Monday, September 13, 2010

Headin' South

It's been quite a week getting Scott on the road to Chile for two weeks of winter training. It sounds like it should have been simple enough, but not so. First, there was the little manner of a Triginometry final exam. Then Scott had to get ahead on the grounds keeping job at the property he maintains. Then there was the equipment issue.

Scott was to bring 8 sets of skis to Chile, two for each discipline. We purchased big, three pair, bags for the purpose and planned for 3-4 ski bags plus two large suitcases for the rest of his gear. Our first adventure was that the new bags weighed 11 pounds and three sets of skis made them exceed the 50 lb limit. OK, remove the bindings, weight each different pair of skis, and come up with the right mix. After numerous permutations we came up with five pieces of baggage, each weighing within one pound of the limit. Success!

The US Team arranges travel and likewise negotiates discount baggage fees for the athletes. The coordinator told us she could only prepay 4 bags for Scott's flight due to the first leg being a commuter, "But you can pay full price for the final piece." So we confidently went to the airport this morning only to discover that the airlines limit to four bags per person on commuter flights... period. Ooops! So there we were on the airport floor reorganizing and shortening the list in order to get down to four pieces of baggage. We did it, but two sets of skis stayed in Idaho. I'm sure he'll be fine and we all learned something new today.

This is the only trip I'll be skipping this year. This is the first ski trip Scott has gone on without me along as a coach. Feels funny. However, Joy and I are enroute to Houston and Alabama to visit family and friends. Our first "vacation" together in an age. We're even going to slow down and sightsee on the way. Mt Rushmore tomorrow!

Watch Scott's web for skiing updates during this trip.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Final Tune-up


We're still trying to figure out where last season ended and the next one begins. We've decided the true kick-off will be the trip to Chile, beginning on Sep 13th.

Anyway, we're presently at Mount Hood, OR for a final tune-up. Nothing big really, just Scott free skiing and searching for the right "feel" on his new gear. The weather is perfect and there's hardly anyone on the glacier, so we have plenty of room to work.

It's been a busy summer, quite unlike the past few years. Normally summer is about strength training, schoolwork, lots of baseball and relaxing times with Mom and Bonnie. Scott did all of that this year, but added four ski training sessions (one California, three here) plus two administrative/physical testing trips to Park City. Our summer was essentially scrambled.

The first few months with the US Team have been enlightening. We're still adjusting, but in the end I'm sure it'll be a good fit. Scott's still excited and happy to be on the team, and that's what counts. Once the competitive season begins it'll feel a lot more like normal.

The photo above was taken at Tawanna Falls this afternoon. We did Scott's aerobic training on Forest Service trails today, and it was well worth it. If you look closely you'll see Scott near the falls, which are easliy 100' tall.

Time to pack lunches for tomorrow.