The World Cup season has unofficially come to an end. Woo hoo! And what an exciting end it was. The past three weeks have definitely been the highlight of the season, and now that I can finally take a breath I will take you back…

Three weeks ago: After I wrote last, I continued my journey across Switzerland to the race venue in Crans-Montana Switzerland. It was the first time I had been to Crans-Montana and it was absolutely beautiful. You could see the Matterhorn across the valley as well as the tallest mountain in Switzerland, which I am spacing the name of right now. As far as the race was concerned, this was another one this year to throw out of the memory bank. Conditions were very different each day, and the weather was unstable. In the downhill race, I placed just out of the points again, to have a less then spectacular end to the season in what I consider my best event. The second race was a super combined, in which I found myself in a comfortable place in the first run of downhill only to screw it up on the second run of slalom. I still managed to get a few points and end the season with a satisfactory ranking in that event.

Two weeks ago: Excited to get out of Switzerland and move on, the next destination took me to Bormio, Italy. Bormio was hosting the Grand Finals, which is the final event of the World Cup season for all skiing disciplines including Alpine, Snowboard, and Cross Country. It was the first time since the Olympics all these events have been brought together and made for a very exciting environment. I only qualified to race in one event here; the Super-G. The men took to the course in the morning, which was very helpful for me as I got to watch them run the same course we were to take on that afternoon. I drew bib number 1 for the 3rd time this season, which was half of the races in the event. Lucky me! It really helped me a lot to get to talk to the boys about the course before hand, as being the first one out of the gate usually equals having very little information about what lies ahead. I took the aggressive attitude the boys put on display and had one of my best runs all year. I came in 13th (for the 3rd time this year) and was happy to end the World Cup on a high note. My final ranking in Super-G was 21st in the world, which matches my best ever season ranking. That was very welcoming to see, after what I felt was not my best year. After Bormio it was finally time to leave Euro land!

Last week: Instead of going home after Europe, the next destination was Sugarloaf, Maine for one last week of racing at the Nature Valley US Alpine Championships. I would have sworn by the weather it was not the end of March, but more like the beginning of January. We were caught in a brutally cold and windy storm that canceled 4 of 8 days of scheduled events, but somehow the race crew was still able to pull off every championship race on the schedule. To add the perfect topping to my season I came away with TWO National Championship Titles in Downhill and Super-G!!! I could not have hoped for a better championship and was so excited to be at the top of the podium. Check out the photos.

Thanks for checking in and I will be back with you soon as the next few weeks include some very exciting events as well.

SHARE YOUR CHI. Athleta Chi is a place to showcase a diverse range of women juggling fitness goals along with everyday life as mothers, sisters, wives, partners, students, professionals, etc. If you’re driven to inspire and connect with active, athletic women by sharing your personal stories (both ups and downs) and/or knowledge, we want to elevate your Chi. Click here for the submission form.