What a week.

I don’t really know where to start here. The last week has turned Canmore and many parts of southern Alberta into a wet soupy mess. Some people in town have lost almost everything; we have experienced an incredible environmental disaster. We’ve seen things that have never happened before in recorded history, and the destruction that massive amounts of water can do.

There are photos everywhere, but my friend Noel has done an incredible job capturing things over the last week, both from the air, and on foot. Check out his facebook page for some mind blowing photos: https://www.facebook.com/BowValleyPhotography

One of Noel's impressive images of Cougar Creek

Joel and I were very fortunate to have very little damage done to our home. There was a lot of water in our crawl space, but we managed to get everything out without it getting too wet. Our furnace may or may not work again when it dries out, but that’s really no big deal!

Joel kept an eye on the water level, and put Justin's hip waders to good use too!

More than anything this past week has brought with it (other than enough water to fill the great lakes) a whole lot of perspective. So many times this week we have been able to reflect on just how lucky we are. Our house didn’t get that wet, we have amazing neighbours who all look out for one another, we have so many friends who have offered to help out, and an incredible community that has come together to help everyone affected.

I felt guilty as we left Canmore on Tuesday to head south back to Bend, Oregon for our second training camp of the year. We were fleeing town just as the recovery process was beginning.  But one thing is for sure, it won’t all be finished when we return in two weeks time. There will still be lots to do for weeks and years to come. Even the landscape in places will be different, and in a lot of cases has changed forever.

Bend however is just as we left it over a month ago at the end of our last training camp! This time we won’t be doing any skiing on snow, but mountain biking, rollerskiing, and running on the hundreds of km of trails in this area. For the next 10 days Eric and Joel get to take a break from training with me so that they can run workouts, change rollerski tips, drive large vehicles, and just generally keep things running smoothly as they do being the best coach and wax tech I could ask for. 

This camp didn't fit into the development team womens plan for this year so Zina Kocher a friend from the biathlon team decided to join me for the first part of the camp! It was a pretty last minute decision, but she was able to find some funds to make it happen, and Eric altered my plan slightly so that the first half of the camp is more skating focused and the second half after Zina leaves is more classic. (biathlon races are all skating)

Zina all smiles after coming down the legendary Bend bike trail the "Whoops"!

So far so good! I’ll be sure to take some photos in the coming weeks, and report on how this biathlon/xc training camp goes. At the very least I should come out a better shot, and Zina perhaps a better classic skier!

In the mean time lets all do our best to take care of our planet. I'm guiltier than most flying around the world ski racing, but it's a good reminder to do what you can. We've put mother nature through the ringer and need to start looking after her.

Thinking of you Canmore…

Pink Skis? Yes Please!

Check these out!

Today I was testing out the new pink rollerskis thanks to CCC supplier Peter Rozmovits at Canada Winter Sports!
Not even the rain could dampen my spirits with these boards on my feet! Is there such a thing as too much pink?... probably.

Get 'em while you can, they are sure to be this seasons hottest pair of rollerskis!

A new Year, an Olympic Year...

It’s the time of year where everyone is getting things going again, this applies to me too, and it looks like I haven’t updated my blog since September. September really? Yikes, as I looked through my phone to find a few photos that might represent what I’ve been up to, I realized that 98% of my photos are of my favourite canine friend Sadie. And it might be easier for me to write a dog blog recounting her adventures than a blog of my own.

Before I start posting puppy pictures I’ll try and recap last season. In short it was my best season ever! That being said it had its ups and downs, and there were times when I was walking a fine line between super fit and super tired. I had to pick and choose my races more than ever to conserve my energy. This meant very little distance racing, which wasn’t my plan at the outset, but something had to go, and it wasn’t going to be sprint racing that’s for sure!

The highlight of the season was without a doubt in Sochi on the Olympic courses where Dasha and I stood on the podium in the team sprint. It was the highlight because of the result, but it is also my favourite event of all time, and to share success with a teammate, especially one who grew up in Russia was pretty sweet. Not to mention the fact that we are now more excited than ever about the Olympics next year. Each and every workout for the next eight months we will be thinking about that 1.3km snow covered track.

Now lets fast forward a little bit, the end of the season came and went, and Joel and I both needed some serious downtime. That razor sharp edge I was on for a good chunk of the season finally got the better of me so come April I needed some serious recovery. After spending five months on the road working his tail off for our team Joel was in the same boat, and not having really taken any time to ourselves since we got married in July we escaped to our new favourite Hawaiian Island, Kauai. The ultra mellow pace of life there was just what we needed, a little bit of feet up relaxing, a lot of time spent in the ocean, and some solid adventuring. Add a quick stop at Alcatraz in San Francisco on the way home, and we are recharged and ready for another year!

