would not enjoy ski racing as much as I do. I don’t have as much of a social life when I visit home in the winter because I generally like to spend my time resting and doing nothing because I am usually so busy. I generally just visit with my closest friends when I come home. My friends in Woodstock understand my ski career pretty well. Some of my closest friends ski raced for a few years when they were J5s and J6s, so they have gotten a glimpse of the sport. Also, they got an idea of how full the racing schedule is from my freshman year at public school when I missed so much school to attend races. A lot of kids I knew from Suicide Six still race, so I still see some friends from other academies who actually started out at Suicide Six.
How will spend your summer?
This summer I will definitely be working a lot! I try to save up some money for the ski season and to pay for summer ski trips, but what I earn gets used up really fast. I would like to ski this summer. In past years I went out to Whistler in British Columbia and skied on the glacier there. Last year, I went with a group from MMSC to Les Deux Alpes, France. The glacier was huge and the skiing was amazing. That area of France was beautiful, and it was a great experience. This next summer I hope to go back to France or to ski at Mount Hood in Oregon with the MMSC group. Aside from work and skiing, I like to spend the summertime playing tennis, hanging out with my friends, swimming and enjoying the warm weather.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Annie answers some questions - Part one
SR. Why did you decide to attend Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy and Stowe as opposed to some other school in some other location?
AL: The first thing that attracted me to Stowe and the Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy was the mountain. I raced every spring in the Sugar Slalom, and I had enjoyed skiing the rest of the mountain in between race runs. Compared to Killington and Okemo (some of my other choices for ski academies) the skiing at Stowe was incredible. Also, when I visited Killington Mountain School and Okemo Mountain School, it seemed as if there were a lot of kids who came from other states and lived in Vermont just for the winter. There were fewer kids at those schools who were actually from Vermont. I realized that I wanted to go to a school that had other kids like me, local Vermonters. MMWA seemed like an academically challenging option with an energetic group of kids, most of whom were from areas of Vermont near Stowe.
SR: What's your favorite thing about spending the winter in Stowe (it can be anything, from the food at the academy to powder days to whatever you wish)?
AL: It is difficult to pick a favorite thing about spending the winter in Stowe because really everything adds to the experience of spending the winter there. I love the early mornings when the snow is hard and groomed into perfect corduroy, and we can cruise down with no other people - it feels amazing. At the same time, I love the powder days when training is forgotten, and we spend the day skiing the deep stuff in the woods. Occasionally, these days are accompanied by cancellation of classes, which makes for a fun afternoon of building tunnels and playing around in the snow outside the academy. The food at school is also amazing. The chefs make a variety of fantastic meals ranging from Sue’s spinach lasagna to Pat’s tuna steaks with orange sauce. Most of all, the general atmosphere at MMWA is outstanding. There is energy and excitement about the place. The people there tend to look out for each other and respect each other, which I don’t always see at school or elsewhere in the world these days.
SR: Why do you take ski racing so seriously? You spend your winters in this special environment that enables you to race and train as much as possible... do you want to race in college and beyond?
AL: When I began ski racing, I never intended to come this far. I started as a J6 at Suicide Six, racing on the weekends, and I loved every minute of it. Every year after that there was no question whether or not I would be racing the next winter. As I moved up through the levels – J6 to J3 - the racing atmosphere became more serious. There were many more races as I got older, and the competition thinned out a bit. At the J2 level, most of the kids racing intend to continue with it, at least until the end of high school. When I was a J3 and we began to have a lot of races on the weekdays, I realized that I could no longer attend public school and race at the same time without my schoolwork suffering (I missed a lot of school in ninth grade when I was racing from home and attending my high school). I came to MMWA not necessarily because I wanted to get the best training and be the best, although those were certainly motivators, but because I loved ski racing and the whole ski racing world too much to let school attendance requirements limit my ability to be a part of it.
