Mid Race Pic

Carson in the gate

Final Day at Burke

The purple and gold panels and skiers glistened in the afternoon sunshine today. It was one of those days where your breath gets caught a bit by the crisp air. We had to take off the powdery snow on the surface but we got down to the hard stuff for our slalom session. Highlights: when Sarah got mad at me for continuing to video her after she had taken a bow out of the course before the final gates... At least it looked like she wasn't pleased with the situation. But alas, I think we are friends once again. John is unrecognizable in his new Poc attire and full sideburns. Merrit has learned to wear her snow pants suspenders. Annie's pink fleece is helpful in picking her out for video sessions. Jocelyn's parents hosted a wonderful dinner, complete with a warm fire, pigs in blankets and a Bormio DH showing. Katy still knows Burke students... Somehow. Carson lost the flow under his helmet but still has it on the hill. And Ed is still very good at making chicken salad.

Proctor New Years Eve night race tomorrow. It's on!

Tough Schedules at Burke

Arrived at the Wildflower Bed and Breakfast in East Burke, VT Friday night. We had two great training sessions yesterday after a delicious breakfast spread. We were on the hill with members from Team UVM, Dartmouth and Colby.

It is a winter wonderland up here. We are training today at 11:00, leaving us ample time to visit the sheep and cows in the barn, drink some hot coffee and maybe go on a sleigh ride. We should be back in time for tea and cookies at 4:00 if all goes according to plan.

Carson 4th in ECup

I don't have any pictures from the slaloms over at Sunday River but conditions were tough with rain and wind and hiking to the start. Wanted to congratulate Carson on maintaining his focus and putting together an awesome race, landing him with another 4th place and another points race in the low 30s. Pretty amazing work, especially after hammering out final exams!

Sarah Wins 2nd Run at ECups

Today at Sugarloaf, the sun came out and the temperatures were mild. It was a beautiful December day. First run was met with some frustration for both Katy and Sarah. Katy was thrown by a rut and didn't quite make it to the finish line. Sarah felt she had a lot more to give than what she had delivered first run.

She came back for redemption. After some mogul skiing at lunch, she stepped into the start again to lay down the afternoon's fastest run. Congratulations Sarah!

Pics soFar

We went to Sunday River slaloms last week and now we find ourselves scattered about this great nation. SR slaloms were superb - big shutouts for Geordie's second place finish and Carson's fourth for men!! Outstanding! Also, hats off to Sarah for her 12th place finish and Christoph and Victor for 10th and 12th respectively.

This week, some of us are battling rain and wind while others an onslaught of powder. I hear over at Sunday River,some folks had to hike to the start. Here at Sugarloaf, we had to postpone the race, a good move as the powder was covering a lot of each gate.

Here are some photos of the teams latest activity!

A Tribute to Rob, our weight coach

How Williams Won the West from Kelsey Levine on Vimeo.

Some Snow at Jiminy

We went up check out the mountain this morning. There were some white lines coming down the mountain so that was a good sign. We are planning to get out there tomorrow for a slalom session to keep things rolling after Colorado. Hopefully the r-word holds off on Sunday so we can keep this snow they have been blasting.

Co Wrap Up

We had some early mornings where the sun came up over the course we were setting.

And some pretty late sessions as well, where we got to say goodbye to the sun as it left for the day. 

Max and I found a Kodak Moment.

Christoph, not impressed with my quick-camera-draw.

Geordie, those gates look fairly stable leaning against the fence there.  Nice work on being tall and getting them over the top there! 

Carson - happy dude.

 G.

Merritt and Sarah in lift line.  Long line?  There is sunshine, who cares?!?!?!

Annie, strutting the new jackets.

Jocelyn, we are going to Colorado??? OH!  Cool! 

Taking advantage of the Radio Flyers. 

Warmup for training. 

Hi Mom!

Waiting for the luggage vans (Home James).  Quite the luggage heap.

John - chillin', Katy... tough girl with an apple.

 Dylan and Christoph pontificate.

Victor does the heavy lifting.  Katy, still with the apple.

The Man.

Goodbye grand mountains!

Gobble Gobble

Yesterday we hit the snow and we couldn't have asked for a better day - sunshine, a great surface and lots of first time skiers to spectate and practice slalom around! We jumped right into some mini gs - our top secret ingredient and the athletes rose to the challenge.

After skiing some of us could be found lounging in Starbucks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We are headed out now for some slalom!

Off to Colorado

Yesterday we departed good old Williamstown around 1:00. We drove to New York City for a quick visit before taking off for Denver. All eyes were peeled in search of the Statue of Liberty but we didn't see her. I guess the French really should have made her a little taller.

The arrival to Denver was smooth - all people and all bags are accounted for. We are waking up to beautiful sunshine in this great state so it will be quite nice to get outside!

Jocelyn, Max and Annie here are lingering at the loading dock-getting ready for departure.

Getting into a Rhythm

We are just finishing up our second full week of classes here in the purple valley. Everyone is psyched to be getting into gritty assignments from class, I'm sure! We have had one crazy storm but the weather has been spectacular.

The team has been going on bike rides, hitting the gym and running some sprints. It has been rumored that the alpine team is the hardest working in campus... But who can really say...