A little coffee on the beach to start off the day.

Which pretty much brings us to now. We are in Bend, Oregon for our annual spring camp. Our team loves Bend, the skiing, the coffee, the food, the running, the milkshakes, it’s all top notch. It’s so good in fact that we are coming back for our second camp of the year too! It’s been a busy week so far with most of our staff down here they were busy dialing in the fine details of the coming season to make sure we have everything just right in Sochi. We have a truly world class support team thinking about each and every detail imaginable.

There are a few more exciting things coming down the pipes, so I will save them for the next update, wouldn’t want to have nothing to report on in a few weeks (or lets be honest months!) time.

All would not be complete without a few photos of the previously mentioned mutt Sadie…

If you spent much time with this cute furry face you'd have a few hundred photos of her too...

 Until next time- whenever that may be...

What are you doing on Oct 16th?

If you are in the Ottawa area you should come to the Britannia Yacht Club!

Five Months Nine Photos

The last five months in nine pictures. So many great things have been happening on all fronts that it was hard to narrow it down to just these photos, but here’s a tiny bit of what I’ve been up to since April:

We kicked the training year off with yet another training camp in Bend, Oregon. Great skiing, great food, great to be back with the team, and great tandem riding by Lenny, Devon and Joel.

The second annual NAWTA (North American Women’s Training Alliance) camp happened in Alaska. It was awesome last year, but this year it was even better with the addition of our entire Canadian women’s team, Finnish superstar Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, and a Michael Franti concert on the Summer Solstice we all came back home tired but really really happy.

Then Joel and I got married. It was really fun. We highly recommend it.

Seriously though, it was awesome.

I got out for a totally amazing mountain run at Lake O’Hara with my totally amazing friend Mallory.

We did a camp in Whitefish, Montana with the Alberta World Cup Academy, had some really productive training sessions, but also painted pottery! It was pretty much the best day ever for this crew- nothing could break the extreme focus at the crafting table.

We got a new treadmill in Canmore! It’s really cool, and will allow us to some really cool training sessions.

We’ve spent some serious time together as a women’s team this year, be prepared to be amazed by this group of ladies this Winter!

Because we mean business, and so does our coach- don’t mess with a guy in a pink jacket. That’s it, for let’s be honest- probably another few months. Nine photos, five months of sweet training, and a bit of other stuff. Thanks to Chandra, Charlotte, Noel, Matt and Mal for documenting things. Photos are always better when I don’t take them!

It’s that time of year again!
Spring! The end of the season when we all take some time and reflect on the season past, and think about the season ahead.
It was a great season for me, as always it had it’s ups and downs, but the ups were better than ever, so I have to consider the 2011-2012 season a success.
Now it’s April and time to do things I don’t get to do all year. I had a great visit with Crawford and Company Canada Inc, my title sponsor. They are the most supportive group of people, and I’m so grateful to have them on board.



I also made it to my cousins wedding, and had a great day seeing family I haven’t seen in far too long.
Spring is also time for adventuring on skis of all kinds, and on foot. The month is only half over, and so far it’s been a blast, but I know in a few weeks I’ll be chomping at the bit to get back to normal training.
But for now I must get back to adventuring...

Seiser Alm(azing)!

Well it isn’t officially Spring yet, but it sure feels like it here in Seiser Alm, Italy where we have been hanging out for the last ten day basking in the sun beneath the jagged Dolomites. The skiing has been exquisite, as has the food, and company.

At around 11am everyone pulls out a chair and soaks up some rays! Photo:Scott Yount

Our hotel is located at the end of a road that crosses no less than six alpine ski runs, which has made for some interesting afternoons, provided some entertainment, and a few frustrations (mostly for the drivers).


Joel is the chain expert, we were lucky he was with us this week! Photo:Alysson Marshall

The skiing is hands down some of the best I’ve ever experienced, which I think is saying something. As someone who spends the Winter and a good part of the Summer bouncing from one nordic ski destination to the next I’ve skied in some pretty amazing places, but I’ve never fallen out of the track as many times from looking at the surrounding scenery as I have this week. Not to mention the fact that it’s been above zero and sunny almost every day…


Not too Shabby. Photo:Alysson Marshall

Ok, I’ll stop gloating about how fantastic things are here, and in a few days when I’m in Lahti, Finland struggling to spot sunlight I will be even more grateful that we were able to spend ten days here topping up the vitamin D levels.

Back to racing, I only have two weekends left of World Cup racing! This year has gone by faster than I could have ever imagined. It won’t be long before we are all in Quebec, racing of our respective clubs and provinces, and eating maple syrup! I can’t wait!


Louis our fearless leader out for a ski! Photo:Scott Yount