First WC Points!

Photo Credits: NoCo Girls

January 24 – February 9, 2025

In my last post I had just arrived in Schonach, Germany for the first weekend of Period three. After competing in Schonach, I continued on to Lillehammer, Norway; and returned to the World Cup Circuit for the competitions in Otepaa, Estonia. Estonia wrapped up five back-to-back weeks of racing. At times I wasn’t sure how the body would recover for the next day let alone the next weekend, but it wrapped up on the highlight of the season thus far where I skied my best event yet scoring my first World Cup points in the 7.5km compact race!

Schonach Triple

Straight out of a story book Schonach im Schwartzwald was definitely an incredibly unique venue, perhaps also the most whimsical of the Continental Cup (COC) circuit. The home of the cuckoo clock, Schonach was steeped in German culture. Schnitzel, Lederhosen, and Cuckoo clocks were the theme of this trip! For those of you who have watched a ski jumping competition in Park City, you’ll know about the chime audio cue they use to let spectators know when a jumper is about to take off. In Schonach they have a similar system, but instead of a chime they use the sound of a cuckoo clock. So, spectators were greeted with sunny warm weather, cuckoo bird chimes, and the smell of German sausage on the grill. Not a bad combo! Anyone who was lucky enough to step on the podium also got to walk home with a fancy wood carved cuckoo clock. The locals were incredibly welcoming, and worked hard to make the event happen. Warm weather had plagued the “Black Forrest” in January, leaving fields of green grass and 50+ degree weather. Despite the racecourse being a strip of snow in a farm field, conditions were surprisingly good, and they were able to pull off a 2.5km loop.

The triple consisted of a 10km (4 lap) mass start on Friday followed by a 7.5km Compact on Saturday and a 10km Gunderson race Sunday. Due to the lack of snow, we ran for warmup on race day and couldn’t get on the course before then. I ended up running Thursday's pre-race intervals! The Mass Start was a bit hectic, but I felt strong and was able to hang with the front pack until the final sprint. Aleksander Skoglund, Espen Andersen, and Jakob Lange, the strongest skiers on the circuit, broke off from the field from the start, leaving the rest of us to fight for fourth. I was able to break into the top 10 for most of the race, but in the final sprint I hit a wall and dropped back to 16th. Heavy winds resulted in postponing the jumping until the following day, so we went back to the hotel for the evening. While in Seefeld we had purchased a ukulele for a little live music, so Henry and I spent our evening decompressing by singing bluegrass and folk songs.

Saturday morning conditions were better, so we took three jumps: One for Friday’s competition, one for Saturday’s competition, and a Provisional Competition Round (PCR) that could be used if conditions on Sunday prevented jumping. These ended up being our only competition jumps that weekend. I was working with Emil, a coach from Trondheim who I had worked with in the past. He provided some fresh eyes and helped with some different cues to improve my position on the hill. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite bring out the improvements in the competition and jumped into 44th on Saturday and 39th for Sunday’s comp. Saturday was a compact event which is my best discipline as it favors strong XC skiers, so I was able to ski into 29th. On Sunday I felt terrible in warmup and was unsure how the race would go, but as always, I felt better after putting on the racing suit and had another strong race skiing up to 22nd.

It was an interesting event for the rest of the field as well with Saturday showing the Norwegian dominance (Claiming the top EIGHT finishes), and sickness sidelining many on Sunday. Erik unfortunately got sick as well and was unable to compete on Saturday and Sunday. Henry took Sunday off due to some congestion, but Gunnar and I were able to avoid it and complete the weekend. It was a big weekend for Gunnar who scored his first COC points. We left Schonach tired, but happy with the weekend and excited for the “home court advantage” in Lillehammer. 

Lillehammer

If there’s one thing this period of racing has taught me, it is the importance of recovery between weekends. And I mean full recovery mode. Monday was spent traveling to Lillehammer, which as any good athlete knows does NOT count as a recovery day, so Tuesday was spent getting my body ready for the upcoming weekend the best way I knew how: Doing absolutely nothing and lying in bed all day. Ok, fine I did a short 30-minute jog and stretch when I woke up, but from 10am-bedtime I did not leave the apartment. Wednesday was not much different, but Thursday we were back testing skis and doing pre-race intervals. 

