Jessie Diggins should have been an 80s baby © Liz Stephen

October 21, 2014 – I am currently on a plane to San Francisco for a night with my good friend and teammate Jessie Diggins to attend the annual Snow Ball that is held there every year as a fundraiser for the US Ski Team.  Unlike the other Ski Balls, this one is themed and this year’s theme is retro ski getups.  So, Jessie and I have embraced the theme as best we can and with the help of friends put together these outfits to dress the part as best we can.

Liz Stephen and Jessie Diggins ready for the party. © Liz Stephen

I had to get a picture with this lady in the cow suit as this was the suit I had when I was an alpine racer. I wish I could figure out how to import the photo I have of me in mine when I was racing, but no go, so you will have to just imagine it!

Liz and her new friend. © courtesy of Liz Stephen

Meanwhile, the Park City training camp carries on without us for another day before we take the party north to Canmore, Alberta where the ground will be laden with snow saved from the 2014 ski season on a 2 or 3K loop, depending how much they were able to save.  It is a pretty cool loop that they are able to put together with a few hills, corners, a fast downhill and conditions that mimic a lot of what we have been seeing the past few winters.  Though I can’t deny that the loop can get boring after a few too many loops, the beauty of Canmore, the feeling of snow beneath your skis again, and catching up with friends who we haven’t seen in many months keeps it enjoyable.

Training in Park City. © courtesy of Liz Stephen

Fast and Female was a huge success last week with an all-time record number of 181 girls!  Thanks to all the ambassadors for being inspiring leaders to our young women and all the support from the volunteers and community.  See you next year!

Fast and Female Park City © courtesy of Liz Stephen

A huge thanks to our awesome volunteer PT, Zuzana Rodgers.  She travels for long periods during the season with us, donating her time, expertise and has never once said no to helping any of us out.  Thanks Zuzana! See you this winter!

Doing some training in the beautiful fall weather of Park City.  I think this will be my last day of shirtless training in a few months, so I took advantage!

The team at Mike Engel's © courtesy of Liz Stephen

I want to say a huge thank you to Mike Engel for hosting me all summer and being my Utah “Dad” and good friend.  Here is the team at a recent flank steak dinner that Mike grilled up for us last week.  Thanks for all of your support, Mike, from me and the US XC Team.  We love you!

Alex Shaffer BFF is due soon! © Liz Stephen

The Crew © Liz Stephen

It’s been a great camp filled with the normal mix of hard sessions and long sessions, time trials and speed work, getting buff in the gym and spending time with the whole team for the first time since our Bend camp in May!  We have had almost every elite club team in the US here joining most of our sessions, which has been great to connect with everyone one last time before the long winter of travel begins.

Ok, until next time….