June 24, 2013 – Check out the latest news from US skiers in training for the upcoming Olympic season. Jessie Diggins has bid adieu to her adventures in Park City and is headed to Stratton, VT; Noah Hoffman celebrated Summer Soltice Swedish style and contested the second annual U.S. Ski Team Sufferfest uphill road bike race at Sundance; Liz Stephen returned from Norway and now back in Utah she fills us in on her bro on Mt. Denali, Sufferfest and her favourite restaurant in Park City, Vinto; plus SMS Nordic reports on its first Eastern REG camp and Sadie Bjornsen gives us the scoop on the sun, beaches, rivers, paddling and rodeos Alaskan-style…

Jessie Diggins
Last couple days in the Wasatch
This is as close to home as I’ll get in the next month; a 2.5-hour layover in the Minneapolis airport! But that’s ok because I’m going from one awesome place to another; I’ve just left Park City and am en route to Stratton, where I’ll rejoin my club teammates that I haven’t seen in way too long!

Before I left Park City, I wanted to go on an adventure OD – a fun long workout that wasn’t directly related to roller skiing. So Cork and I hiked up Mount Timpanogos, the second highest peak in the Wasatch mountain range.
Read more here.

Noah Hoffman
Sufferfest
I went up to my teammate Liz Stephen’s house last night to celebrate Midsummer, a Swedish (European) holiday on the summer solstice. (We know we were a day late.) Liz really likes Sweden and can see herself living there someday. She made us a Swedish meal for the occasion. She recruited our coach Jason Cork to make the bulle (Swedish Pastry). Read more here.

SMS Nordic
Eastern REG Camp Update #1
Everyone arrived at SMS for our REG camp yesterday and settled in with a run, dinner and a short intro meeting. Today we started to get down to business.

USST coach Bryan Fish led the group through a V2 technique progression that started with… V2 with no poles….(6 repeats of a 15 second section)… Read more here.

Liz Stephen
Sunday Sundance Sufferfest
I’m not sure if you have noticed the super moon the last few nights, but it has been amazing.  Check it out tonight if you get a chance and haven’t seen it, as last night once the sun went down I couldn’t believe how bright my living room was with moonshine!  As I was looking at it, I was actually thinking about my brother, Andy, who for the last month has been in Alaska guiding trips for the American Alpine Institute (AAI) up Mt. Denali!  I realized last night, as I was admiring the moon from 8,200 feet, where I live, how much more amazing it must be to see it at 14,000 feet, which is where he and his team currently are on his second trip up the mountain in a month.  The last trip he led his team summited, but he was not able to, as one of the clients fell ill with altitude sickness and he stayed with her at 17,200 feet.  He is hoping to summit this time up, though he has assured me that, while summiting would of course be incredible, just being on the mountain and doing what he loves, is cool enough. Read more here.

Sadie Bjornsen
Summer is HERE!
What is summer in Alaska? I didn’t even know it existed. I can remember about 3 total sunny weeks that I have experienced in Alaska where I break out my shorts and tank tops. That’s why it’s always such a miracle when the heat makes its way up here! While we were at our camp in Bend I kept seeing pictures from Anchorage of people skiing in shorts and sports bras and I was worried I had missed my opportunity, but sure enough- when I got back, summer was still here! As amazing as the sun is in Alaska, it also has its challenges. I always get this feeling that when it is sunny, I have to be outside as much as possible. I want to do my training outside, eat my meals outside, do my homework outside, and do any form of activity outside…. but that doesn’t work so well. Read more here.

Dasha Gaiazova
Summer is HERE!
The Olympics are a scant 8 months away and I’m excited to be sharing my training and preparations progress with you as I make every workout count on the journey to Sochi. When compared to my last-minute Vancouver 2010 qualification, being already qualified for Sochi allows me to shift the focus entirely to performing on the Olympic race day and not worry about the qualification races along the way. It makes my purpose feel so simple and that’s just the way I like it… read more here.