"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