by skitrax.com
August 07, 2013 – Check out the latest from the Hoff as he and Erik Bjornsen exited Alaska via a pool hall; Jessie Diggins fills us in on the crew’s trip to Holly Brook’s (and hubby Rob’s) cabin; Liz Stephen recaps her adventures at Eagle Glacier, Hope, Alaska, and home in Utah; Len Valjas has knee surgery and recuperated by taking his younger bro surfing; Jessie Cockney talks about his year of unbelievable highs and lows but…; and Devon Kershaw dances between weddings, training, hiking and fishing…
Erik Bjornsen and Noah play pool on the way to the airport © courtesy of Noah Hoffman
Noah Hoffman
Red Eye Flight
I flew out of Alaska at 1:35 this morning. I didn’t try to sleep at all before going to the airport. I figured I would sleep better on the plane and would have less trouble going through the whole check-in process if I stayed awake. Instead, my teammate Erik Bjornsen and I went downtown to play pool on the way to the airport.
The majority of domestic flights leave Anchorage super late at night so that they get to the continental U.S. in time to catch connections. I try to avoid red-eye flights at all cost, but there were no other options to get back to Park City. I couldn’t believe how many people were at the airport after midnight.
Read more here.
![On our run [P] courtesy of Kikkan Randall](http://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Jessie-blog-IMG_0561-475x316.jpg)
On our run © courtesy of Kikkan Randall
On our run [P] courtesy of Kikkan Randall
Jessie Diggins
AK Update #2: Hope Camping Trip
After we got down from the glacier, we had a week of easy recovery training. No better time to do some adventuring and have a girls camping trip! The USST girls plus Astrid went to Holly Brook’s cabin down in Hope, and it was an awesome trip. Although you can look across Turnagain Arm and see the town from Anchorage, because the Turagain has the second most active tides in the world you have to drive all the way around. This is actually pretty sweet because it’s a scenic drive and it means that Hope is still a rustic, adorable small town with the legendary Seaview café, where the locals hang out on the porch, drink beer and eat the homemade pie.
Holly and Rob have been working hard on the cabin – I guess mostly Rob since Holly’s been training hard with us, so…you go, Rob! I love the way their new cabin looks, and I can tell that when it’s done it’s going to be an awesome retreat every weekend. We stayed in their old cabin, which was still super nice, with plenty of beds up in the loft.
Raed more here.
Being strong and healthy is something that we all try never to take for granted © courtesy of Liz Stephen
Liz Stephen
AK to PC
Monday has come again and I find myself wanting to go to bed, but sitting down at my computer to type out the week’s adventures. This week took me from Eagle Glacier, to Hope, Alaska, and now back to my home in Utah. I think it is best told in pictures, as there were so many great ones taken on the glacier that I want to share some of the best ones with you all. I feel a long post coming up, but not tonight, not this Monday, but this one will be very visual! Be well, train hard, live fully and enjoy the shots. Photo credits go out to everyone who was at the camp, 22 people all combined their photos and it has made for quite a collection!
Len Valjas 2
Lenny Valjas
Surf’s Up
After our second training camp of the summer in Bend, OR I rushed back to Canmore to have my knee surgery the next day. I have been dealing with a bad knee for almost 5 years now, but lately it was bothering me more and more. The surgery went well but it’s too early to tell if it’s made a difference. Recovery so far has been a slow and boring process, the first week was for sure the toughest. I am so used to being active and always on the move, keeping myself busy, so to be stuck lying down icing almost all day was pretty much the worst kind of torture for me.
worldcup_quarter
Jessie Cockney
A year full of unbelievable highs and soul crushing lows
The past racing season would have been a great year to document through the process but unfortunately I was too busy writing in my dream journal instead of this blog. Last year was full of unbelievable highs and my fair share of soul crushing lows. Highlights and lowlights include: finishing last in the Canmore World Cup 15km Classic, having the best race of my life two days later in the World Cup Skate sprint and finishing 9th (qualifying 2nd), missing the World Championships qualifying, racing overseas in Norway and Finland (highlight), racing overseas in Norway and Finland (lowlight), defending the Team Sprint National title with Brent, missing the podium in the individual sprint at Canadian Nationals, and winning the overall Haywood NorAm title. Erratic and over-dramatic capture that eclectic mix of results and happenings pretty well.
nishwedding.2
Devon KershawDog Days of Summer Update – Read On
It’s apparent that my blogging skills are egregious. The fall off the wagon from the short lived, rarely celebrated and/or appreciated “Blog.Wednesdays” idea has been swift, predictable and lasting. As if to prove the previous statement, look no further from the fact that it’s a Tuesday and here I am updating a blog that is roughly three weeks out of date. My excuse? Nish and Madeline got married and Kristin was in town all the way from Oslo, hence updating a blog wasn’t high on my priority. Yet a few must be curious – what’s been shaking the last time I checked in?
char2.2
I’ve enjoyed some wonderful training at home here in the Canmore area, had wonderful evenings spent with friends, dinners have been consumed and saunas had. I guess even though I have been training hard and having fun with Kristin, it’s been “tranquillo” of late as far as composing meaningful and exciting text. I am happy to report that I’ve been feeling pretty good in training this summer. I’m in a better place mentally and it’s wild that with the power of hindsight I see very clearly some glaring mistakes that I had made last spring/summer that obviously didn’t help my chances of a good campaign last season and am cognizant of those this year (ie. avoiding them!).
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