In my mental outlook on racing, I try not to take competition too seriously. After all, it is only a sport (although we choose it as a lifestyle), and it is not the end of the world if I am not racing as well as I would like to be (although sometimes it feels that way – I have shed some tears after bad races). At one point in my skiing a few years ago, after beating myself up race after race, I realized that I needed to just relax and enjoy skiing the way that I did when I was younger. Now, I try to work hard, focus on things that will help me improve and have fun. If I am doing these things, the good results I want will come in time. Still, before every race I have to say to myself, “This doesn’t matter. In a few years, I won’t remember each result I had; I will remember the fun I had.”
At this point I have not decided how far I will take my ski racing. I might race in college, but I don’t want ski racing to dominate my whole time in college. I do know that no matter how much more ski racing I do, I will ski for the rest of my life.
Editor's note: This Q&A style post was sent to us just before Annie left for J2 National Championships in Aspen, Colo. Check Annie's recent results to see how her races are going!
AL: The first thing that attracted me to Stowe and the Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy was the mountain. I raced every spring in the Sugar Slalom, and I had enjoyed skiing the rest of the mountain in between race runs. Compared to Killington and Okemo (some of my other choices for ski academies) the skiing at Stowe was incredible. Also, when I visited Killington Mountain School and Okemo Mountain School, it seemed as if there were a lot of kids who came from other states and lived in Vermont just for the winter. There were fewer kids at those schools who were actually from Vermont. I realized that I wanted to go to a school that had other kids like me, local Vermonters. MMWA seemed like an academically challenging option with an energetic group of kids, most of whom were from areas of Vermont near Stowe.
SR: What's your favorite thing about spending the winter in Stowe (it can be anything, from the food at the academy to powder days to whatever you wish)?
AL: It is difficult to pick a favorite thing about spending the winter in Stowe because really everything adds to the experience of spending the winter there. I love the early mornings when the snow is hard and groomed into perfect corduroy, and we can cruise down with no other people - it feels amazing. At the same time, I love the powder days when training is forgotten, and we spend the day skiing the deep stuff in the woods. Occasionally, these days are accompanied by cancellation of classes, which makes for a fun afternoon of building tunnels and playing around in the snow outside the academy. The food at school is also amazing. The chefs make a variety of fantastic meals ranging from Sue’s spinach lasagna to Pat’s tuna steaks with orange sauce. Most of all, the general atmosphere at MMWA is outstanding. There is energy and excitement about the place. The people there tend to look out for each other and respect each other, which I don’t always see at school or elsewhere in the world these days.
SR: Why do you take ski racing so seriously? You spend your winters in this special environment that enables you to race and train as much as possible... do you want to race in college and beyond?
AL: When I began ski racing, I never intended to come this far. I started as a J6 at Suicide Six, racing on the weekends, and I loved every minute of it. Every year after that there was no question whether or not I would be racing the next winter. As I moved up through the levels – J6 to J3 - the racing atmosphere became more serious. There were many more races as I got older, and the competition thinned out a bit. At the J2 level, most of the kids racing intend to continue with it, at least until the end of high school. When I was a J3 and we began to have a lot of races on the weekdays, I realized that I could no longer attend public school and race at the same time without my schoolwork suffering (I missed a lot of school in ninth grade when I was racing from home and attending my high school). I came to MMWA not necessarily because I wanted to get the best training and be the best, although those were certainly motivators, but because I loved ski racing and the whole ski racing world too much to let school attendance requirements limit my ability to be a part of it.
In my mental outlook on racing, I try not to take competition too seriously. After all, it is only a sport (although we choose it as a lifestyle), and it is not the end of the world if I am not racing as well as I would like to be (although sometimes it feels that way – I have shed some tears after bad races). At one point in my skiing a few years ago, after beating myself up race after race, I realized that I needed to just relax and enjoy skiing the way that I did when I was younger. Now, I try to work hard, focus on things that will help me improve and have fun. If I am doing these things, the good results I want will come in time. Still, before every race I have to say to myself, “This doesn’t matter. In a few years, I won’t remember each result I had; I will remember the fun I had.”
At this point I have not decided how far I will take my ski racing. I might race in college, but I don’t want ski racing to dominate my whole time in college. I do know that no matter how much more ski racing I do, I will ski for the rest of my life.
Editor's note: This Q&A style post was sent to us just before Annie left for J2 National Championships in Aspen, Colo. Check Annie's recent results to see how her races are going!
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