After my great Alaskan Adventure I was in need of some serious rest. The mens team was in New Zealand, so I headed East to cottage country to catch up with my family and friends, and some warm weather.
It was an amazing week of rest, nothing quite beats Ontario cottage country…

I did some windsurfing, though I could have used a little more wind…

And when there was no wind Scout and I just went for a paddle…

Oh yeah, and I trained a little. The new pavement between Almonte and Blakeny is a dream.

FasterSkier reporter Alex Matthews also joined me for a day in Almonte to do some training, you can read her summary here: FasterSkier Article
Check out here other articles on FasterSkier too, they are pretty rad.
I know it looks like I was mostly hanging out alone, this is certainly not the case, but I guess when socializing we were too busy to snap any photos. A big thanks to Neil and Luci for the use of the cottage, Mom and Dad for taking a week off work to hang out with me, Kieran, Pav and Sylvie for coming out and keeping me entertained!

Now it’s back to the grindstone, Fall is in the air here in Canmore. Crisp morning air greets me each morning as I step out the door and onto my rollerskis. Luckily we are heading South in a week for our second annual Park City camp!

Finally an Alaska update

My view for the last week and a bit has looked a lot like this:

Needless to say that is the reason that I haven't been doing much blogging, but I'm back from vacationing, and have compiled some photos and words from our two week women's camp in Alaska.

10 Reasons Alaska was an Amazing Camp:

1- 20 girls all rollerskiing together with similar mindsets and goals. I’m pretty sure I had never previously rollerskied with a group of 10 girls, so 20 was really mind-blowing.

2- Everyone else took lots of photos and shared them, so despite the fact that I didn’t take any, I still have an album labeled Alaska on my computer, and have some visual aids for my blogging. Thanks Matt, Lauren & Holly!

3- Eric came with us, and helped us stay focused on what we were trying to accomplish- he also did his best to get an Alaskan tan while on the glacier.

4- Chandra and I got to show off our sweet new One Way gear!

5- Salmon fishing season! Generous Alaskans were sending fish our way, and Matt and Liz sure knew how to cook it with an Alder branch and a BBQ.

6- They have snow machines on the Eagle Glacier! If the Haig had these, the “Glacier Dude” job would be even more highly coveted than it is already.
7- We all got to know each other a lot better, after spending two weeks living and training together I think we will all have a few new friends on whatever circuit we are on next winter.

8- Kikkan made us sweatshirts! NAWTA = North American Women’s Training Alliance. Look out! (especially for those hoodlums in the front row)

9- We got a couple of wicked helicopter rides from Alpine Air.


10- I finally got to see this place that Kikkan talks about all the time, and it is pretty sweet. More rollerski paths than you can cover in a week of training, a glacier just a short jaunt over a ridge, and fresh salmon just about everywhere you look.

Thanks to everyone for making this such a great camp, especially Erik Flora and the APU gang for hosting us, and the USST coaches, Matt and Grover. It was a wicked productive camp. Lets do it again sometime!

Maui Camp!

Haleakala hasn't erupted since the 17th century, so our team thought this 3055 meter above sea level volcano would be the perfect place for a training camp, and they were right!
We had an amazing 10 days of good solid training on Maui, most of which was done on the road up to the top of the legendary volcano which was perfectly paved at a grade that will most certainly make climbing hills in the winter a little easier.

We did some camping, some surfing, lots of good training, and eating, and had an awesome time. When you put our team plus our wicked support staff on a Hawaiian island it's a recipe for success.


View from the top of Haleakala


Lenny's favourite spot on Maui- there are windsurfers out there in the surf.


Devon in his element camping on the volcano.


Joel and I went for a run on the moon while in Maui...


Running in the crater, one of the most scenic runs I think I've ever done.


Thanks to everyone for a great camp, and to One Way for keeping us safe on the roads with our new training gear!

Training is once again in full swing, we just got home from our first camp of the year down in Bend, Oregon. It was once again a great camp with great skiing, great mexican food great afternoon coffee outings:


We timed our camp perfectly to have the Americans around to train with. The women will meet again in Alaska in July. North American Women's Training Squad (NAWTS?) We obviously need to come up with a name for ourselves...
I'm only back in Canmore for a few days before heading to Ottawa for a Fast and Female event on June 12th! If you haven't signed up yet, do it quick, there aren't many spots left. Go to: Fast and Female Registration

Bike month is also underway in Almonte, and I'll be out for a ride on the 11th. Those details can be found here: Bike month info
It will be sponsored by Baker Bob, so you know it's going to be awesome.

In the meantime there are lots of other sweet biking activities going on like bike polo!

After a few days at home it's back to Canmore to unload my duffle bag, wash, and reload for our Hawaii camp!
June is shaping up to be a pretty good month, I even have lettuce sprouting in my garden, so I'm pretty excited.

Spring Road Trip

Just got home from a road trip down into the Colorado desert to do some biking, and get some warmer weather!
Here are a few photos from the trip courtesy of one P. Wood who did a most excellent job of documenting our outings.







Time to get back at it!

Spring so Far

It's mid winter in Canmore...

Thanks for a Great Year!

It’s that time of year again, we all start looking back and reflecting on our respective seasons, and start looking ahead to the next one.
As I look back at the 2010-2011 racing season I have to consider it one of my most successful. Especially considering where I came from last season. At the end of last season I was dragging myself around the race courses at Nationals in Whitehorse, having just recovered from a brutal cold and pink eye. My body was telling me something- it wasn’t happy.
I took a few months off to get some energy back, and made a plan with Eric about how I was going to get back on track.
It seems like the plan worked, I skied to a number of personal best results this season, and I feel like a completely different person than the tired sack that fled Whitehorse Nationals early because she could barely think rational thoughts.
It’s been a fun season, and I’m looking forward to the next one eagerly as I have an amazing team of people around me that have helped make this year a good one.

Eric and Justin were a great coaching duo all season. Crawford and Company Canada Inc, ADHS the Almonte branch of the Royal Canadian Legion and the Almonte Civitan Club were also key in supporting me this season. THANK YOU!

Here’s a few photos from the spring so far- Kieran has been out visiting, so he has been documenting the last week.