Wow, what an awesome place Hafjell is!! We have really enjoyed training, preparing and recovering at our pre-camp before heading to Lygna for the World Junior Championship races. Every day started out with an assortment of traditional Norwegian food, fresh bread, beet juice and brown cheese. From there, it was a straight shot to the ski trails. The conditions have been perfect on the high plateau of Hafjell, the sun has been out and we were graced with new snow and fresh tracks on our first day. With hundreds of kilometers of trails, it has truly been hard to hold back from skiing too much.

Adjusting to the time change has been hard, especially since it ranges for us all. The most extreme cases being a ten-hour time difference, but we are now adjusted and have shifted our focus to prepping for racing. Our first few days of training were filled with mostly easy distance skiing on the rolling terrain. This was a good opportunity to get to know our new teammates and catch up with old ones. The training sessions felt short thanks to the 360 views of Norway and the bomber conditions. On Friday we skied at the Olympic stadium in Lillehammer and got a taste of the rigorous Norwegian race venues where most of us did intensity on the infamously steep and hilly course. After enjoying one more sunny morning of skiing in Hafjell and one last meal, we packed up and drove to Lygna where we will begin racing in the next few days. Hafjell was a great place to train and get ready for racing. The environment there felt more like a vacation and now we are prepped mentally and physically to start our first day of official training in Lygna tomorrow.

Thanks to NNF for making this all possible, their funding is a huge help towards making these trips as successful as they are. Thank you to the coaches and wax technicians for helping us and organizing such a good pre camp.

Zander, Walker & Brian