December 7, 2009:

I can't believe December is here already! Time has really flown by since my training camp in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. In fact, we've had a whole other training camp since then (in Panorama, B.C.) and I am heading to Austria in a matter of hours for the first races of the season. Obviously, I'm excited! :) Panorama was yet another good camp - there were some highs and lows, but I ended on a good note and that was really important for me to do before heading into the racing season. So, I've been busy with on-snow training, dryland training, as well as some other fun opportunities, like meeting Prince Charles and Camilla.The excitement for 2010 is palpable and really building here in Vancouver, but I am really glad to be able to go to Europe and focus on racing. Will send updates from Pitztal and Kuthai, Austria soon.

October 15, 2009:

Admittedly, it has been far too long since my last blog entry - sorry to all of you who I know are keeping up with me! The last few weeks have been intense.
First off, the training camp in Chile in last 2 weeks of August was just great. Conditions were great, the hotel and food were good (so important for athletes) and I was super focused and training hard. We even trained alongside the able-bodied Austrian Women's speed team one day. I was just so pumped with my skiing and my progress at that camp, it was awesome! Then I came back to Vancouver and kept going with dryland training while also finishing up my last weeks at work (at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Federal Secretariat). Training and working full time have really taken their toll on me and I am so glad to be able to focus solely on skiing now. Other than that, I had a really disappointing thing happen to me: my bike was stolen! This is crappy no matter what, but even more so for me because I really rely on my bike to get around given my S.I. joint and other issues.
Speaking of my S.I., it has decided to really act up and it is not the best timing as we are now in Saas-Fee, Switzerland for training. Pretty much the whole ski racing world is here training right now (Atle Lund Svindal, Bode Miller, Didier Cuche, etc.) as a matter of fact as there isn't much snow anywhere else in Europe. So it's crowded up on the glacier, but good to be on skis again when I'm not too sore.

Sunday, August 16th: Left home yesterday to fly to Santiago, Chile (through Toronto). We arrived in Santiago today and drove up to Valle Nevado where we'll be training for the next 2 weeks. I'm so excited!!
The drive up wasn't nearly as long as the one we had 2 years ago when we trained at Termas de Chillan, but the increase in elevation was substantial. We drove along a beautiful mountain road with switchback after switchback. First, we saw cacti - which is funny when you're going skiing. Then, we saw cactii with snow on their tops. Then we saw some hearty horses, just standing around knee deep in snow. Our bus driver put on some chains and we made it to the hotel at the bottom of the resort where we'll be staying. We are well above 3000 meters in altitude here and the sun is incredibly bright, and brighter still for reflecting off the snow. Now it's bedtime, but we're still waiting for all of our skis and luggage to arrive as they were on a different vehicle that, apparently, missed the cut off time for access up the mountain road. Still, everything looks great and we're all stoked to be here. Should be a great camp!!

July 7, 2009:
Today was the last day of our dryland (i.e.: "not on snow") camp in Whistler. We had some intense days filled with weight training, agility workouts, core workouts, long aerobic road rides in Pemberton, hill climbs around Whistler, interval training and even some yoga. It was extremely hot for nearly all the days we were up there so we nearly all fried out on our road bikes. But it was a good camp! I'm feeling really good and fit, with the exception of an ongoing S.I.J (sacro-iliac joint) injury. Now another 6 weeks of intense dryland before heading to our second on snow camp of the season (the first was back in May at Sunshine Village - my home hill) down in La Parva, Chile in mid-August. I can't wait!! Stay tuned for more updates!

July 28, 2009:
Thanks so much to everyone who has checked out my website so far and provided so many wonderful comments, I really appreciate your support! July has been busy: I've been working hard on the new, specialized phase of our dryland training program. I was also back at work (have to pay the bills!) after the Whistler dryland camp (I work at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Federal Secretariat - essentially, the Canadian government's involvement in putting on the 2010 Games). With only 18 days left to go until we leave for Chile, I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new ski boots. I also just had my birthday on July 26, which gave me an opportunity to think about all the great things that are ahead for me in this next year! I hope you all stay tuned for updates which, I promise (Kaspar...), will be more frequent and exciting as I hit the snow!