Auf Wiedersehen Soelden, Bonjour Paris!

There was hope of blue skies today, but unfortunately there was one annoying cloud stuck around the glacier.... This is the view as we drove back down the hill and opted for a "dryland" (weights, biking, core) day instead of skiing in the foggy soft snow.

And, as I sat here relaxing after my workout, I noticed the lady who runs this hotel dumping the pretty balcony flowers!! I guess flower season is over!

It's been so nice to see all the different floral decorations each hotel sets up on all their balconies, I'm sad to see them go, but happy that winter is approaching!!!

And so, aurevoir Solden, bonjour Paris!!! Heading to Paris tonight for a 4 day break between ski camps! Can't wait!!! Plus I get to practice my Quebec-style french! yessssss.

cool pics from today taken with panasonic video camera....

I forgot my camera today, but we had a video camera and the clouds were ridiculous so I took some "video pictures..."  

No joke, at one point I saw 6 separate rainbows around the sun in different directions with the clouds and snow making it crazyyyyyyy.  Unfortunately the sextuplet rainbow did not make me cry. And i had nothing to take a pic or vid at the time, so it exists only in my memory..... which makes it seem doubtful, but I swear there were 6!!!!!

I always think its sweet when there's a layer of clouds and all you see is the peaks of the mountains peeking out!!

Last day of this block is tomorrow, then I am headed to Paris for a 4 day adventure!! Can't wait!

First gates, first crash, first dinner cooked in europe (EVER)...

Yesterday Solden was looking amazing....... for about an hour...

When we drove up through the clouds we all anticipated an amazing weather day...

Unfortunately the clouds followed us up, and after a few runs this was what we saw.

Despite the bad weather, i still got in my first time back in GATES..... and my first real crash! 

It was hard to feel anything on the soft snow, but it was still fun to get back into hitting some plastic!! My crash totally caught me off guard, my right ski sunk into a hole, leg twisted, ski popped off and I face-planted into some powder.  I was so shocked at first that I wasn't even sure what had happened, but I slowly got up and realized that despite the twisting and bending funnily, my knee was totally fine!

So the lesson of the day was, me knee is no longer fragile! yay.  Like Kent said "it was gonna happen at some point, might as well get it over with and be confident that your knee will withstand crashes!"  (that's definitely not an exact quote....)  But you get the gist? 

Anyway after a good lunch, training session, physio session, a couple icing sessions, we (me, kent, jay, brad) decided that for the first time in Europe history, we would cook our own dinner!!!

Usually we are staying in hotels with restaurants and it's all part of the package, but since we have a little kitchen here and we are all sick of Schnitz and Frtiz, we got down to cheffing business.

The guys were so focused.... (brad and jay)

Le Chicken!

Jay was on Pasta duty and at one point put his ski-goggles on to really get into it.

Anyway, it was nice to eat a "home cooked" healthy meal.

Today is looking so-so again in terms of weather... hopefully the snow has hardened up a bit!

Winter Wonderland!!

It's SNOWING!

this intense snow storm forced another day off...

It looked like a winter wonderland this morning, but all the new snow has already melted from the valley!

Instead of looking at bright green farmers fields this morning while biking,  I enjoyed this snow-covered view with clouds rolling in and out of the valley.

looks like christmas!!!

Jay and I are heading down into Solden to play some TENNIS!  Everything is slowly clearing up and skiing should be ON for tomorrow!! 

Today was a day off!  After jogging in the sunshine earlier this morning, the clouds started rolling in around lunchtime and a storm is brewing!

Before anything started falling from the sky (rain...snow?) I went for a walk around the hotel to take some pictures of the beauty that surrounds us!

Leaving the hotel, all the pretty flowers are still blooming, and you can see the storm rolling into the mountains.

There's something about the grass covered hillsides with perfectly straight trees that makes me stop and stare every time.  I was following a bunch of the painted austrian flags along the way.

They are subtly poking out from rocks, trees and bushes!! leading the way!

sweet streams running down the mountain...

lonely posing!!! 

lonely bench!

which way..............

I was into the water pictures!!

The storm brewing in the distance...

AUSTRIA! little red flag poking out of the woods.

sweet red benches everywhere!

cool cracked paint.

clouds rolling in.

ME! having fun on my little walk.

And finally, a cool pool/pond thing near our hotel!!

Back to skiing tomorrow!! Maybe even some powder!?

The past three days have been AMAZING up on the glacier!! Hard snow, sunny skies, warm weather!  The conditions here couldn't be better for my first days back! We just wrapped up day three, AND STUBBIES!! I still can't wait for gates, but tomorrow we are taking a day off to prep for some further advancements next week! Can't wait!!

(I had to reduce the size of all my pics so that they would upload, sorry for any ghettoness)

no comment, just had to take the pic!! Physio multitasking!!!

This is the view from my window!! Every chalet up here has flowers blooming on every balcony, I love it! so pretty!!  And summery!

I always like watching the light on the trees as the sun goes down! I think it looks pretty cool.

BUT before the sun goes down, I have dryland training!  Trying to keep up with all the gym workouts so that my knee/legs stay strong over the next 5 weeks here!

This is where I get to bike every afternoon!! Best view evaaahhh.

serious face.  trying to count the cows on the opposite field. 

I think there's 23. (still my biking view of the valley of Soelden)

Jay and I went for a jog today and ran into some friends....

Jay, hanging with his homies.

Nice spot for a little nap.

Feeding them grass, even though they are surrounded by it..... interesting....

not impressed.

So, we ditched them and got on our way!

and passed a pretty stream!

Hopefully tomorrow will include some hiking adventures!! it's so beautiful around here and summery!!

First day back!!!

I arrived in Europe yesterday!  Martin (my technician(best ever)) picked me up and we headed straight to the Head factory where I got some new boots and some new skis!  

First day back on skis since the second run of the Olympics last year!!

And it felt like that was just yesterday!!

Here we are at the top of the hill, Jay's trying to refresh my memory on how to ski!!

A few more midway pointers!!

But it felt totally amazing to be back on snow, carving and feeling the wind in my face!

I had a huge smile all morning!!

Thanks Jay, Hugues (in the picture) and Kent (physio-magic-hands...) and Martin!!

I feel totally spoiled with all the support I have!! I really appreciate them being here and helping me get all my confidence and SPEED back! 

I even managed to make a few friends on the way down from the ski hill....

But this guy was giving me a creepy look....

So I ditched them and got on my way!

awkward...

anyway i LOVE skiing and it feels amazing to be back.  Can't wait to start ripping some GATES!!

plus the weather is amazing, nothing beats skiing in perfect weather!

Good times!!

p.s. thanks kent for taking all the pics! He even did some video but I have the wrong cord and can't upload it...   :(