It's finally ski season! Snow is in the air and Gatineau Park is absolutely prime! I even heard someone say that it's the first time we've had good snow in November in seven years... personally can't confirm whether that's true, but it's the earliest I have ever experienced in Ottawa! I was especially grateful for the early snow this year because it meant I could get some skiing in before my trip to Italy for the 26th Winter Unversiade, so without any further ado, here is the story on how things have been going so far...
WUG, Logbook Entry #1
As you can imagine, I was pretty excited to be selected to be a part of the Universiade after a good ski season last year. I was selected along with five other men and six women who are also dedicated student athletes, from Universities across Canada. Full List Here. Of special note are XC Ottawa alumni Lee Hawkings, Matthias Purdon and Carleton all-star Kendra Murray, all of whom you may have seen ripping around the ski trails, at one time or another, here in Ottawa!
To summarize, this is a competition where university students (age 17-28) can compete against one another in a variety of sports. This will be the 26th Winter Universiade, and it will be held in Trentino from December 11th to 21st, with most of the competitions occuring in Trento, Monte Bondone, Baselga di Pinč, Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa. There are nearly 3,000 athletes expected to participate, coming from 50 different nations!
From the start, I knew that I wanted to do the best I could at this competition but not completely drop the ball on school. So I decided to make some short term (pun intended) decisions that would hopefully help me race my best come December. Mainly, I took a reduced course load this term and made exam arrangements so that I could go and have enough time in Val di Fiemme to acclimatize to the altitude and get used to the race trails. I also wasn't predicting snow in Ottawa in November so I was worried it might be my first time on skis! So after a somewhat stressful couple of weeks, I have finally traveled to Italy.
The first important thing I did was head over to Fresh Air to pick up one of those handy big red bags with the wheels on the bottom! Here you can see it displayed with my swanky new Canada jacket and ONEWAY carry-on.
Traveling went pretty well. I bussed to Montreal and flew air France to Paris, then Verona. After a shuttle bus I got to the train station and went to Rovato. Then I trained back to Verona because Rovato is completely in the opposite direction to where I was trying to go. After that little mishap I was lucky to get to Trento with enough time to bus to Val di Fiemme.
Traveling by yourself is ok, but it would probably have been a lot easier to have someone watch my stuff at some specific times...
I was also really wishing I could justify a rental car for the unavoidable hour long hike to the B&B I'm staying at, carrying six pairs of skis!
Breakfast is served! I'm staying at this really nice (and cheap!) B&B before my competition accommodation is available. So far I would really highly recommend them! (Link: B&B) More later...
WUG, Logbook Entry #1
As you can imagine, I was pretty excited to be selected to be a part of the Universiade after a good ski season last year. I was selected along with five other men and six women who are also dedicated student athletes, from Universities across Canada. Full List Here. Of special note are XC Ottawa alumni Lee Hawkings, Matthias Purdon and Carleton all-star Kendra Murray, all of whom you may have seen ripping around the ski trails, at one time or another, here in Ottawa!
To summarize, this is a competition where university students (age 17-28) can compete against one another in a variety of sports. This will be the 26th Winter Universiade, and it will be held in Trentino from December 11th to 21st, with most of the competitions occuring in Trento, Monte Bondone, Baselga di Pinč, Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa. There are nearly 3,000 athletes expected to participate, coming from 50 different nations!
From the start, I knew that I wanted to do the best I could at this competition but not completely drop the ball on school. So I decided to make some short term (pun intended) decisions that would hopefully help me race my best come December. Mainly, I took a reduced course load this term and made exam arrangements so that I could go and have enough time in Val di Fiemme to acclimatize to the altitude and get used to the race trails. I also wasn't predicting snow in Ottawa in November so I was worried it might be my first time on skis! So after a somewhat stressful couple of weeks, I have finally traveled to Italy.
The first important thing I did was head over to Fresh Air to pick up one of those handy big red bags with the wheels on the bottom! Here you can see it displayed with my swanky new Canada jacket and ONEWAY carry-on.
Traveling went pretty well. I bussed to Montreal and flew air France to Paris, then Verona. After a shuttle bus I got to the train station and went to Rovato. Then I trained back to Verona because Rovato is completely in the opposite direction to where I was trying to go. After that little mishap I was lucky to get to Trento with enough time to bus to Val di Fiemme.
Traveling by yourself is ok, but it would probably have been a lot easier to have someone watch my stuff at some specific times...
I was also really wishing I could justify a rental car for the unavoidable hour long hike to the B&B I'm staying at, carrying six pairs of skis!
Breakfast is served! I'm staying at this really nice (and cheap!) B&B before my competition accommodation is available. So far I would really highly recommend them! (Link: B&B) More later...
Thanks for reading!!! I'll have some real "ski racing" updates coming out soon (and maybe some special reports from Lee and Matthias) so check back! For now, thanks to everyone who helped me get this far! (Wondering if everyone was helping me so much just so I wouldn't be able to bother them in Canada!) Either way it's going great!
SPECIAL NOTE!
If you enjoyed my first article or would like to support my racing next week in the World University Games, please check out my fundraiser page HERE. So far I have had a lot of generous support and I really appreciate it! You guys have made this trip happen for me so THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
Also,
**Today only!! Carleton is participating in "Giving Tuesday" where they are MATCHING whatever is donated up to $100 each!! This is a pretty sweet opportunity to see Carleton Funds become Nordic Ski funds! Click the link in the paragraph above this one!
If you enjoyed my first article or would like to support my racing next week in the World University Games, please check out my fundraiser page HERE. So far I have had a lot of generous support and I really appreciate it! You guys have made this trip happen for me so THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
Also,
**Today only!! Carleton is participating in "Giving Tuesday" where they are MATCHING whatever is donated up to $100 each!! This is a pretty sweet opportunity to see Carleton Funds become Nordic Ski funds! Click the link in the paragraph above this one!
Interesting Reading. . .
"OWL Rafting - The Mighty Ottawa River"