After concluding the season with the SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vermont, our team took the month of April as an opportunity to recharge and engage in activities we don't have time for during the summer training and racing season. We dispersed in various directions, with many of us visiting family, friends, and significant others. Reid and Hannah went up to Alaska and volunteered for Skiku, giving back to the ski community. Logan went to Arizona to be with his fiancé and started a new summer business. Graham went to Park City to see his mom and enjoyed some epic skiing. As for me, I stayed in Bozeman, worked a bit more, and visited Sun Valley on a few weekends to see my boyfriend. I find that it's helpful for my summer training motivation and focus to truly feel the itch to start training again. I like to take most of April to rest and engage in different outdoor activities that I don't get to do as much. I went alpine skiing and on a few epic crust cruise adventures. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of my spring sick with recurring chest colds and a skin infection (super gross, I know). I wasn't able to get outside and play as much as I would have liked. However, being cooped up inside brought an eagerness to begin training again.

This past week, I got back to the grind with our first training camp in Bend, Oregon. If you've never been to Bend, it's an awesome place with access to snow and dryland training. A typical day entails on-snow training in the morning, followed by run, bike, or roller ski sessions in the afternoon. The days in Bend can get quite warm, so we typically begin our ski sessions early and dressed in full winter gear. However, by the end we find ourselves skiing in shorts and T-shirts. Over the last few years, I've found a lot of joy in mountain biking, so it was fantastic to ride most afternoons. There's a sweet trail system in Bend that offers a little bit of everything. Another highlight from Bend was having two of our new teammates join us, Erin and Noel!