Notes from a Sophomore: Road to Stowechi: Junior Nationals!


A few weeks ago, Nora and I traveled to Stowe, Vermont for Junior Nationals. It was my first time going to JN’s and I was super excited. Ahead of me lay a week of meeting tons of skier from across the country, racing in some tough races, and lots of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Nora raced for the Midwest while I raced for New England.
Doing some classic sprinting
I arrived to the Trapp Family Lodge (made famous by some movie, the voice of music, the sound of singing, something like that) and began to get pumped for the week. Before the races, all the regions were treated to a parade of athletes through a crowd of thousands of adoring fans, the lighting of the glorious and awe-inspiring Olympic torch (sponsored by Irving), and a one of a kind comedy routine by a guy in a ripped jean jacket who road around on a Zamboni flexing his arms at the crowd. As you can imagine, it inspired me.  

 The trails at Trapp were fantastic. The course starts with rolling downhills before three long gradual uphills take you back up to the finish. Towards the end of the week I was able to ski off of the race course and on the last day was able to do the famous ski to the cabin. Skiing to the cabin involved a 5km hill climb which was tough on the way up, but super fun on the way down (although I did crash and break a pole).

 And so as quick as an extremely slow blink of an eye, the first race came, a classic 10k for me and a 5k for Nora. My race was average but Nora killed it, getting 8th and her first ever JN All-American!

 Nora kept it up and was able to get an All-American in each race that week!
Nora racing in the 5k classic
My best race was the 15k skate, where after managing to jump over a crash, (the real victory of the week), I was able to ski up into 27th place.

Other important events included a trip to the Vermont ski history museum, taking the Ben and Jerry’s Factory Tour, and visiting the Cabot outlet shop where I actually had over 50 free samples (they had cinnamon maple syrup, unbelievable).

Overall it was an awesome an exhausting week. Traveling home, it felt something like I had been hit by a semi and then run over by a steam roller.
I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity to have gone to Junior Nationals. Although I wasn’t fighting for a podium spot in any of the races, I was able to learn a lot from my teammates and coaches and I am super excited to keep training for the seasons to come.

 - Evan 

Last night in Stowe



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