When I am racing back-to-back weekends, I have found that I definitely don’t need the same amount of pre-race as I would if I was feeling fresh. Instead, I’ll warm up testing skis and then do 3x3 minutes or even 2x3 minutes progressive depending on feeling. Then I’ll do a 3-minute interval during warmup on race day. 

In Lillehammer we competed on the 90-meter (Normal Hill) ski jump Friday and Saturday, and the 120-meter (Large Hill) on Sunday. The events were simply three straight 10km Gunderson races. My girlfriend's mom Sandy came out to cheer me on during Friday’s race. Always appreciate a good cheering squad! It was nice to see a familiar face from home, and I enjoyed joining Sandy and her coworker Raychel for dinner on Thursday and Friday night. I felt a bit like I was running on fumes during Lillehammer’s races but continued the trend of strong racing finishing P25 on Friday and Sunday. I did not start on Saturday after a crash during the jumping while coming in for the landing but luckily didn't sustain any injuries other than a little soreness.

After the race on Sunday, I hopped in the van with the Granåsen Ski Team and drove back to Trondheim for what turned out to be a very quick trip back to my apartment. I ended up flying out of Trondheim Tuesday night after receiving the call that I had been selected for the World Cup in Otepaa, Estonia. I was excited to get another shot on the World Cup, especially with another compact event, and crossed my fingers that my body would hold out for weekend number five. 

The ski jump in Otepaa was very unique. I really liked the hill, but it was a bit tricky and flew like a small hill. I struggled during Official training and our first two comps to figure out the hill, but was finally able to get a good jump down during the Compact event on Sunday: jumping 85.5 meters. Friday kicked off the weekend with a mass start event. It was pretty hectic skiing. I started in the backrow on a pretty narrow course, but I was able to ski my way up to 39th after finding gaps on the outside with just enough space to double pole. After a disappointing jump, I finished the day in 51st. Definitely not what I was hoping for, but I looked forward to another chance on Saturday. Saturday went about the same, this time a Gunderson, or pursuit, style race. Although these first two days were somewhat disappointing, It was pretty fun to ski with the crowds cheering you on. Whenever Kristian started his race, the local crowd would roar from the stands, filling the stadium with cheers. Definitely a more exciting venue than Lillehammer which had very few spectators.

On Sunday, I was bib one for jumping. We did not get a trial round which meant that the first jump had to be dialed. I warmed up and reviewed the few technical cues that I was working on with Christian (our coach) and went up for my jump. I ended up having my best jump of the season, jumping into 42nd, and because I was bib one, I got to sit in the leaders' box until someone beat my jump.

I lined up at the front of the group starting at 1:30 behind the leader for the 7.5km race. Starting with me was Aleksander Skoglund, Matteo Baud, Aaron Kostner, and other strong skiers, so my plan for the race was to stay relaxed and just stick to their back. I knew I had a real shot at a top 40 finish (40th is worth one World Cup point), but with so many strong skiers starting with me, I wasn’t certain that I’d hold onto points. I felt strong during warmup, and with so many races under my belt this season, I was pretty confident that I had my pacing down. The race went well, and Aleks pulled our group up to a big pack that stretched all the way to 20th place. I felt strong, and with lots of energy left going into the third and final lap. A little pack broke off of the larger pack with my teammate Ben Loomis, me, Otto Niittykoski (FIN), Kodai Kimura (JPN), Herman Happonen (FIN), and Tristan Sommerfeldt (GER). Ben and I traded off leading, but going into the stadium I took the lead (in hindsight a bit of a tactical error), and Ben and Otto took advantage of the draft and whipped around me going into the final sprint. I lunged to the line with Otto who edged me out by a tenth of a second, but was happy to hold off the rest of the pack. At the finish I looked over to the big screen to see where I had ended up, but it was not showing the result. In the finishing shoot I found out I had finished 31st with the eleventh fastest ski time of the day! Earning my first world cup points was a huge milestone in my career, and I was stoked to have taken those points on my second ever weekend.

Oteppa was undoubtedly the highlight of my season so far. Skiing up eleven places in a World Cup and earning my first points was incredible and I can’t wait to do it again. Otepaa was also the final race in the qualification period for the 2025 World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway, and scoring those ten points qualified me for the team!! The World Championships was a huge goal of mine this season, and 100% a ski career bucket list item. I am super excited with the improvement over these last few weeks. Now back to Lillehammer for final preparations ahead of World Champs. Lets keep this ball rolling!

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