It is amazing how gorgeous this time of the year is. Its my favorite. Its so warm and relaxing in the day and crisp at night. It has such a different feel, I think its more quite or something, everything flows and Its impossible to not have a smile on. I want to bake, I can feel it in the air. Peace and sweetness. I had a great trip home, pretty easy, with one sprint to catch a flight. My pops picked me up at the airport and we shoveled thai food down our throats to get some spice in my system after Chile. Then I enjoyed the sun and some awesome music at the harvest market, tasting good food and honey wine. Followed up with a fun evening at the ski ball on top of the Gondola with my dad as a date. It was a very beautiful night, as we came down the moon was shining bright and we were in awe of the lights across the valley.
Today was Stiegler family hike day. Elise, Andrea, Peter, pops and I hiked to the top of the Tram and rode it down. It was so fun to be back with the family and laughing and telling jokes or being the joke. Feels so good to be with family. Eating good food, drinking good wine, laughing relaxing, planning for travels and telling stories. Its so enjoyable when you can be with people that give you so much energy and positive vibes and everything feels so perfect. Its awesome to starfish in my bed too!
We have had an awesome camp so far. The Main focus was to get lots of runs under our belt. Test out your endurance and just ski. No matter how hard you work all summer strengthening, there is nothing like skiing.
So now that we have our ski legs Im ready to go home. he he I have had fun on this boat but Im ready for something new. I am holding it together better than I have in the past. It helps to have great team mates and great internet service. But After two weeks in the same place the food and everything gets old.
What saved me for these last few days here, was an amazing afternoon Shred session with Sarah, We went out to take pictures and breath in the love of our lives and just smile. We love to ski, there is nothing else like it and we are so lucky to be able to do it for fun! Some good pool sessions and very nice cooks have also helped me out. I dug up the last remaining GF tortillas I have and had them make me a quesadilla which hit the spot! Im super happy with how this camp went, even if it was tough and didn’t always feel great, it always feels good to work hard!
PS. For a good laugh.
All week I guess there have been some cute Brazilian boys on a little boys trip. Ever day at around 3 they come down from the Mountain and jump into the pool and rock their speedos. I have not noticed them until today. ( apparently a man in a speedo does nothing for me) I guess they have been mesmerized by all the US women running around. So now since it must be getting close to their departure day they are getting a little more aggressive. So I am sitting here watching a preschool flirt-fest going on. They started at about tea time and have been strategizing how to pick American girls up….. what they came up with was a question on paper plane that came soaring into our laps. It read ” Want make a brazilian party tonight?” we sent a baseball paper plane back saying “only if its in a speedo!” ha ha and right then and there they pulled there pants down and showed us, yes there speedos that they wear all day all night. Pretty funny. I get such a kick out of watching these crazy kids! HIlarious, that was pretty much the end of it but who knows maybe Hailey will make a video of them in their speedos in the pool tomorrow. I will for sure share it with you!
sleep eat ski sleep eat ski sleep eat ski hydrate sleep eat ski sleep eat ski sleep eat ski sleep eat ski hydrate sleep eat ski sleep eat ski hydrate sleep eat ski internet sleep eat ski sleep eat ski journal it up sleep eat ski sleep eat ski write in my journal sleep eat ski watch video sleep eat ski sleep eat ski watch another movie sleep eat ski sleep eat ski sleep eat ski sleep eat ski!
Its Chilean Independence day! Ill be parting in my dreams! Yeah for Chile!
This place is cool! Different than all the other resorts here in Chile. Its massive, it connects with El Colorado and La Parva and its not stuck in the end of a valley. Its on a little ledge under a Gigantic 16000 mountain. The training is great, opportunities for super-g, long GSs’ and killer slalom. The food is also very good, fish everyday, they cook everything in front of you and they have been very helpful with my needs. I bring a bunch of GF pasta and breads with me and so far its been great. As for the Chilalean. Not so good, girls are dropping like flies.was the first, followed by Sterling and I just got word that Megan in down for the count too. That only leaves a few others left and so we are trying our best to say healthy and not get it. Everything is good on my end, we are in la la ski land, just training our butts off. The nice thing up here in Valle Navado is that you dont go anywhere but it doesn’t feel like you are stuck. There are a couple different hotels and resturants and there is a nice pool and fire pit. Its ski in ski out and its nice to just relax and then focus on skiing hard!
