Sun Valley SuperTour
Hi everyone! Renae checking in here to give a Sun Valley recap.
We arrived in Idaho, and embarked on a long, foggy, and low-visibility drive ahead of us. We were happy to make it to the Valley, with a 15k classic race, classic sprint, and 10k skate on the horizon.
We got right back into our daily race season routine, skiing in the mornings and previewing the courses, eating group meals, and watching our nightly Harry Potter movie. Our house had a large real fireplace in the center of the room that we enjoyed lighting and feeling the cozy cabin-atmosphere it gave off. Gus and Xavier were very handy with the fire maintenance, and Tony made an impressive and authentic Idaho trout meal with his own signature seasoning.
The first race, the 15k classic mass start, was no piece of cake! The course consisted of long, sustained uphills that tested our fitness to the greatest extent. It felt like there was very little recovery on course, and the cold weather made the snow slow-moving. Xavier and I were proud to finish such a grueling race in a competitive field!
The one sunny day we had in Sun Valley.
The next race was the classic sprint. Sprints usually span from 3-4 minutes in duration, and this one landed on the long side. It took the women around 4.5 minutes to complete, which felt very long - especially at the high altitude of Sun Valley. Erin, Renae, and Gus qualified for the heats which was exciting. It was snowing continuously throughout the day, which made the conditions slow. The day was very taxing yet fun, and we were extra thankful for our amazing wax tech team (Leo, Ethan, Caitlin) that were out there from 7am to almost 3pm.
The final race of the week was the 10k skate. Sun Valley received over 2 feet of snow the night before, and it continued into race day. The coaches had quite an adventure figuring out how to get our van to the venue when our neighborhood roads were not plowed. This race was the hardest yet, with a full-blown blizzard making visibility low, and conditions slow and soft. The snow was so heavy that the race organizers spray-painted a blue line on the snow to help racers know where the course was.
So much snow!! We heard a rumor that it was supposed to be sunny in Sun Valley but I am not convinced.
We enjoyed our last night by going into town for a delicious burrito dinner with the SMS T2 team (Perry, Lina, and Johnny) and a game of pool and ping-pong to follow. One of the highlights of the trip was piling into the van as we left the driveway - hoping that Leo’s driving skills would be enough to carry our van up the winding hill and through the deep snow. He put his foot on the gas, gingerly steered us through turns, and got us home safely as we all cheered.
We left Sun Valley extremely tired and ready to return to our homes in Minneapolis. Life on the road can be very rewarding, as well as very exhausting. Thanks for reading, and we’ll check back soon!
