Gossip

Hello Tree Huggers!  As you probably know from experience, being the buffer in Drama is the worst.  I'm not someone who's going to tell your secrets, and spread all the rumors. But when it comes to needing someone on common ground to work everything out, it's me.  Last year, one of my good friends, Max Askmo, was my other half to problem solving.  However, he wasn't enjoying skiing anymore.  This season will be a chance to start over for all of us.  We've become the new "second years," and new "first years" have moved up the system.

2013 Gobblin Valley Camping Trip! Creds: Tina Nardi

Being Last season, we joined the team at the first ski camp.  It was in Mt. Bachelor, Oregon.  A beautiful mountain with a surprising amount of the snow so late in the season.  It was a really great trip with about 8 days on snow and one day off for rafting.  This was our first time really being on the "B Team," which is now the U16 Team.  Everyone seemed so mature and just got the hang of everything well.  Let's just say, us 99's, well, we don't follow in the path of our older teammates.  We are unique, and I'm sure no one will follow in our paths.

2014 Mt. Hood; After I ripped my pants under the waterfall :)

This season, our drama is out and our bond has taken over.  The first few years on the team there really isn't a spot in our circle, but we try to be nice.  It was hard coming into a team where the only people I knew were my lacrosse teammates.  As a U14 I had a good year, but didn't really become friends with the 99's.  Coming into last season everything had changed after Bachelor.  Some bonding and groups formed but mostly the drama had begun.  We are stronger than ever without our little clicks inside the circle.  Everyone who can be independent and take control over their experience will find their way through; just as I did.  We are starting strong.  There may be shifts to come but for the time being we are a hella good team.  Salsa is just the start of it all.

Testing at COE! Creds: Julia Chahine

It's time for an update!!!  Dryland has been going well.  We had our official testing at the Center to Excellence.  I was really nervous about testing, but it showed really good improvements on most tests.  Starting in June has really payed off.  We are a month away, exactly, before the resort opens.  Just add two more days after that and you get my BIRTHDAY!  I'm leaving for Copper in a week, and I got my skis today!  It's time to get the SKI on.  Still trying to think of a costume for Halloween.  Dryland has been getting hard and it's crunch time.  We've been building our power, and it should be great to see how my hard work will pay off on snow.  Things can change and I'm stoked!

BISOUS,
LYSS

"Dang, their all tree huggers!"

How are my fellow tree huggers?  Maybe you should give it a try sometime.  Having a home away from home with my second family is indescribable.  Remember the moment when you just needed to be left alone?  Well, we know each other better than ourselves.  There's even those moments when you think you need someone, but truly you need yourself and that tree.  My teammates know when to just mind their own business, and continue their daily routine.

Last year I had a break through with my teammates, but not the coaches.  One of my coaches fell off the side of the Earth last year.  One of my coaches wasn't even paying enough attention to realize that my parents were divorced.  I did't get the results I wanted last year, and I was fighting myself mentally.  I took almost 1.5 months off snow because of an injury.  I wasn't able to get the same improvements in my comeback to return to where I was before the injury.  My teammates were always there when they we needed.  They went skiing with me when I was on crutches.  I went one ski skiing to keep my skis under my feet.

It may seem as if we are just each others support systems, but we are best friends.  We have memories  upon memories and inside jokes only between us.  Many of the people on our team still don't understand some of our simplest jokes.  Having inside jokes between us has allowed us to bond even closer and become just alike sisters.  We know each other better than we know ourselves.  We don't only spend time together skiing but also in school and other sports.  We are sisters and when the ages shift we can make changes to all our relationships and make them stronger.

Sicily and I in Moab, Utah

This past weekend, one of my friends and I went to Moab together.  We have been teammates for a long time and have become best friends.  Sicily and I went zip lining, mountain biking, and cliff jumping this weekend in Moab.  It has been an incredible weekend, and I was able to do more than I thought I would.  She has been teaching me how to mountain bike with the team here in Park City, but she has made me more confortable.  It was really fun to spend the weekend with a great friend, and one of my fellow tree hugger's.

BISOUS,
LYSS

Escaping Life

I'm just one of the average kids with average problems.  Everyone approaches challenges and changes differently.  Some have been less fortunate than others.  For me, the past few years have been the hardest.  I escaped from my personal life into a world of snowflakes, trees, and chairlifts.  Tree hugging has become a definite passion.  They give off a warmth, and pure silence.  Sometimes it's the only thing needed.

I keep EVERYTHING to myself.  You know those people who are all over the place, well I'm the complete opposite.  I've been trying to figure out better communication of feelings and thoughts.  I have a crystal clear memory of one cold night training down Payday at Park City Mountain Resort.  It was our first SL, slalom, training of the season.  The pace was set and our goal was to get a time.  I tried and tried over and over, but never got a time during our session.  I wasn't ready to quit, went and hugged a tree, and asked to run the U14s course.  It was the run of a lifetime.  All I could think was "I hugged a tree," and it made all the difference in the world.

Photo Credits: Glenn Weinrich

 Photo Credits: Aaron Lyles

Tree's are just living organisms, and who knows if anything makes a sound if no ones there to hear it. For some reason, I've always had a connection and safely with tree's.  They don't help you change the way your skiing, but the thoughts running through your brain.  I've always loved the thought of the unknown, and never knowing what's going to happen.  The adrenaline rush has always pushes me further.  I've created a goal to become a better overall skier; not only in racing, but off piect and in the terrain park.  Skiing is an escape from anything and everything except skiing.  Now, if your looking for a real escape try hugging a tree.

BISOUS,
LYSS