June 27, 2005 – Another training season is well under way and this year it’s go time. With the Olympics a little over seven months away it’s time to fine tune our training and make sure we’re completely prepared for the games. I think everyone is completely focused on not only racing at the Olympics but putting in some top notch performances as well.

We kicked off the new season with an on snow training camp up at Assiniboine Lodge in May which gave us some incredible days of crust skiing and also a good chance to get back into the training routine after the time off in April. The rest of the spring we’ve spent training in and around Canmore. We had some great weather in late May…….and then it started to rain! June has been one of the rainiest months on record for Canmore, with over 200mm of rain since the start of the month! However the rain hasn’t slowed us down, the training must go on. On more than on occasion this spring I have found myself thinking that these are Lance Armstrong training conditions. You know the conditions- The over glorified TV documentaries of Lance training for hours and hours through driving rain and snow as he battles a ferocious head wind with temperatures hovering around zero. At times I’ve even found myself laughing out loud during training at how ridiculously hard it’s raining. Basically that’s all you can do, just try to make the best of things and get ‘er done.

Last week we had the pleasure of attending the Haywood gala/fundraiser out in Vancouver. This is such a great event and an excellent fundraiser for the team. I think everyone was really looking forward to it after the great time we all had last year. It’s definitely one of the highlights of the year for us and it’s also such a great opportunity to socialize with everyone at Haywood and just have a great time in a relaxed environment. The event feels more like good friends getting together for some laughs rather than a dry sponsorship banquet, which is why everyone has such a great time. And let me tell you, these guys know how to have a good time! (I better just leave it at that!) On behalf of the team I’d like to thank everyone who helped bring the event together and who came out to show their support for the team.

Thanks again to Haywood for their incredible support and I’m glad that you’ll be a part of what will surely be one of the most exciting and successful seasons yet!