2018 World Junior/U23 Championships
Goms, Switzerland
January 27 - February 3
Journal, January 18th:
It’s been pretty socked in since we arrived in Praz-de-Lys for our pre-Worlds training camp on Monday. I know that all of us have been imagining what our surrounding would look like with the help of a blue-bird day! So, with it snowing like crazy, I went for a long z1 ski with Natalie, Katherine, Graham and Hannah. It was pretty slow going since there was lots of fresh powder and we are all trying to train smart at altitude. After the ski, I did an assignment for one of my university courses and we went sledding/had a snowball fight as our “afternoon workout”. It definitely reminded me of why I got into skiing in the first place; having fun with teammates!
Finally, we had dinner and a delicious chocolate cake since it was Natalie’s 20th birthday. The French have some weird candles though, even when you blew them out, they would spark and light up again. We had to douse them in water to put them out.
That’s all for now!
Annika Richardson
Today we got to ski on our own. Some of the other skiers and I skied up over the mountain into another ski area. We met someone that works on the ski trails there and he seemed honored to have the Canadian team skiing on their ski trails. He showed us where to ski and even introduced us to a local female champion who happened to be skiing there as well.
I am managing to balance school work and spending time with the other athletes. One day, I will spend hours finishing assignments and another day I will play games like loup-garou.
Hannah Mehain
Journal, January 17th:
Salut!
It is dumping snow here in Praz de Lys, France. It feels like a blizzard! We did skate intervals today. It felt good to do some quicker skiing after so much travelling. On our way back to the hotel, we hopped on the t-bar and skied down the downhill run. That was super fun! I successfully stayed on my feet which was an improvement from yesterday!
Today at lunch I tried very hard to understand more of the conversation that was in French and I could understand most of it. I think if I keep trying to understand and ask about the words I don't know, my French will improve. Perhaps by the end of trip I will be able to converse with everyone in French!
We are just heading to the gym for a light strength workout!
À-bientôt,
Hannah Mehain
Journal, January 16th:
First day of skiing in France! It was certainly an adventure. First, the coaches went to check out the trails near the stadium to see if there were any groomed trails and apparently it was closed because of a dog sled race! So, we decided to ski from the hotel. We had to ski up the the downhill area to get to the cross country trails. We even took the t-bar!
For lunch we had salad, scalped potatoes and bacon wrapped meatloaf. What a treat!
It is convenient that the team is staying in France because the vast majority of the ski team is French speaking. The hotel owner only speaks French and he is the one who serves us our meals. Most of the conversations at the dinner table are in French. Again, I am very thankful to have taken French immersion so that I can understand bits and pieces of the conversations. My only regret is that I did not learn French well enough to join in the conversations!
I feel very privileged to be here skiing in a foreign country and representing Canada.
`A Demain!
Hannah Mehain
Journal, January 15th:
We arrived in Praz de Lys, France this afternoon after accidentally taking the wrong road which took us up the wrong side of the mountain. We had to follow the very steep,winding road all the way back down again! Then there was an avalanche on the road to where we were staying so we had to walk with our carry-on luggage to be picked up on the other side of the avalanche area.
It's been raining here the last few days.
The hotel is perched comfortably in the mountains and the ski trail passes right by it.
Our first meal here was delicious! First we had a potato soup followed by a mystery meat which clearly is a delicacy here because no one knew what it was. Then we had fried rice and delicious salmon served with a creamy lemon sauce. Then the chef brought out the cheeses: swiss cheese, blue cheese, soft cheese, hard cheese and strong-tasting cheese. Some of the cheese had a pleasant mild taste while others tasted like a combination of mold, goat cheese and sweaty socks. Everyone meandered off after the cheese tasting. But the chef said, "No, there is more!" Out came a thick, creamy chocolate mousse.
Tomorrow we are going classic skiing! Falling snow is in the forecast.
Hannah Mehain
BC Athletes:
Annika Richardson – Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club (N. Vancouver)
Gareth Williams – Telemark Nordic Society (Kelowna)
Hannah Mehain – Sovereign Lake Nordic Club (Vernon)
BC Coaches:
Chris Manhard – CCBC Provincial Coach
Matt Smider – Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club
.