PS…. Del Potro was amazing last night! That was super cool to watch! All of us watched it jumping up and down on the bed screaming, very emotional!
So if you dont know about me and my trips to Chile, Ill give you a short run down. I’ve only come to Chile twice (this trip is my third) but both times I have had either the misfortunes of going crazy, breaking my hand or getting the chilalean ( our word for the stomach virus that comes from bad drinking water). So of course Im totally freaking out about coming back down here and worried that something crazy might happen. luckily the team keeps switching places and I don’t have to go back to the ones that haunt me.
We are in Valle Navado which is part of the mountains that sky rocket out of Santiago. We sleep at about 10000 ft. and train at 13000. Just think about that for a moment…… how do you think we got up here, in a bus on a narrow road that winds for all of like 60 curvas as they like to call them. I got off of a flight that had been delayed from Atlanta, long travels, the whole time worrying about the grocery store that I had packed into one of my bags. Do I declare it, do I not declare it… what to do what to do. So I declared it and had a fight with a chilean man who didn’t speak english and I don’t speak a word of spanish trying to figure out what a “seed” actually is. Apparently a seed comes in all forms of dried fruits, nuts and berries. So there went half the bag I packed. ( I was kinda ok with it because I still snuck my 8 GF muffins in so I guess you win and loose some)
We then head up the mountain to the beautiful Valle Navado. I am excited about a new ski area, it has a view and its amazing, great sunsets due to Santiago’s growing pollution. Its truly unreal to drive along the river and you can barely see the river as it winds through mounds of trash. Its disgusting and sad to see. I always wonder what it was like back in the day when my father ran around these parts. Its always a strange place for me to come, because my father spent so much time down here, he was the ski school director for Portillo and my mother and him had good years here. My Uncle and cousins also love it so I am always trying my best to find the beauty and yes it is beautiful and I guess the bumps only make me stronger and it is a fascinating place.
We all chit chat the whole way up the road which gives me a sudden vomiting feeling and so I have to quarantine myself up front with the driver who grew up with a mother from Bavaria who moved here during the war. So close this country comes to me, I feel as though Im just starting to scratch at the surface here.
Valle Navado does do wonders to the eye and we have a room that overlooks the snow white Andes and down the valley. The food is amazing and I mean amazing, compared to the stuff I was puking up last time. So I am much happier. Im drifting off to sleep hydrating for a big day of free skiing tomorrow with the overwhelming sent of Lavender that I had spilled over my entire bag. But you know what Ill take stining eyes from Lavender, beats a lot of other things! Sweet Dreams!
As the seasons change, the leaves fall, a yellow-gold tints the valley, I shut my windows in the middle of the night and I don’t leave without a jacket. Labor day has passed and what a wonderful weekend it was. I cruised up to Grassy Lake with my brother, Papa and Kevin. We had gourmet food a beautiful sunset on the lake and some fun exploring into the great Yellowstone. We had food that was either grown in Wyoming or Idaho and we caught the fish we ate and had Elk friends killed last year so it was pretty cool to be so earthy.
Now I’m heading down to Chile! Excited to ski. Ill have some stories for you cuz its always a crazy adventure, hopefully a great one this year! Chile and I have had our differences but I’m excited to ski!
Always nice to get back in your bed after traveling. Its pretty nice here in Jackson right now its not to hot, chilly at night, makes it nice for sleeping. It does feel like fall is right here with leaves on the ground. Snow is right around the corner. Man time flies.
Seppi and I went up to Oxbow Bend last night, we were a little late because my brother realized he left his 3000 dollar bike for anyone to take for three days so we went searching for it…. borrowed with no return. Super bummed about that. So we headed up to the Park to go SUP and fish. Got skunked. Im starting to think I am bad luck with the fishing. I went with my Uncle to fish Lake Superior and he is a really good fisherman and always catches tons of amazing fish and both times I went with him we got skunked. Anyways I guess thats why they don’t call it catching.. right?! It was a beautiful evening, full moon is coming and I took in the beautiful night air and watched the light illuminate the mountains. Nice to just be at peace and think of nothing but big deep breaths. Except for the occasional beaver tail slap on the water it was calming. I just can’t get away from that water can I.
