Sindre - Little Skis, Big Hearts

Little Skis, Big Hearts

Think about your foot, and how wide your foot is from your picky toe all the way across to the base of your “big” toe. That’s the platform you get to balance on times two. In Nordic skiing the width of the ski is about half of the width of your foot and except for down hill you need to spend a lot of time balancing on one ski or switching between the two. To make it even a little bit more disorienting the skis are super long and flimsy, they are easy to cross and they have no strong metal edge where you can always safely trust your weight. These skis then become the best tool for getting around the rollercoaster snow ways imbedded in the mountains. Skiing is very empowering, not everyone has a good sense for gliding, turning, kicking, weight transfer, body position and all the things involved in becoming a good cross country skier. On top of that a good skier needs to train hundreds and hundreds of hours completely devoted to a special kind of fitness. A fitness that will allow you to do triathlons, mountain bike races, road biking centuries and run for 4 hours up big mountains where you keep your heart rate below 140 bpm (even lower for most of the athlete’s I get to train with). If you can do all that, you’re pretty darn successful and in my mind more empowered than 99% of the population. We are the badass mountain people of Wyoming.

My teammates are even more successful, they have all the enriched variables that lead to the perfect and individualized skiing equation. It was so amazing to watch all of my teammates draw to a focus level that is indicative that is an extremely important race to their all of their hearts. This is what was on my mind as we take on the 5Km/10Km classic here is Slovakia:

As they hammer around the race-course the best they possibly can knowing they are out gunned, there is one thing for certain, they are not out matched in the level of heart they show. I really do look up to everyone on this team. Kyle has such a honed in grasp on how to train and how to make himself a better skier better than any guy I know. Taylor has poured his heart and soul into countless hours of training, amounts I can’t even imagine. Elise is a superstar as she hammers and pushes her self to a new level to claim 23^rd at the World University Games here in Strbske Pleso. Sam and Ben have an incredible persistency in properly recovering from their strenuous over training just a few years ago, all the while getting faster and faster. Yara as a great new addition to the team shows incredible natural talent for skiing. Pat has an incredible sense for how to balance relaxation, enjoyment and focus for his races along with an incredible sense of how his body operates. Nathan has an amazing fine tuned graceful technique that slingshots him around the course like none other. Sierra has incredible consistency with her hard training day in and day out and is the awesome face of our powerful Nordic club from Wyoming. Will has an incredible fight in him as one of our fastest and newest skiers. Britta and Catherine holding joyous smiles reminding everyone what true fun looks like even through this course can and will wreck havoc on your body.

Skiing up the hill next to some guys on the Russian National B team may be pretty darn cool but skiing with this team is simply something else. This guy, believe it or not gets to be part of this badass, mountainous, Wyoming team and I am incredibly proud to stand next to all of them in big USA jackets. If that’s not empowerment… I don’t know what is!